Atheists, tell me, a Roman Catholic: why should I become an atheist?

[Tonus]

I suppose it was because I was raised Catholic, looked into the teachings without questioning them too much, and following the teachings seemed right. It just made sense to me.

The thing is, questioning my faith seriously for the first time obviously forces me to think against what I've considered fact for a while. This is the first time I've genuinely thought, "What if there's no God?"

I was raised Christian (by a Jehovah's Witness) and had the same problem-- my beliefs were based on a number of presuppositions that made it natural to interpret any information in a way that protected those concepts. It can be hard to overcome that bit of mental programming because it is so strongly held and reinforced, and because we fear the consequences of rejecting it. No, not hell-- but how the people around us and the people we care about will treat us if we break out of that bubble.

My advice-- do not spend any time thinking "what if there's no God." The thoughts and ideas that will arise from that question are not relevant to the question "how do I know God is real?" That is the question you must answer for yourself. Try to figure out where your doubts are coming from. Is it just a random thought that led you here? Or something you saw or heard or experienced that made you wonder why your foundational beliefs are unquestioned, and what happens to your other beliefs if those presuppositions cannot be confirmed?