As most others who share my beliefs, I've often been asked why I am that way. I officially labeled myself as an atheist when I was 11 years old. I've also been asked how I was so sure at such a young age.
Since I was 6 years old until I was 11, I've been in and out of the foster care system. Before then, I was never formally introduced to the idea of religion. My mom considered herself pagan, and I hadnt met my dad. I remember the very first weekend I arrived at the home, me and my little sister were brought to a big church to "ask god into our hearts". I was asked to go up front and pray. I never fully understood what was going on, but they made it sound like it was good thing to be doing this.
The following weekend we went back there. Every new child that attended was to be brought up front to pray. There was singing, dancing, snacks, and prizes. Christianity sounded and seemed like fun at that age. After that second weekend, we stopped attending that church and began to attend the family's regular church. Not as much fun. I was constantly being told to be quiet, stand up, sit down, dont touch this, dont say that. After the first year of not being able to watch The Simpsons on television and constantly being scolded for this and that, I got to go home. After a few months, another home. This one was more lax, but the rule of having to go to church every Sunday was still enforced. When I was eventually let out of the foster care system at age 11, I was adopted by my aunt, who was a Scientologist. She wasnt a strict person at all, but it was still drilled into my head that I should believe in God and this and that.
I was a straight A student in school and took an especial interest in the theory of evolution at that age. The school system here is not very conservative, so that was the lesson being taught. It was interesting and thoughts popped into my head that completely contradicted everything I had learned in church. I was asking, "What about the dinosaurs?" and that was really what drove me into looking into alternative religions. Scientology was way too crazy for me, but was the medium I needed to boost my interest. There were books at the facility that my aunt worked that were on various scientific subjects. Still 11, I tried making sense of these books by going to the library since I wasn't quite as prococious as I like to think I was. The more I read into it, the more atheism made sense. I decided then that until or unless I find spirituality that makes sense to me, I will be atheist. There has been nothing so far and I really doubt there ever will be.