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I'd say I was born an Atheist, informed of the christian god as a kid, took it for granted but never REALLY believed it, and then completely abandoned it.
I was born into a religious family, they did all they could to shove it down my throat from the beginning. From the time I became aware, I started to question. It just didn't make sense to me. On more then one occasion, my questions left my Father speechless. Not too mention how my questions and observations effected more then one of my teachers.
Born an atheist. Indoctrinated when I was about 6. Saw many problems with religion for years. When I started high school (age 14), I was a deist. I believed in a creator, but not a personal one that communicates with you or anything like that. When I was 16, I became an atheist.
Location: Midessa, Texas Home Yangzhou, Jiangsu temporarily
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I was raised Christian, kinda. My family professed a Christian faith but we were not very religious and attended church infrequently. Then when I was about 16 I became a more serious Christian and for a while I really believed. I accepted Christ as my savior and I was baptized. I remember vividly a sermon about how God would create a new Earth and a new heaven and after church I looked at the night sky and wondered if heaven (actually the constellations) would look different from the new Earth.
Then at about 19 I began to question my new beliefs and eventually abandoned them altogether because I felt that it would not intellectually honest for me to continue to believe.
I have no issue with the term atheist as opposed to agnostic. One definition of atheist is someone who lacks a belief in God or gods. That does not mean that I know for sure that there is no God, only that I lack a belief in God. I don't mind being called agnostic either. Both terms fit.
I chose the first option, since it was the closest. When I was very young I had what you might call a very basic religious education. I was even briefly enrolled in a religious youth group called AWANAS. Suffice to say I don't think I ever took any of it to heart. There was something of a direct contradiction between my being raised to make my own decisions and "The only stupid question is the one you don't ask." and the "Don't be a doubter, just have faith." type attitude I encountered with that group.
In any case, I don't think I have ever really believed, though I did have some basic religious instruction early on. I was an agnostic more than anything else. I've only self identifying Atheist for about 6 or 7 years.
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