I am 58, I have a vague memory of being lied too about Father Christmas , being told thays not true even though I was assured he was originally and then thinking the same thing about god (catholic family) but figured out for myself that it was bullshit. Doesnt take much ciritcal thinking, even as a kid to realise that.
I had to LARP for a bit but stopped the nonsense of church etc when I was allowed too as a young teen. Reading more widely after that you get to see some of the utter horrors caused by religion and release how toxic they are.
An example, lived in Cambodia many many years ago and a bunch of evangelicals wouldn’t let locals use a water well until they “converted”. A constant reminder of the toxic nature of religion.
I was raised as a Catholic, went to private school K through 12, and even wanted to be a nun when I was around 12. I bought into it 100%.
First started questioning the sinfulness of same-sex love because I was having feelings for my best friend in high school.
I was taught that questioning was a sin, but even that didn’t make sense to me because my intellect is a gift from God, so why would it be sinful to use it?
So I started to allow myself to question things, but continued going to church and believing through my 20s. I just cherry-picked which teachings to keep and disregard.
Sometime in my 30s, thanks to the internet, I was exposed to people like Dan Barker and Sam Harris. I was living in Michigan at the time and also started listening to a local podcast called Reasonable Doubts (highly recommend).
All of that combined helped me realize atheism made the most sense, though it was several months before I learned to embrace the term.
An Omni merciful creator that condemns to an eternity of punishment, also just general observation about reality
Raised Catholic. Around 12 years old I simply could not reconcile the idea of “God is Love” with the idea that “God sends unbelievers to eternal torture in Hell”. I had just learned about Gandhi, and was like, “that guy’s in Hell??”. Told my mom I didn’t believe in god anymore and I didn’t want to go to church anymore. She cried.