I was about seven when I realized that the guy up front wasn't telling us made-up stories-- he believed them. It scared me and it scared me that the people around us believed such nonsense.

On the way out, I asked my father if he believed. He hesitated and then cautiously answered with something like "Not entirely". That was it for me: I told him I would not go to church again and I did not.

When I was in my mid thirties I learned about Secular Humanism from an NPR radio show. Other than my wife, I had never met another non-believer, so that interested me.

And now I'm 73 and still am amazed that people believe such utterly ridiculous things.