Religion is a bunch of fairy tales. It is illogical, dismisses measurable science, and ignores simple good sense. All ideologies and religions are ideologies are ways to control people in a variety of ways.

I became an atheist after reading the old testament and learning from anthologist named Aron on YouTube

I became an atheist after reading the old testament and learning from anthologist named Aron on YouTube

Reading the Bible. No. The ones I told pretend like nothing was said.

Strangely enough my elder brother always referred to us as freethinkers. My parents got married when the Nazis were still running the show. So my parents had to produce ancestoral records as proof of their aryan family tree whose trunk was rotten to the core. The most interesting aspect, for me, was the discovery that the issuing authorities had been the churches: Catholic and Lutheran. Btw the Lutheran church tefers to itself. at least in Germsny, As evangelical.
Until the early 1920s there wasn't a single nominal atheist in my mischpoke. Yet apart from the rituals: weddings, baptisms and funerals, there never any reference to any divine authority.
I have 2 brothers. Together we produced 6 offspring. The first wss bsptised in1967 by the Lutheran Mafia and 2 by the Catholic Mafia.
My children were not.

Logic. There are a range of spiritual/religious beliefs in my immediate family from a believer in angels to a christian missionary to my atheist self. My family are aware of it through casual conversations as are most people ( i didn't have a 'coming out' ceremony to announce my atheism ?). Most of the time it is irrelevant to my day to day living. ?

I considered myself a secularist. Spent a great deal of time independently studying religious and social construct. Through observation and experience, I felt religions and spriritualists without a dogmatic approach to a single God were more in keeping with my value set, behaviors and desired social justice beliefs.
My family knows my beliefs and I choose to share socially with caution. Some agree and some don’t but we can, for the most part, agree to disagree. They have always acknowledged my refusal to go with a flow just because it was part of the assimilation process. Often because it was part of the assimilation process.
Life is. I’m free of dogmatic guilt from not meeting the obligatory expectation of a specific religious structure, but also remain largely on the fringe of a belief system that is often stereotyped incorrectly. I’m not really a hippie, not a devil worshiper (still a God to those who worship), not some cult follower.. but those are common misconceptions if you say out loud you don’t believe in an understood context. That said, I’m content.
Hope that provides some insight, at least from a single perspective.

It just seemed so unlikely to be true, while the motivations of the people who expect you to believe are pretty obvious & totally unspiritual.

Certainly reading the Bible contributed, there is so much in there which does not gel with my notions of the world, evidence and truth. My father is pretty much an atheist, although like the rest of the family he doesn’t talk about it much. The atheists and the Christians in my family have a live-and-let-live policy where we avoid discussion and proselytising.

The discussion with John, Time stamp 1:10 clearly describes the difference between theists and atheists. Really worth watching to understand the difference between those with religion (believe in god) and those without.

Having been an atheist all my life I guess I would answer your first question by stating that nothing made me be a theist, rather than something making me atheist. I've tested that through exploration of different faiths and not even came remotely close to swaying me toward belief in a creator or divinity.

Both of my parents were Christian growing up but we never attended a church. And I have a sister who is also an atheist so I have a bit of comfort at family events as her and eye exchange eye-rolls.

Nothing made me an athiest. It’s the default position. I think my parents are athiest. I know my brother is. Have I told my parents about my religious thoughts? No. We never really talked about religion when I grew up and we don’t now. Maybe that’s a reason that you were looking for.

I was 13 when I realized I couldn’t be made to believe in religion and proclaimed myself an atheist. I didn’t even know that was an option until brought to my attention(I was raised in the bible belt). It seemed to make sense for myself at the time, even though I didn’t have the reasons I have today. I just couldn’t ever get straight answers. I would get circular arguments or “you shouldn’t question those kind of things.”

I am the only atheist in my family. I told them at 13. They never really said anything about it. I think they assumed I’d “grow out of it.” They actually have always been very understanding and let my siblings and I come into our own views about religion without tryin to force their beliefs on us. They’re kind of awesome like that. These days, they are still believers but agree with many of my criticisms of religious belief.

After I found out about Santa Claus

I did religious activities but never really believed. It was just easier to go along. Once I moved across country from my family there was no reason to be even socially religious anymore.

My son is an atheist also. My brother believes religion is bullshit but seems to hold onto some religious ideals. The rest of my relatives spout all the platitudes without action.

What made me become an atheist? The fact that all religions are false, and science explains all that exists without magic. No one else in my family is an atheist, it's just me. I've mentioned it to the adults but nobody's children. It's not a big deal, while my family believes in religion they don't go to church or anything so there not SUPER religious. I'm the only atheist I even know. But right is right so I'm happy to be me. And I'm right....

Became one independently. My children and all cousins of my age are athiests.

What is life like to be an athiest is, in truth, exactly the same as any life. Whatever happens, happens, no matter what anyone believes. How anyone interprets what happens is often a function of what they were told by parents or others. So, it is only the interpretation that varies.

To be honest growing up Catholic probably helped me become an atheist.
I knew and understood but there are too many inconsistencies in religion so I think I just lost interest. I mean I thought some of the messages were good but the fact I didn't believe in every part made me question everything. Then when you read up on other religions you start to see the similarities and trends. They all kinda take things from previous religions and make new rules when someone wants.
It seems like even if there is a God, the religions we have today do not reflect how he would want us to live. I believe religions were a peaceful way to control the masses and make money. Seems counter to the idea of most gods i have read about but especially a christian one

I've been an atheist far back as I remember. My mother was a devoted Catholic, dad a Baptist. Try as they did, they couldn't get me to believe. Even so, my family were/are disappointed by my disbelief, were never harsh about it (just occasionally preachy). Their understanding or patience allowed me to learn about religion without feeling the need to follow.

I don't know that I ever made the conscious decision to become atheist. There was no real ah-ha moment. One day shortly after my son was born, someone said to me "you seem so much happier, see everything does happen for a reason" or something like that, I reference to my many miscarriages. I said something like "nope, it was giving up on that line of thinking that allowed me to gain peace and come to terms with the miscarriages." After that I just never pretended to agree with the religious bullshit anymore, but the actual shift in thinking had happened gradually, well before that.

No one else in my family is atheist. I have an uncle who's Wiccan, and he gets more flack than I do.

My entire family knows about my beliefs, or lack thereof. Some of them still try to "save me" most have decided to keep their thoughts and prayers private.

Life as an atheist is the same as life for anyone else. The sun rises, I go to work, take care of my kid, clean the house, do 8 million loads of laundry. Babies are born, people die, i just don't have the burden of trying to understand why, or what part my suffering or joy plays in some kind of cosmic plan. Shit just happens. Life goes on. And when I die, my energy will be recycled back into the Earth to continue the process. It's quite peaceful, really.

What made you become an Atheist?

I grew up and no longer needed an imaginary friend, or worse an imaginary enemy

Are there any other members in your family who are atheists or did you become one independently?

My wife is part wiccan/druid and part exogenesist, my son is atheist my daughter is transitioning out of religion.

Have you told your family about your religous thoughts and what did they say?

My father could not care less my mother is dead, the opinions of the rest of my extended family don't matter to me

probably being raised by 2 wiccans (more woo bullshit dressed in new age clothing) went to sunday school from age 3-5 but my grandma was a fairly scientifically minded person and taught me to question everything and not stop till you were satisfied noah story probably did it for me even though before that everything seemed a bit wrong and simplistic.as for life s an athiest didnt know i was one till a programme on bbc1 when i was about 9 informed me thats what i was its great but then i didnt come from religion so i didnt lose anything

all species are Atheists at birth, religion begins with the brutal senseless circumcision of baby boys...religious lies about Santa Claus, Ishtar boy bunnies laying candy eggs on dogshit lawns, alleged vaginal virgins birthing alleged baby gods in dirty donkey stables... children are bribed and forced to "believe" all this insane shit.....I am lucky I taught myself to read at age 4 and at age 5 I equated all the religious lies above as a unitary dishonest system of adults to trick and make fun of children....I was lucky to find my first Atheist hero and role model in Einstein, when I read a biography intended for young readers only 157 pages there the author went to great lengths to hide facts of Judaism and imply that Einstein was supportive of xian beliefs... it was obvious to me the lies for religion and "believing" were enemies of "knowing".... the dictionary falsely defined Atheism and Atheists equating Thomas Paine Deism with Atheism as if we "deny" religion as true, when nothing about religion is true... so I never "became" an Atheist, I stayed an Atheist and kept going to Sunday School until I could not stand the peers there who bragged they were "forgiven" and "going to heaven" even if they were jerks bullies and idiots....of course they resented my fast readings and look up abilities of "scriptures" winning all the bible give a way contests, I like Ricky Gervais had lots of fun quoting all the absurd falsehoods and funny stupid shit in the King James bibles... and for the record C S Lewis is NOT A FORMER ATHEIST...he never was an Atheist, temporary disloyalty to the xian scams IS NOT Atheism.... it is critical thinking, evdentiary based inquiry and logical proof against the baseless claims of faiths.... it is impossible to "debate the existence of non-existence" as there is zero evidence for any alleged gawd nor a rational definition for the non-words only gibberish sounds gott in German, gawd or gods...."belief in" is a non sequitur... having beliefs about doors are un-necessary... doors exist and all we have to do is to enter and exit doors NOT BELIEVE IN DOORS... what a crock of shit to allow believers to lure Atheists into a "debate" of irrational delusional imagery about the impossible "supernatural" realm... we Atheists are materialists... only matter and it's indwelling property energy is all that exists...space by definition is a void what energy and mass "bends" towards or away from other mass

Life without a belief in a deity is pretty straightforward. No need to twist and bend reason and logic when God fails to do what you think God should do, due to the simple acceptance of the fact that the universe works on a whole different set of principles than "God controls it".

A family member inplying I was going to hell if I changed religious sects and little to proof there is an god. I'm became an atheist on my and the only one in my family that I'm aware of. I'm still an closeted atheist , but hope to be out one of these days. I love thinking for myself and thinking about reinventing myself.