How many years have you been an atheist?

[klassykow]

Catholic. My 8th grade religious education teacher was a recently reformed atheist (I think it was his wife who made him come back to the church) and his class was great because we didn't actually talk religion much. I was seriously skeptical around the time I was confirmed at age 15, but I thought I'd go ahead and stick with it like someone completing a degree in a discipline they didn't like anymore. I was a teacher's aide for a 5th grade religious education class when I was 16 and felt terrible about solidifying these children's beliefs in something I had dwindling faith in. I really don't know why I did that class… Then, after a lot of thought, I stopped calling myself skeptical and confidently became an atheist just before my senior year in high school started. Now, only about 8 months later, I feel silly thinking that I ever had faith in Catholic dogmas. I'm an atheist now, loving the perspective it has given me.