It's a choice for me.

At some point you have to choose being sincere with your thoughts or continue in the cognitive dissonance.
But other than that I think is more an intellectual acceptance that for many starts with an outrage with institutions.

We are all born with a brain ... developing it depends on how you are raised ... using it is a choice

It's hard to say from samping data here, because of survivorship bias. We would have to look for evidence that anyone is inherently atheist rather than choosing to be. However, this ignores all the people who are religious. So if we want to know this, we would also have to consider them, and if we can find a single example of someone who truly questions amongst the religious, the theory would need to be reworked.

I really don’t think we can control what we believe or disbelieve. If an assertion seems reasonable to us we will lean toward belief. Belief will arise spontaneously.

But why is it thought important to believe or disbelieve? To emphasize belief, to expect belief in some assertion—that kills belief right there. Belief has to come on its own. That’s one of my main objections to Christianity: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved”—that statement immediately guarantees disbelief by naturally skeptical people.

Some people are naturally sceptical and want to understand why things have to be a certain way, others are naturally "good soldiers" as the saying goes and say things like "it is what it is" to avoid the risk of change or confrontation. Some live by the phrase "if it's not broken, don't fix it", others will stand up and explain why it actually is broken, has been always been broken, or at least how it can be improved (people then get very offended as thier routine gets threatened). Some people get immersed in the croud energy and enthusiasm and groupthink and crave to be popular with them, others don't care about what the thousand people around them believe or getting their approval or respect.

A very good question.

If you get down and dirty, does anyone have a choice?
Is free will real?

that sounds like predestination

I think it's a choice.....of course that's me