Why are you a Theist?

[The Grand Nudger]

It occurs to me that, even if I were to attempt to explain my history, it would inevitably have a tendency to be deeply infected by bullshit, because that is how we, typically, as humans, develop our "belief stories," and, I imagine this is no less true for an atheist explaining why they came to nonbelief as it would be for a theist to explain why they came to belief.

Wonderful, frank, and open post - but this bit stuck out. I appreciate that this is your personal assessment - and it's not stated or implied to be anything else - but how much bullshit would be required in the case of one who cannot ever recall a moment when they believed - one whose family and other close friends cannot recall a moment when they expressed a belief - or when they expressed anything that suggested a belief, one who continues to find themselves without any belief?

If the question was posed as "how did you get from there to here" and the response was, "there -is- here". There wouldn't seem to be any parity between the two situations. No journey to infect with any bullshit. This would apply equally as well for theists, mind you. In the case of theism, just imagine a child born into a family steeped in religious tradition who has never had (or felt the need) to explore their faith - simply accepting it as is and making no pretense otherwise.