Faith shouldn't be a thing that is inherited. And denouncing a faith shouldn't be a thing that should be frown at. Why then is denouncing a faith a thing of concern to some religious leaders? and sometimes a verse in the holy books are dedicated on how such a person should be treated. Did God not give man the will to make choice? And why then do men want to force their will on others?.
Choice is an invention of God, given to man. if he didn't want man to have it, he wouldn't have given it to man at the first place. Human heart is filled with sentiment that he wants everything to go his way. And when one exercise his choice by rejecting a believe that is contrary to that of his family or religion, he is hated for that.
){kind=link}
But then, why would a person reject a believe he once hold?. There may be many reasons, it could just be that the person want to be adventurous, it could be that he has some doubt about his faith or he has found a higher truth that he want to align with or a lover had persuaded him/ her to join his or her faith.
Why then should a family, group or religion find such rejection hard to accept ?. That may be because they feel he is a betrayal. Or he has learn a secret in his formal faith that is dangerous for an outsider to know or they so much love him and seeing him going astray hurt them.
Sometimes the religion or group he is rejecting their faith may go as far as wanting him dead. That is where my concern is. Why should they want the person dead if they had sincere love for him at the first place. Could it be that he observed some form of insincerity and manipulation in the faith that prompt him to rejecting it?.
The apostate may just be undergoing a stage of self awareness or truth finding that requires him to reject whatever believe he holds to better clear his vision for a stronger conviction. And that is the will of God for man.