I actually have a term I use and it is Natural Born Atheist. I use it to describe myself. Doesn't matter what religion you were exposed to when young you just don't believe it. I read others here say that too, Typically, it seems, as a kid it might go on around you but you don't connect to it. You reach teenage years and you know you don't believe it. That was me. Also I was big on history at an early age, and any serious reading of Christianity in particular and it disintegrates in a puff of nonsense. That, in brief, is my story.

NO religion in our family, but I still remember when I was about 12, my friend taking me to her church, which was a few minutes walk away, My parents standing on the front steps of our house, probably trying not to laugh, and then me coming home and saying "that was stupid" haha... then same friend took me and my twin sister to church camp, my parents were happy to get rid of the "terror twins" for a week. The week from hell, a bunch of idiots "speaking in tongues" and all kinds of weird stuff. Obviously the brainwashing attempts didn't work LOL

I was born into an Atheist family (Atheist for generations). The few times I set foot in a church was for a friend's marriage or for a funeral.

i was raised by a lapsed Presbyterian father and an agnostic/ atheist mother I started my journey to atheism at about 8 and proclaimed to be one at ten my father became one a few years later. so, I was never taken to church by my parents but, some relatives would take me there if I was in their charge. One of the mentor in my life was a United church minister who taught my mountaineering and climbing since the church sponsored the climbing club Max the minister asked us to go to church at least a couple times a year to keep the elders happy but, he never pushed religion on me and respected that I was an atheist, many years later he admitted to me he was one, too. He was a very interesting man and choose that occupation because he felt it was a way to help others.
That was the good experience I had with religion, other adults and their kids were not so, kind, I was often ostracized for being an atheist, and ended up in a lot of fights because of it. That was of course before I turn about 15 and started to develop into a big farm kid then they kind of stopped picking on me.

Both sides of my family are very religious. My grandfather was a pastor, and my mother was Pentecostal. I remember being at a kids camp when I was between 6 and 8. All the other kids were speaking in tongues, but I couldn't. I knew it was crap, even then.

raised by atheist parents, I never "got" religion. My best friend, when I was 7-10, was a devout Catholic who prayed every night; I remember asking my parents if I could try it too, as my grandfather lay in the hospital dying - to their credit they said I could do whatever I needed to... I lasted 3 whole nights. the whole thing felt ridiculous to me and that was my entire foray into religion until late junior high. At that point, when all my friends were doing communions or bar/bat mitzvas, I felt left out, so started looking up religions trying to find one which felt "right". I quickly discovered ALL of them required belief in some kind of higher power(s), and I quickly dismissed them all.
My daughter has followed in my footsteps, my sisters (much to my parents' dismay) did not and each has found religion (one far more so than the other; ironically she was the partier/deviant in her youth)

My family was your typical catholic, go to church every week, follow the teachings of the church kind of folk. From as far back as I can remember, I was always at the very least internally questioning the validity of the things they talked about in catechism and church. By the time my parents shipped me off to catholic school in 5th grade, I just found the whole thing irritating. By the 7th grade I was done.

I had to keep playing the part and going through all of the motions though. I knew if I didn't I'd probably be shipped off somewhere for brainwashing.

NEVER, they lost me at Abraham and Isaac. I tried, I pretended.

My father is an agnostic , my mother was a Catholic (she now is a skeptic) I always sided with my dad. I don't ever remember believing in God/ religion as it was presented to me.

I've never been religious and neither were my parents. I'm lucky that it's never been an issue and I've never been mistreated because of it, probably because I live in England.

Does being a Subgenius count? No? Then nope, no religion here, praise bob!

Dad was raised catholic, Mom was methodist. Dad decided it would be best to raise us with Mom's faith. We kids went to Bible study and sang in the choir and sat in church on Sunday. We did this on our own as Mom would simply drop us off in the parking lot of the church. Once we sang our hymn I'd duck out a side door, hit the penny candy store and go sit on the banks of the Delaware River til it was time to go back to the church for Mom to come pick us up. One Sunday I just said I'm not going. Mom said it's good for you to which I said 'If it's so good for us why do you just drop us at the front door?' Never had to go again. My sisters continued going and one still does the youngest got a clue and quit going soon after I did.

My parents allowed me to think freely, although one year my brothers and I were urged to go to Sunday school for several months to experience it! The priest got sick of us after a while as we kept asking to many questions! which he couldn't answer. Funny thing though, later in life my father became a new born christian! My mother was into reading about different beliefs, especially Buddhism. So basically I was a non believer from about age 13/14, and went through a brief believer stage at about age 10-11, praying to Jesus and stuff (just in case he was real). I will always be grateful to my parents for allowing me to think freely on the matter!

Raised very religious. Both parents are Christian. Mom's parents are religious, but not overly so. Dad's parents weren't very much. Both kind of reacted to their parents' issues by thinking their parents didn't have enough of Jesus in their lives, and so (in part) became pretty over-board with Christianity.

-raises hand-
I assume my biological family was likely "Christian", but my mind was largely not present until I got away from them, and it was certainly never a big thing there. Don't think we ever went to church or anything. As for adoptive family, mother was raised Christian-ish (cuz honestly my grandparents aren't really religious, I think I've heard them say the word "God" like...a handful of times in my life lol...if even that tbh) and I think atleast somewhat believed in a god and pretty sure my dad's always just been agnostic. I think very early on we occasionally went to church, and my mom suggested that I pray before bed for a little while (I think just trying to help me in any way she could think of, probably) but I very quickly found out (after two or three days, but probably tried it for a total of a week or something just to be more certain) that I just didn't believe any of it.
Unfortunately my dad's parents are Christian scientists...it really doesn't make sense considering how amazing they are, and that my dad somehow turned out the way he did...all very interesting.

The way I read it, you're almost suggesting that organised religion is not intrinsic, but rather a bastardised manipulation of a pattern seeking nature, couple with a strive for a consensus reality- told to us by others for their own nefarious purposes. Of course, were that really true we would all grow up believing that Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy were real until we figured it out for ourselves...

I was raised Catholic, but once I understood what they were saying, I didn't buy into it.

I’m one of those. I grew up in SLC, my father was a jack Mormon (atheist), my mom was a non practicing Congregationalist, but my fathers parents were very religious Mormons. My parents divorced when I was little and I was raised by my mother. She gave me the talk as well and even took me to a Jehovas Witness church at one point, but I was never interested. My aunts, uncles, and cousins were all very Mormon.

Never ever, always thought it was stupid even as a kid.

I wasn't raised in religion. When I recently mentioned to my mom something about this site, she pointed out that she and my father decided not to put my brother and me through the shit they went through. She was raised Catholic and put through Catholic schools. He was raised Baptist and I guess put through all that indoctrination. But I got enough exposure that by the time I was a teenager, I felt guilty that I didn't believe. It took a long time for me to get over that, essentially in isolation. So while I was never really religious, it did effect me.

Grew up Catholic but started questioning my belief when I was 15 or 16.

I was drug to Christian church until I was 6 or 7 then my parents gave up making me go. I don't think they wanted to be there either, since they haven't regularly attended church ever since.

But for me, it never stuck, none of the stories had any internal logic and the music was sickening. I'd rather think, thanks...

Never been religious. I have been raised as such, yet my mother became religious during the last 10 years, and now we have arguments on this matter now and then.
Yet the society in my home country is not really religious, thus I am rather the norm, than an exception.

I was raised to be religious and when told to pray or read the bible I did it because mom told me to. But I never actually understood it and found any interest in it. I just did what I was told to do because you trust your parents when you're young. I never got the point of it when I was younger. So I like to think I never was but I did participate because I was told to.