We're all born atheist, until we get brainwashed into a religion. Having been born in the former Soviet Union, the first brain washing I received in 1st grade was focused on "All hail Grandfather Lenin". Then we left when I was 7 years old, just after completing first grade there. At that time, I didn't know what a god was. So in the US, the Jewish organizations wanted to brainwash all the kids coming from atheist-land and stuck me into Hebrew school, where the 2nd brainwashing took place. At first, I said I wanted to keep kosher, have a mezuzah on my door, marry Jewish guy... However that all changed by the end of 10th grade
In my first high school, I was being bullied to the point of being suicidal; this and reading the book Night, by Ellie Weisel, about his experience in the holocaust, made me analyze other historical events like the wars in the name of religion. By the time I finished th grade, I realized that religion is all bs and have been atheist ever since. I'm proud to say that I was only brainwashed for a total of 7-8 years.
At first, I respected people believing in a god, even though I didn't. However, as time progressed, historical events and personal experiences made me more and more anti religion. After I got divorced, I decided to try and read the Bible, to familiarize myself with what everyone believed. I made it about 1/3 of the way through the OT. But at that point I lost ALL respect for believers! At this point in my life, ALL my close friends are atheist/agnostic.