When reality began to come into conflict with faith

For me it was between the ages of 10 and 13 when I gradually decided that spirituality of any kind was stupid and a waste of time.

This is a good one for me I was in infant school so going back 34/5 years ago I was obsessed with dinosaurs and we had a vicar come in once a week to talk to us all about “god” after one particular lesson on creation I asked the vicar if Adam and Eve were the first people he created where did the dinosaurs fit in and I was told not to be silly they didn’t exist and quite quickly for a 7/8 year old I replied “but dinosaurs have had loads of books written about them and we’ve even found dined yet there’s only one book about god” I was told to be quite and sit down from that moment on I knew religion was a lie!!

I was in Sunday school about 6 years old and the teacher was telling us a tale that included images of an old bearded white man with flowing hair and a long robe sitting on a cloud...

My childlike mind thought the adult equivalent of “are you freekin’ kidding me?”

I am not sure exactly when. I do know that I found joy in watching stand up. It was a sort of youthful awakening to the idea that other people thought this religion stuff was a bit off.

If I may make a comparison stretch: the way deaf children are likely born to parents who can hear-I was an athiest before I knew there was a word for it. Comedians like Eddie Izzard and George Carlin were the first people to hold up a mirror that I could see publicly and show me that it was OK to think. And laugh. I will count that as my 'liberation/awakening athiest' moment.

Quando comecei a ler.

When I was in high school. The position against homosexuality made no sense to me because there were some gay guys in my high school who were really good people, so it didn't add up.

In 2006. I was 55 years old. It was the talking donkey in the Bible that did it. I read it and thought, "Wait. A talking donkey?? This is insane!" And ever since then I knew it was all bullshit.

When I started reading the bible as a book.

Christianity as presented by churches has never made sense to me from my early years. Not all religions are the same though. Some religions make perfect sense mostly.

Probably about age 7 when I had to make up stuff to say at confession. The nun said if you thought you didn't have sins to confess to, you were a liar, which was a worse sin. I had no choice ... I had to lie so I wouldn't be called out as a liar. Way too heavy for a 7-year old.

The first time I actually gave it any serious thought.

When I was 14, after being a moderate Christian who only went to church once a year, I decided to become a "better" Christian. I was having an identity crisis at the time and I wanted to figure out who I was. The funny thing is the more I learned about my religion the more I thought it was bullshit. It was very easy to be Christian the less I knew about Christianity. Ignorance is bliss, as people like to say. The turning point was when I was 16, I was depressed and going through a rough patch. I started to pray to god for help, but nothing would ever happen. I was still gaining a ton of weight, I still hated myself, I still dwelled on my own guilt. One time I was praying and I looked up at the sky and said, "What the hell am I doing?" "I'm talking to the clouds. I look and feel like a crazy person" "What use is this?" If anyone was going to save me, it would be myself. Shortly after this I began reading the Bible for the first time and I was not impressed with the contents of the book. Later I was watching Atheist v. Theist debates on youtube when I saw one with Christopher Hitchens, I found myself agreeing with practically everything he said and that was when I knew that I could no longer call myself a theist.

When I became a Sunday school teacher and during series of life-changing events that I have no explanation for. I will refrain from sharing, but both played significant roles in my decision.

25ish

When I was about 13 and went with my friend to a Catholic Midnight Mass. I left scratching my head while wondering how anybody could believe in that crap. A question that I am still asking myself.

Mid 30s here.

I don't remember exactly when, but I was between the ages of 8 and 12. I was with my father flying remote controlled airplanes. Mom was probably at church. I recall asking my dad why we weren't all together, he responded "Church is for people who don't have other hobbies." I continued to attend the church of model avation into my late teens, with my dad, usually on Sunday mornings.

I went a Catholic high school. Every Friday one of the priests who taught us would hear our confessions. I was dating a girl at the time, and each weekend we would usually go a local drive-in theater. As those of you who went drive-ins with your boy/girl friends back in the day may understand, each Friday I would confess the same "mortal sins" my girlfriend and I would commit at the drive-in the same priest - and receive the same penance. It occurred me pretty soon that what my girl and I were doing wasn't evil, and that the whole confession thing was b.s. Looking back - that was one of my first clues. Quite a few years later I heard from a classmate that one of the priests who would hear my confession had regularly invited one of my high school classmates over the rectory for sex. The saying "judge not lest ye be judged" come to mind.

I never needed to realize it anymore than I needed to realize shit stinks, it was simply obvious from the start.

I was about 8, it all just didn't seem to make any sense and the older I got the less sense it made until finally what really made sense was that it was all bollocks ?

For me, there was never a time when it made any sense.

When someone is brainwashed from childbirth, you have a kid who feels horrible and guilt ridden, always crying (literally) in secret and praying to god to forgive his doubts and to give him more faith. He lives his life knowing he doesn't deserve anything including life.
It's horrible and it takes a long period of time to escape it, maybe not fully ever.

I wasn't raised in a religious family. I did have a child's Bible with lots of pictures in it that I used mostly as a stepping stool.

6th grade. I was in a xian school - Forrest Hills Xian School in Decatur, GA. Strict Southern Baptist.

Started asking questions. They didn't like it.

In 7th grade I set the record for the most paddlings in a year. ?