I lost my faith when I started doing research. I started to practice questioning pre-existing assumptions to see what I thought and why I thought it. I wanted to be sure that there was evidence to support a position. The more I questioned my religious beliefs, the more it all fell away.
However, I started dropping away from being a catholic when I went to college and wasn't surrounded by the daily reaffirming messages I received in catholic school. I moved from a religion to a more deistic view that was more akin to a pagan notion of multiple gods (many paths, one mountain type of thing). I wasn't really ready to give up the idea of belief since it was so central to life in the US. I held on to that for a while until, well you already read the above.

It took awhile for me to except there was no god and religion is bs. When your family believes one sects way is the correct way to believe in fairy tales and closed minded about letting people of there family to explore another sect of christainity. Since, all sects of christainity are almost the same, why have anything to do with them at all. It's nice to think for myself and not to be held back silly guide lines.

I don't know if difficult is even the right descriptive. It was very convoluted for me while I was young. I didn't understand why the discrepancies didn't correlate and the people in my life that were old enough to tell me about it could never give me a description that I understood. So I took that as an admission of belief for the sake of belief. And I'm never wanted any part of that

I have had many fears and hardships involving this mythical being in the sky and by 2012 I finally realized it was all bullshit. Gods are imaginary.
as far as I've been able to figure, its a combination of wish thinking, tradition, lack of consideration, or fear of death.
Those are your words above and they sum it up nicely. Most believers are going with tradition but everyone has a fear of death. Believers can tell you where we came from, where we are going, and what is going to happen in the future. I reject those claims and I once studied for the ministry.

I was raised in a Seventh Day Baptist minister's home, with four siblings, all older than myself. I was encouraged to participate in church life, but not pushed to any belief. Our parents were all about building good relationships, being good friends, and helping people when they needed help but not presuming to know what they needed. Our parents and those closest to them believed that the natural world is God's creation and is something we should be curious about, and be in harmony with. I was baptized and sang in the choir in our parents' church (and at school), but also attended nearby S.D.B. churches, a Friends (Quaker) meeting. It was in Friends meeting that I felt the greatest profundity, because there everyone sat quietly and waited for it to come to them, before anyone spoke. Most times, no-one spoke, and that was wonderful. Occasionally someone said something, and most times, it was really worth hearing. In both settings, there was little dogma and much humanity and little or no persuasion. We were encouraged to think for ourselves. I never deeply believed in God, but liked the Quaker idea that God is within all of us and we should seek that inner light. As the years have gone by, I have increasingly observed that moral living is not limited to the religious, and is often forsaken by them. I also observed that religious dogma often does not explain the true workings of the world, so I reject it, in favor of scientific understandings, and critical analysis of philosophical constructs.

It's the least important decision (and it wasn't really a decision it just evolved) that I've ever made in my life. It's about as significant as the boxer shorts I chose to wear to bed.

Brought up Roman Catholic. I questioned everything when I was younger and lost my faith pretty quickly. It was easy for me to not believe but I didn't like disappointing my family.

Easy as pie. i examined my beliefs at the age of 15, and some remained while others fell by the wayside. god went right out the window.

g

For me, the hardest part of being an atheist was the social isolation caused by being a disbeliever. Fortunately, I've learned to appreciate the quality of friends, not the quantity

No being an honest child it was easy saying no to Santa Claus lies Ishtar boy bunnies laying candy eggs on dogshit lawns was also easy to say no to so alleged vaginal virgins birthing alleged baby boy gawds in dirty donkey stables was just another bullshit lie in dead of winter. ...what was hard = bigotry of peers against girls, my black kindergarten teacher and my beloved JW great Aunt Mabel. ....hard for a little kid to say the Emperor has no clothes when your mouth gets washed out with soap and your great grandmother is called a SQUAW. ...bigotry is all about white privilege AND ALLEGED PURITY OF CHURCH WEDDINGS authorizing fucking on demand

I guess for my formerly catholic mother it was. I always had the impression that her agrophobia was the echo of her fears that there might be some divine authority persecuting her. Thunderstorms would just scare the hell out of her. Even my demonstrations, standing outside during a thunderstorm, didn't strip her of her visceral fear.

I grew up in a mostly secular Jewish family on Long Island/Brooklyn. It was fairly easy for me to drop any beliefs in god. It was a huge relief to me when I finally came out as an atheist. When attending any services be it a funeral or wedding, I just have to shake my head in disbelief in the BS and just keep my moth shut. My wife is a believer and that makes things awkward but I think we've come to an accommodation. I know prefer to be around other atheists.

I feel trying to live a patently obvious Lie would be the difficult thing....like trying to pretend you are a Nazi when you are really Jewish, or gay, or gypsy.........

Figured religion (as it did not confirm to reality) was a game adults used to control children when I was very young. It wasn't until I was in my 20's that I realized some older people actually believed in the BS. That realization was very scary. . . A world filled with older children with the power of an adult that did not grow up out of religion.

After many years of "not really believing", then holding out hope, and going to church, then "not really believing"....I finally opened my eyes to the incredibly unbelievable nonsense and decided that "I'm an Atheist".

While growing up my family "always" went to church on Sunday, there wasn't a lot of religious pressure in the house, or during the week. It was just kind of "assumed" that prayer worked. God is alive. Jesus was resurrected, blah, blah, blah. We weren't active members of the congregation.

So yeah there were those admonishments, but not much else.

When I married and we had babies, we went down the christian road. I mean, we have to save their little souls, right? My wife claimed to be a believer..... But she was little more than indoctrinated if you ask me. She picked our church. Went through all of the rituals to join......then she was the 1st to quit. After all of that we went to several other churches , to find the one that "fit us" ......MADNESS!

One day after we had not went to church for a while, she says: " I want to try the catholic church. It looks like a beautiful religion"
I replied: " You just go ahead and go for it" I knew I was done forever at that point.

Not if you're raised an atheist

Becoming an atheist was easy. I don't believe I was ever anything else. I went to church weekly with choir practice an additional day or two; however, I don't ever remember using the word Christian to describe myself. Athiest just felt right the first time I said it.

I was an atheist all my life like all my relations so probably not difficult being one as I didn't have a 'becoming ' 'stage to overcome.

I was 9...it suddenly became clear to me what a steaming pile of hosshit it all was...that was many decades ago

No, what would be difficult for me is pretending to believe in a fairy tale for grown ups, talk to imaginary beings, and associate with people who can read the bible, qur'an, talmud, etc. and claim theirs is a benevolent, loving god.

The Jews invented Guilt. The Irish Mastered it.

I just stopped being a believer. I can't say it was difficult.

No, though I do find the slings and arrows annoying.

I've always been one, don't know how to be any different. For me it's like asking me if becoming blue eyed was difficult, it's just the way I'm made

well I was taught night time prayers. Sometimes at the dinner table. The god is everywere was not believable. Then the Jesus died for our sins! And we are born in sin, then we are all sinners! all crap! Seeing religious people treat others like crap. All myths, legends, superstitions, and lies