Sad christian brainwashing.

[Brakeman]

Do you hold any beliefs or opinions that you came to on your own? I'm sure you do. Why is religion any different?

It is different because it is a radically alternate belief than one I would have come up with on my own.
The church is a movement which has authored many stories to further it's own end. I as a rational person would not have considered believable that the earth and the sun were held in place for an hour so that some goat herders could win a sword battle. However, because I was taught (brainwashed) that god is good, real, loves me, and that he can do all kinds of magic, I didn't doubt this story as a young child. Thankfully I grew free of my church's brainwashing.
If you claim that you probably would have come up with the same beliefs as a child without your parents and churches constant braying on how god and the bible is real, then you are actually making my humorous strawman analogy into a serious argument. I would love to hear your scenario of how someone starts believing any of that crap without a back story of religious indoctrination that is rightfully called brainwashing.

I knew an atheist that said she had an "experience" and began to believe in god. It's not absurd.

I have never once heard of any examples of such and I cannot imagine how that could occur. If you don't think it is absurd, explain to us how you think someone could figuratively trip and fall into believing the horde of absurdities found in the bible.

And no, my mother didn't brainwash me. Again, she taught me.

Are you saying that she presented both sides to the story, such as "the Adam and Eve story could also be just ignorant desert men trying to understand the origin of man because they could not fathom evolution.." Something like that? That would be "teaching". Filling your nursery bookshelves with Jesus and Noah stories is brainwashing. Whether you wish to admit it or not.

She didn't apply systemic pressure.

Did she:

1. Take you to church regularly to expose you to social pressure to conform with their beliefs.

2. Expose you to rather constant imagery of the religion. Crosses, Bibles, Pictures of Jesus

3. Tell you uncritical stories of god.

4. Buy religious children's books for you throughout your childhood, and read them to you.

5. Refer to christians as being a "Good" group and use the term "good christian"

6. Pray around you often, perhaps even prodding you to "Pray".

7. When attending funerals, or mentioning death, consistently say that they are in a better place, and/or with Jesus in heaven.

I could go on, but if your mom didn't do most of these I'll eat my proverbial hat. These are classical elements of brainwashing, just as it is performed for the North Koreans.