"Allow me to confirm that yes, I am a diehard atheist, and have been since I was about 5 and discovered to my annoyance that there was no santa claus, no easter bunny, and no tooth fairy. well, that was it for me - I resolved then and there that no one was going to sucker ME into believing in any more invisible characters with superpowers! as I grew older, the more I learned about the histories of organized religions, the more convinced I became that (a) people around the world are extremely gullible, and (b) i need to get off my ass and start a religion of my own!"