I was raised LDS dabbled with theology. I must have been like 5 or 6 years old in primary and I remember them telling me it was the one and only true religion. even then with my child mind I thought. "Well wouldn't any other religion say the same" it was quite a few periods in my life where I tried to follow suit to fit in. Hah but I think back and I get a good feeling about the doubious and questioning younger me.

Everyone is borne an atheist
So I have been one since birth.

I had my own bible and was baptized. Then our pastors daughter told me she would make herself fall during the anointing circle and I started questioning everything. I never did get the answer I was looking for. I literally burned that bible.

I don't remember being religious. There are pictures of me at vacation Bible school, though, so I know there was a time when I likely thought I was at least.

I gave up on the idea before confirmation, though, and my family didn't force it on me. I was allowed to help out in the nursery instead of going to the sermon or Sunday school, that last year that she expected me to attend with the family.

My mother remains religious, but I remain grateful that she never tried particularly hard to keep me in the flock.

I can remember when I was very young (maybe six or seven) expressing the desire to become a minister. But as far as religion is concerned, it was all downhill from there. Science grabbed me!

I remember being in Sunday school and not believing anything that she was telling us. At age 8 I saw it all as bs and felt like I was being lied to. Shortly after, my parents said we weren’t going to church anymore because, in their words, there is no God. I still believed in Santa, but not God. It’s just part of my DNA.

I grew up more culturally religious than practicing religious. My parents and friends were all Christian but none of us actually went to church. When I went away to college I started paying attention to science and history classes in a way I hadn't before and met people that were PRACTICING religious. I quickly decided that the two things were incompatible.

I was never fully Christian, my parents arent either, it was more the religion of my grandparents, which i kind of picked up parts of and said "that's ok". It took many years to realise that it was actually not ok, that the way religion is taught in many ways teaches people to go against their reason.

Now reason is not the only motivating factor in a human life - there are emotions and social motivations - but it is the thing that keeps us grounded, and that makes it pretty darn important.

I'm also exmormon-I was all in. The ces letter is what "gave me permission" to trust my doubts.

I was actually raised between two churches: First Baptist (American baptist) and non-denominational that I can't remember the name of. At First Baptist, I was taken hold of by the spirit so to speak and participated in many activities. Looking back, I realize it was because it made me feel good because everyone was happy to have me and encouraged it. It wasn't "God" that made me feel that way, but acceptance. I actually got in trouble for questioning some passages while I was there, but hey, what can you do?

Very believing in the love and compassion. First I noticed that the religious people did not behave with compassion, but with authoritarianism. So I read and studied more, then found that scripture didn't either. It took about ten years to fully denouce christianity. I only wish I had do so much earlier.

I was an unrooted, antagonistic prick, who perceived too many inconsistencies and schisms in organized religion to ever develop a sense of which one I most closely identified with. I joined a Baptist youth group because some friends were church members, and would invite the Jehovah Witnesses in, only to be disappointed that I couldn't plan ahead and have my Blue Oyster Cult & Iron Maiden albums out. I regarded Life of Brian as being on equal footing as a PBS documentary. Very different from today! Now I'm too old an atheist to be in a church youth group and the BOC & IM are digital copies, so the Jehovahs still don't see them when I invite them in to ask about the social zealot, Jesus, would regard global warming and the Republican party.

I taught a couple of the adult Bible study classes at the church I was at.

I am much happier now!

I was a full time student at a Bible Institute for a year right after high school. This was a 3 year program and everyone pretty much takes the same courses the first year, which they called BCT (Basic Christian Training). The idea was to go for that, and stay for the full program if you felt "called" to the ministry. If yes, you'd become a pastor, youth pastor, minister of music, or a missionary bush pilot (those were the majors). If no, you'd theoretically be a well-equipped layman in your local church, presumably church board material, that sort of thing.

I didn't feel "the call" and did not stay, but as a result of that year, I have more theological training (albeit, narrow and sectarian) than most former believers.

All of which is to say, "pretty religious". I was god's and religion's to lose, basically, and they managed to lose me. I lasted about 10 years into my adult life before it started to unravel.

Raised Catholic and did the whole 9 yards but never really bought it. To many inconsistencies in what was being taught. Like - eating meat on friday, go to hell. Then we change the rules. so what happens to all them meat eaters in hell? They get an "out of hell card? and compensated for time spent?

I was never religious, because I was too curious. I couldn't believe something that made no sense whatsoever.

I went to Sunday school so I could learn about religion. As far as I remember, I didn't take anything they taught as real. It never occurred to me that people took that stuff as fact. I was 11 when my mom finally asked if I believed. I said no, end of Sunday school.

Enough to do some heinous damage to myself.

A lot!

Full blown NUT! I was gonna be a baptist preacher, thank Set I had to study religion and history in baptist seminary which is a lot different than LDS seminary.

If only more read the bible and studied religious history.....

Not very.