I grew up in a family that is not religious and never had any feeling that god exists. While I don't believe god exists, I call myself an agnostic.

Reading the Bible from beginning to end for the third time.

Common sense won.

The Catholic church covering up child molestation

To many questions that religion could not answer. To many times I was told there was no answer, you just had to believe and have faith. Then I found answers and the lies made me mad!!

Mine was a slow process, but probably started as a young teenager, 13 years old, at a church camp, having a knife held to my throat. The rest was me studying and learning and slowly withdrawing from the culture into early adulthood.

As a scientist I knew that there was no evidence of God. I realized that it was a choice to believe or not. And I chose to believe.

After many years of this I started to realize the comfort that belief gave me, and that made me examine it more carefully. That’s how I came to understand that I was believing in God because not believing was scarier and harder. Believing was allowing me to abdicate my responsibility for my place in the universe. I was taking the easy way out.

That’s when I realized that my choice was not made rationally. It had been made out of a desire to feel safe. This is what told me that my choice was wrong.

It was hard to give up, but over time I became more comfortable. As I gained hindsight, I could see my old faith more clearly, and I gained certainty in my atheism.

Reading the Bible with the intent of really understanding it, cover to cover.

My parents threatening me with punishment from god.