I went to a catholic private grammar school... and an all girl catholic high school...so, creative thinking skills kicked in in sophomore year... and it was over.... especially after a particularly disturbing sermon asking for more money by a priest that looked like a sow, and wore a toupee. My mom got her money's worth after all!! ??

God fails me and many others, ignoring injustice, and allowing suffering of many while few live in opulence.
If he/she/they are/is real they are not worth worshipping, but logically deities are just not practical to believe in for any reason.

When I was able to admit he was a hateful asshole (god), nonbelief came easily.

Every religion seems to be a business, some obvious and some more subtle. I was raised in the Roman Catholic religion, one of the worse. When I visited Rome, I went to Vatican City State. While their art was truly beautiful ... I was struck by the fact that, if they were REALLY Christians, they could use their opulent wealth to end poverty worldwide. The gold in and on St. Peter's Basilica, stolen in wars centuries ago, alone could help millions of people.

To quote one of my heroes "Faith is the excuse used to justify a position when there isn't any evidence" (Matt Dillahunty). To be expected to believe in a sky daddy that will punish you forever for not believing in something for which there is no evidence at all is ludicrous.

It's how christains treat the gay community, the contridictions in the bible, how screwed up the world is, and a family member telling me I was going to hell if I became an catholic(I was baptist). SO, I decided to free myself from the bs. I have been happier since.

Common sense.

I was born an atheist.

Logic and Reason

When I was young I didn't give it any thought so I can't say that I was a believer but as I got into my teens and started thinking about it I found that it made no sense.

Participating in a war.

I was born into a Mormon family and raised to be a Moron (oops, Mormon). As an adult I decided to study the prophecies of Joseph Smith (founding prophet of the Moron church), in order to convince others that he was a true prophet. Instead, the more I studied, the more I discovered that his prophecies did not consistently come true. (Even a false prophet can guess right part of the time.) I found several false prophecies, and concluded that Joe Smith was a fraud. At that point I left the Moron church.

Later, I put the biblical prophets through the same test, and got the same results. Every major prophet in the Buybull made some predictions that failed to come true, and the time for their fulfillment has passed. Therefore, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel are all as fraudulent as Joe Smith. I also found quite a few contradictions in the Bible, and evidence that parts of the Bible (notably Matthew, for example) appear to be satirical. Christian friends and family had me reading various books on apologetics, but all the arguments were flawed or weak. Seeing no good evidence that any gods existed, I became an atheist.

Reason.

Because through out history, Religion has caused nothing but pain and suffering.

Being raised evangelical!

No one is made atheist or agnostic. We're all born atheist. People are made religious through brainwashing and indoctrination. I was brought up as a southern baptist. I knew from my early teens it was bullshit but I was still forced to go to church.

Lack of evidence, suffering of people,impedes human progress.psychological damage blind faith,

Belief is irrational when held for any other purpose than to avoid cognitive overload during a normal day. Even the moderately curious human being will realize soon that there is only one rational position to hold. Believe nothing other than the mundane (explanation available on request). Accept nothing without sufficient supporting objective evidence and when one does accept anything, one should always allow for the future possibility that it may be wrong. Think critically about and question all things.

Nothing. It’s the default position.

I was born a freethinker, religion is taught so is atheist/agnostic.

I could write a book on that one, it is a huge part of my autobiography. Long story short - I had doubts for so long that I ignored because being a good christian mom/wife was what I needed to be for the life I had. When the disconnect between who I was and how I was living started to get increasingly uncomfortable, and I could no longer stuff down the truth I had to make changes. I got a divorce and then had to acknowledge the Xian church does really not have a role for middle aged divorcees. They just don't fit in the picture. So being away from the weekly brainwashing allowed all the truth to surface and I had to find a new identity and I embraced my heathen side.

I was skeptical from the beginning, and the more and more i knew about universe, religion and bible the less i believed.

A friend of mine told me his mother made him an atheist, and that if I gave her the wool she'd make me one too.

Because no just god could allow the same question to be posted so frequently.
And, welcome, of course.

I was born this way