Man, i remember how i turned to atheism, i started to doubt that praying to any saint or to God and my friend Jesus had any influence in my life, i was only 13 or 14 when it happened, i started thinking that maybe there isn't a god that can control what happens, even though i never read the true Bible (the one i have is made for kids, so it ignores a lot of the original work), i simply stopped praying every night, stopped thinking "thank god", just stopped. I haven't told my family this, that is because as far as i know, every single member of my family is catholic, and living in Mexico, catholicism is so big and important that even if the goverment is separated from the church, we still have holidays related to the religion approved and recognized by the goverment (we probably have more religious holidays than national ones), so i would be the black sheep of my family if i come out, although maybe my older cousins have also stopped believing and there is a chance that my father knows, but neither of us have made a move. The only people that know this are some of my friends.
When i became the equivalent of a freshmen, i had philosophy classes, my teacher opened my mind, i was literally blown away with the way people have thought throught the ages, things like the difference between atheism and agnosticism, people like Descartes, all of them greeks, Voltaire and such, although i don't remember exactly who had which thoughts, it was an important chapter of my life. My mom didn't like the fact that i took philosophy classes because they teach you to ask questions (Ironic), she told me that i had to keep my faith strong, i wonder what the me from another universe who kept believing would have done?
To this day i respect every religion that doesn't go too radical with its ideas, so i don't say anything about other people's beliefs because it is none of my business, i even go through all the things my mom asks, like bathing me with flowers and plants so i can do well at studying, going to church whe i visit my family, or litting a candle for a deceased family member, but i still feel a little disconnected when i do it.