I can’t say that one event led me to this point. I grew up episcopalian. Very non pushy, non preachy. I loved the people. I got married in the church. Had all my kids baptized in the same beautiful gown. Surrounded by the people I loved. Then came my divorce. And all the preach bullshit that seemed to land at my feet. And I felt such an enormous amount of guilt for letting God down. I held on to that guilt for years. I stopped going to church and really thinking about the things people would say. “I got this job. Cause it was gods will...” This person was tragically killed because it was gods perfect plan...” (what the hell does that even mean?!?!) I began to realize that my life was MY PERFECT PLAN. The things I worked for, I earned. They weren’t a gift from some god. One day I realized that I just didn’t believe in god or any kind of organized religion aimed at social control.

Someone said: "The path to atheism is littered with Bibles that have been read from cover to cover"

I was in college studying Catholic theology, doctrine, and ethics, and I found that I disagreed so completely with the deontological principles used to determine moral action that I started to question other aspects of the religion, and after a couple of years I determined there was no reason to hold on to childhood indoctrination and dogmas, and that no other faith-based worldview was a suitable replacement. It was difficult at the time to go through such deprogramming, but after I'd come to terms with it I found it greatly freeing.

Oh let me count the ways.. where do I start. How about with my childhood and nothing ever made any sense to me. I asked who made god and no one could answer me. My dad hated religion and my mother forced it down my throat because she thought it would help me.. Not. It just serves no purpose. I have been without for so long its just not part of my existence anymore.

I listened to the preaching of hellfire and damnation every week, but also could observe the after hours/extracurricular carryings on of those same preachers. So came to the conclusion that they mustn't actually believe what they are preaching, so why should I.

Nothing in particular. I was really into mythology in high school, and I began to notice a lot of parallels between heroic myths and the Christian fairy tale. The numbers, the elements, seemed like too much of a coincidence.
Maybe an absent father, too. "Our fathers were models for god. If our fathers bailed, what does that tell you about god?"
Then I saw that movie, Zeitgeist, and I's all like: "I knew it!"

I was sent to prison for 20 years over 75 dollars someone owed me. No god would have ever made anyone that stupid

All of them, I suppose...

I wasn't raised religious. My parents taught me how to think critically, and to question everything. I think that my identifying as an Atheist was inevitable.

Reading the Bible was a big factor too. I started reading it already not a believer, but still curious about what, if anything, I could learn from it. And by the end, I was quite disturbed, and left questioning why anyone would worship such a God.

I was definately a skeptic already but it was when I witnessed my mother's painful death. At that precise moment, I let all the absurd nonsense go forever.

As a child and teenager I didn't give belief a thought. In my twenty's I began to study the bible, with the help of some friends and kind of became a beliver. In my 30's I knew a gentleman that was in his late 70's. He was somewhat of a beliver, but he and I would have long discussions about things like heaven and hell. He would say, where is heaven or hell? What does it actually look like? He also would say, the bible speaks of it and people say whst they think that it looks like, but how the hell do they know? They've never been there. We would also talk about the validity of the claims in the bible. He really didn't believe but wasn't really sure. It caused me to begin to educate myself on physics, biology, anthropology, etc. The more I understood the natural world, I lost my "belief". The lack of evidence truly lead me to my non belief.

When I was in 5th grade my parents sent me to a Christian school because the public schools were being desegragated and my parents did not want me going to school with negroes. My 1st period class was Bible Study and my teacher started with Genesis 1:1 and worked her way up. My 2nd period class was science and we studied radio carbon dating. My Bible Study teacher was a new Earth creationist and insisted the Earth was no older than 6000 years, presumably because she added up all the Old Testement begats. I asked her about the dinosaur bones that dated millions of years and she said "God put them there to test our faith." Apparently I did not pass the test because from that moment I knew it was all bullshit.

When they asked me not to return to Confirmation class's.I asked too many questions and was disruptive...

It was actually many experiences of people who I admired as wise and godly persons turned out to be weak, selfish, uncaring people masquerading as men of god. I realized if god had these people working for him and representing him there must be something awfully wrong. There was something awfully wrong and not just once but many times by many people who wore god's uniform of black clothes. I decided to just fade away as it seemed no one really cared except my mother. I told her I could no longer go with her to church as I didn't feel I belonged there anymore. She was sad about that but she seemed to understand.

I read the Bible. It is very hard for a rational person to read the Bible and still believe.

My mothers family was Catholic and my fathers family was Baptist. I heard all the time, from my fathers parents, how sad it was, that when we died, their grandchildren, they would never see us again because all Catholics go to hell. Even as a small child this didn't seem right to me but once I could start questioning, it just all fell apart, obviously.

Religion : mental illness + stress + hallucination + illusion + deppresion + die. Non believer : live in reality life + freedom + alive + never die ( if we always take care our body and brain health )

i never really believed in the first place, didn't really grow up with religious teachings

None.
As I began to sate my curiosity about indoctrination and cults I saw the god-claims for the utter bullshit that they are.

Reading The Age Of Reason, by Thomas Paine.

no lightning, no roar of thunder, wish I had a personal reason to spark you to say... anything. Guess my whole life perhaps. One must have these thoughts, etc to drag my butt off of the odd path I wander. But I don't. Cannot one just drift down the rows of thoughts and ideas and not make a choice on what everybody is thinking. Can we not just meander through the life we've been given by whatever/whoever/ we came from? Seems I can't even just send you a message cept one way one way. Evening dear, it's getting cold, guess I'll find another blanket. I hope you sleep well, I just need a woman. Nite

Hi, I'm so new at this, your my first comment... I know less than what is required to put a fool picture of myself on the cite. Wish I did. Alas, I know , one of these days. Maybe not. I was well read, had a few ... that should have killed me crap. Reading is limited. Quit driving in 88. Epilepsy for over 20 and quit drinking 21yrs ago. Not bothered by others drinking unless they're foolin with me.. or ... etc. Just got back a couple of weeks ago from the Lost Key, FL. Went for a Halloween wedding. Booked for 2wks, stayed for 3. Stayed at a couple resorts on the water, I lived there for about 7yrs in my boat, that the police took when I had Katherine moved mainland. I trusted a turd who didn't live where he rented. Best home I ever had. Moved to Mineaopilis from there. Did some Denver time. Back in Wheeling. Been thinking of the Pudgent Sound... for no particular reason. No kids. Millitary said I can't. Got long graying curly hair. Might have done 100 plays. Community of course. To answer the question on top of this page about belief... " I know nothing, I think a lot, and I feel all the time " Socrates Should have written all this as my profile, but what else is new. You were the first one on my close to me list. Hi. Only had 1 blind date. Second time out she tried to wrap her car around a tree with me in the car. Yea, couple broken ribs, full concussion blah blah blah. your face caught my eye.

There were always condescending people in my church environments, it got worse as I got older and went off to a 'special' school my parents wanted me to go to. Through the experiences I had there and the constant daily stress of being under their microscope, I just broke. That's when I rebuilt and started to open my mind to the possibility of other religions or even no religion at all. And that is when I was truly free.

When I learned that Santa Claus was a Hoax and I wasn't going to wait until I was older and they break the News that God was also a Hoax....I was 6. You can only fool me once.

Not an experience - but a lifetime filled with science and evidence-based reasoning.