All articles are copyrighted property of their respective authors. Reproducing or republishing an article, in whole or in part, in any other forum requires permission of the author or the moderator. Though I have never been frum, I can still offer a handful of disconnected observations and opinions. Losing one's faith and losing one's community need not be inextricably linked.
Social relationships can remain intact, based on shared religious practice.
In this view orthopraxy is a temporary or intermediate state on the way to full belief. Within Reform or Conservative communities one can practice more of those observances than is commonly believed. Orthodox thinking tends to paint the world in high-contrast black and white. Both the questions and the answers tend toward all or nothing. While this way of understanding is appropriate in some situations, it might be inappropriately applied in others.