I was trying to prepare myself to be a preacher, so I read the bible, cover to cover. By the time I finished I was an atheist.

Prettymuch, reality. The fact religious teachings didn’t jive with basic observations… I’d like to claim common sense ..though have come to think ‘common sense’ isn’t all that common

It was actually studying about abusive relationships and the attributes almost all abusers share. One day it all clicked and I realized that, if the god of the Bible was real, he was one abusive bastard. It was all downhill after that. I tried, for a day, to simply claim I was agnostic, but even that became too noxious and now I’m a full blown, “level 8” Atheist. I wasn’t even trying to disprove religion. I was simply trying to make sure I never got into another abusive relationship. I was raised in the church and my parents were abusive and my ex is abusive. The church is so silent on abuse (except when it tells people to remain in even the most violent abusive relationships) I had to do my own studying from non-Christian sources, like Lundy Bancroft. I literally went from “I will always believe in god” to “there is absolutely no god or any higher power” in the course of 24 hours. It was the most freeing moment. It was like religionists describe as the born again experience. I was free and could see and actually understand things. I went from barely being capable of making change to going back to college as a Bio major. Really. It is the opposite of what every Christian testimony proclaims. I could say I was blind but now I see in regards to Atheism, in a way I never could about Christianity. And that “peace that passes all understanding” that I spent nearly five decades trying to achieve...Yeah, I got that in Atheism too.

A healthy dose of both backed by insatiable curiosity and a little intelligence.

The church I attended was very liberal (Episcpal) and taught us that the Bible was not the inspired word of God. So I never questioned the truth of evolution, etc. I was agnostic until I began reading the existentialists.

As a born-againer, I was taught that everything man does and creates is tinged with imperfection and evil. As I slowly extricated myself from the Christian community, I observed that it just wasn't true. My eyes opened gradually to a world of NOT filtering everything through the bible.

If a paradigm shift is philosophical, then I guess that's the label.

Good question; made me think...

A combination of reading Alan Watts and science subject authors like Paul Davies and Carl Sagon

None of the above. It took years of soul-searching. One day, I finally came to the conclusion that there was no higher being and then it took me several years after that to straighten it all out in my head.

The moment I realized that everybody had a different version of religion and had the need to tell other people their religion was wrong, I saw a problem. I realized that people's belief systems tended to be a reflection of themselves and not a reflection of something/someone onto them. I was told at a young age not to read anybody's philosophy until you have one of your own, and as I grew up, I realized I would never have a immutable philosophy, so I don't read other people's philosophy directly. You can see someone's philosophy in their behavior better than in what they think their philosophy is.

Good question. For me, it was totally science. I studied people and cultures for my undergraduate degree, and the more you learn about the variety of religions, the more they all look the same. I was well on my want to nonbeliever anyhow, and that pretty much convinced me. They're all the same sales pitch.

Science for me. For me to believe in any religion (Christianity, Islam, whatever) I would have to reject things that I know to be true. It really is as simple as that. Bye bye religion!

It started with my parents raising me to make up my own mind, then in college a favorite professor, who taught philosophy asked, "If god is omnipotent how would WE know?", and lately it's been mostly science.

A god would not let such bad things happen to good people

I spent the 80's (my 20's and early 30's) looking for answers. Read a lot of texts, found similarities and differences but mostly a bunch of old superstitious mythology.
Finally decided it was a lot of hoo-hah, hand-waving and in some venues a means of controlling the populace as well as amazing wealth.

Super simple for me, cuz Gingers have no souls...

The bible and it's words are the key to everyone's life foundation, but later was not what I think.
Science really made me know much about things and how the world came into being.
In fact science made it clear

I'm not sure how to begin but I'm searching for a partner
that is well-educated and hope we can learn new things together
with many of the same common interests. I also
like share interests she is interested in.
A person that enjoys learning new things enjoy science
and technology. I'm in no hurry to make fast decisions
I usually take a long time to make serious decisions.
I'm not good at writing I prefer to talk on the phone or
use of video chat program that is available on the Internet
I use Dragon naturally speaking because it's so much easier
than typing. In my life working in a factory it seems
like I have always been the teacher, I rarely meet
intelligent people and now that I'm retired it is even
more difficult to meet intelligent people.

ultimately, both. I would say deep thinking and curiosity got the flame burning, but science produced the fuel to sustain the flame.

Both. I rejected church first for its hypocrisy first, so broadly speaking, --philosophy. Later (late teens) I learned the Bible was just flat out factually wrong, so--science.

For me it was the hypocrites. They go to church and profess the believe in god, but when the leave they don't follow through with the teachings of "the bible." I lost my faith when I was fourteen. I grew up in an abusive home. I didn't start reading philosophy until 2009. I would now say philosophy and science are my good. I got that line from the movie Agora.