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I was raised a Southern Baptist, but at age 15 (1970) I threatened my parents that I was going to stand up in the middle of a sermon and announce that I thought they were all deluded, if they kept forcing me to attend.
It worked. At the time I was helping run the family dairy farm, and doing a man's work, so they couldn't very well throw me out. But it was NOT a pleasant time for me, no lie. And it's always been a problem since, though it's diminished with time; my family is still pretty close, otherwise.
In those days, I knew of a few authors, like Isaac Asimov and some other sf writers, that were openly atheists. But it was much rarer then than it is now, and I knew not a single other atheist personally.
As I've gotten older I have mellowed a lot, and no longer argue the subject much with most of my family- aside from my oldest nephew, who is actually an ordained Southern Baptist minister, and who seems to enjoy the intellectual disputes we have as much as I do!
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