I don't think that we choose our beliefs. What information we are exposed to and our experiences tend to form our belief system. You can't command someone to believe something and they just believe it. We process the stimuli and draw certain conclusions, such as, this religion stuff is bullshit.

I have had doubts most of my adult life. But I had religious parents and siblings so I didn't want to think about it much because I knew they would not understand and think less of me. I raised my kids to be open minded but to make up their own minds. For a short time they went to youth nights at a church I used to attend. I wanted them to at least have some exposure to it so they knew a little about what it was about. As they got older, they didn't see anymore value in it then I did, but I still didn't commit to being Atheist. Well, now my kids are older and on their own and a few years ago I decided to make the leap into being an out of the closet Atheist. Needless to say, my Facebook friends didn't take it well, so I tend to not bring the subject up. All the FB friends and family I had I have unfriended because their constant barrage of religious crap was more than I could take. My sister-in-law would post so much Jesus in Lord, God loves you stuff and then the next post would be how all Muslims should be lined up and shot. I'm not joking ... this is real. The hipocracy and cruelty is just stunning. She was one of the first ones I unfriended! I could not take that crap anymore!

"Atheism is not cohsen, it is discovered", Christopher Hitchens. I was a fundamentalist wacko. I believed there was nothing to fear in the search of discovery as it would all verify God and "his plan.' Though I was warned not o delve into the secular world I loved history and learning. I had God and nothing to fear. The Bilbe says that he truth shall set you free. It did. From religion. It was very difficult to admit it to my self for over a decade, these were troubling times. Once I actually came out due to my son being sent to the principles office for saying "Ooh my God", things chnged dramaticaly. I became an atheist activist almost over night. As I was extremely religious, It was th most liberating experince of my life. Yes it was the greatest relief to be accountable for my own actions and know that God was not responsable for the good or bad in my life, that life simply happens and I not a magic sky fairy had at least some control.

I really wanted to answer this. I've been to Meetups for atheists, and I was entertained and shocked to discover that I was the only one there that was raised an atheist. It was never a question for me. It wasn't until I was much older that I realized being an atheist would make someone automatically distrust me or hate me. It never occurred to me to hide my beliefs until I was in college.

I'll still never understand that, but it's part of the hypocrisy of religion. It teaches who to hate.

The more I read the Bible the more I questioned it. It really started hitting me when I was in my early 20’s after reading Tom Robbin’s first 2 books. Then I realized the universe was way to much for these early soothsayers. The epiphany I had was so uplifting I felt like a huge weight was lifted.

I find the wording of this question to be interesting, but I'll play along. For me it was neither a revelation or a decision, it was a very long and painful process. I was indoctrinated so much that until I went to college, I didn't really have any understanding of science. In my astronomy class, I found that parts of the bible didn't make sense. It took me almost two more years of intense study of the bible, ancient cultures, and science to come to the realization that the bible and religion was complete B.S.

I don't remember a time before I was an athiest. I know I had gone to church all my life up until I was about 9 but I don't really recall much of my life before about that age. So for at least all of my memory I have been an athiest.

I can remember the exact moment I first realized I was an atheist. I also remember going to bed that night and still saying my prayers. Only difference was that I started my prayer with "I know I'm just talking to myself, but god bless..." I said prayers that way each night for the next 2 weeks. I also remember the first night I didn't say prayers and how weird it felt.

In the end it was just a decision to stop lying to myself that I believed. A great relief.

It was a process, accelerated by the Religious Right attacking President Obama, and childhood missionary kid (MK) friends flooding my Facebook page with hate memes against minorities, LGBTQ people, etc.

The 2016 election was the final straw, when I ditched the entire religion business, stopped even being neutral about it.
Also, that was about when I first read the Sumerian texts, written 2000 years before the Bible, and obviously what the Bible writers (badly) copied.
I felt total relief after reading the texts, preferring being genetically engineered (as is alleged by the texts) by aliens than being created by the Hebrew god.

But most of all, I was glad to dump the whole Bible concept since it was so disturbingly evil.

I've always been an athiest. I was raised Irish Catholic and my earliest memories of it are sitting in church being a very confused 5 year old, as to how one invisable being, "God", can be real but all others, Santa, the tooth fairy, etc. where fake. How the Christain God is real, but all the others before him wheren't. Really, it makes no sense.

I had always wondered and had questions because it all seemed so impossible, but I tried to believe. Finally about middle school it finally hit me that it’s just all a ruse.

I have never been a believer

Around age 7 I was handed over to my godmother for religious instruction. Mari was the only person my mother knew who went to Church. Mari drew a triangle in the dirt with a popsicle stick and pointed to the top "this is the father" pointed to the right "This is the son..." pointed to the one on the left "...and this is the Holy Ghost." I studied it and asked her "How did the mommy die?" She responded "Mommy?" "Yes," I said. "You have a father and a son and a ghost. What happened to the mommy?" She snuffled and huffed and puffed "There IS no Mommy!" so that was kind of the end of it for me. If I am not part of the plan, I'm not playing.

When I was a child growing up Catholic my life was surrounded by the church - but not really. Sundays I stared at how beautiful the church with it's cathedral ceilings and amazing colorful windows. Really I loved Sundays for the time with my extended family. I loved being with them. Listening to the adults talk. Eating grandma's food.

My grandma died when I was young, and church changed for me. Less family time. Weekends my aunt (super religious) now took me to see my family around town. If not for her, I'd not have seen them often. My mom was a hermit and lived for her baking and alone time. I know this is when I became somewhat cognisant that church wasn't all that and a bag of chips.

In high school I think my parents grew tired of trying to drag me out of bed to church. When I did go, I'd actually be paying attention to what the preist said. And I'd make remarks, grumbles. Hahahaha. My mom was embarrassed, but I'd point out the horrible things the preist said and she'd agree with me. Most of my objections had to do with how subservient women had to be to men. W. T. H.

My mom (still very Catholic - personally I think it's because she wants to see her mom and brothers and sister again) thinks I'm like this because my hallmate in college was a former nun. Lol. She is too much

I always questioned religion. Though I did go through the I’m not religious I’m spiritual phase. I really didn’t even think about religion for many years. My husband (ex) got in a fight one night and he said to the effect that I don’t even believe in God. I was about to correct him, I don’t believe in religion....... but I just realized that I didn’t believe in God! He was absolutely correct.

My experience was more of a journey. It was like starting at the bottom and going all the way to the top. I was never really religious anyway, but I tried really hard for 12 years because I thought I must be the one who is abnormal because everybody else seemed happy being christians. When I finally got here, I found it to be a relief ...no more doubts, no more fear of hell, no more sitting in church listening to some a-hole preach what he probably doesn't even believe himself, but hey, the money's not bad.

I never really bought into any of the god claims growing up, but these terms like agnosticism and atheism were really only discovered when I was around 20 when I happened to stumble across an Atheist Experience episode on YotuTube with Matt Dilahunty and Tracey Harris. After watching the episode I was hooked and started watching nearly all of them while I did other things. IT was only then I realized just how big the spectrum of skeptism really went as I had come to believe that just everyone believed in this crap and I was going to just not believe.

I hadn't heard the terms atheist and agnostic, but I knew I didn't believe as soon as I became aware of religion.

Was an athiest as soon as I was old enough to think for myself about this subject (probably about 7 years old), then, about 5 years ago I became uncertain about athiesm. I wondered if there was some evidence out there that supported the idea of a god which I might be completely unaware of. As it turned out, I was right, there were arguments that I had not heard before like the idea of fine tuning. After watching many debates online between believers and non-believers, and learning more about the evidence for and against the existence of god, it wasn't long before I became an athiest again. Haviong gone through this process of educating myself on this subject, I feel a lot more educated about the universe that we live in, but also, I feel as though I have been exposed to a more rational way of thinking. I found the whole process a very positive one for sure

I was back and forth on it for a long time. I finally switched over finally in later college after studying Christian theology.

My father was a musician and we traveled a lot. I think he believed in god but we never attended church. I also spent a lot of time in bars while he practiced and met all your typical musician types.

When I was 9 my mother married a religious zealot nutjob child molesting child beating piece of shit who forced me into sunday school.

I had questions and they did not like answering them. I truly wanted to believe but just couldn't understand how that flood thing worked. Or any of the Adam and Eve shit. I did understand why cain wanted to kill able LOL

When I was older, I wanted to belong so I went along with occasional visits to church with my husbands relatives but was mostly just bored.

When I was in my 30's, I researched all kinds of fringe belief systems trying to find something to believe in and excused my lack of church going (to protect my children) as a native american thing; I believed the entire earth was sacred and anything that touched the ground was holy.

When the kids were older, I went with "the bible is fiction" thing or I was against organized religion. People just assume you think as they do so I got away with it.

Once the kids were gone, I was done pretending.

Not sure when I started calling myself an atheist. Was young, 6 or 7, when I decided that the whole god thing was a myth. So a non-believer for a long time, unchurched, but wasn't looking for a label.

I was brought up religious. During my high school and early days I had my doubts but I still occasionally went to religious places and thought that there was some form of superbeing. But when I found a video of Richard Dawkins taking about how morality doesn't come from religion it hit me like a bullet and I started reading his books and listening to him, Sam Harris and Hitchens. I became an atheist once I read the Ancestor's Tale, where it did not make sense to have a "superbeing at the top of the evolutionary chart". That moment made me an atheist. It was comforting that I don't have to go to a superbeing and actually work my ass off, whenever I want something (job, school, etc).