How did come to be a believer or non-believer?

[mike_c]

5. as far as I can remember, I have never believed the christian nonsense my family pushed....

Conservative, evangelical christians. My parents once did some sort of prison ministry. I remember when they decided to quit the Southern Baptist Church because it was "too liberal," presumably in a theological sense. They were attracted to bible pounders and brimstone promises. Theirs was an angry white god.

I don't ever recall believing it, not ever. My earliest memories of religion are forced church attendance and Sunday school indoctination. During my "troubled youth" stage I was carted around to "counselors" and "therapists" that I later recognized as pastors and church youth outreach sorts at different churches-- the sessions were invariably in church offices or basements.

One of the first expressions of personal determination that my parents allowed me was non-attendance at church-- by my teenaged years it was probably more work forcing me to attend and dealing with my angry behavior than it was worth to them, so they stopped insisting. But I never believed any of it. Ever.