Yes definitely. The realization that the way things operate are drastically different than the way I was taught was jarring. It's difficult in some situations, for example I went to a private university that was expensive, didn't provide an in depth education, and completely ignored some facts such as the age of the earth and evolution.

My disbelief probably started as being disgruntled from going to church every weekend and other church functions. I just got tired of it, and the fact that I had depression and no one seemed to care didn't help that fact.

I came to these realizations about the same time I moved out on my own, so I was suddenly in this "real world" that I had been sheltered from for so long. This sort of started the "ah ha!" moment for me, but it was more of a "don't care anymore" attitude. Then after I started reading about the science behind the things I didn't know, it truly became the 'ah ha!' moment as I realized I was definitely atheist after understanding more than I ever had about basic science. It's not like I didn't learn chemistry, I was simply never taught evolution. Those things were always scoffed at.

It hurts my parents I know, and I haven't told them I'm an atheist so that's fun. They know I don't believe everything they believe, but my mother feels like I won't go to heaven since I have decided to "reject the truth". It's difficult because I know they love me, but at the same time I feel like I was somewhat brainwashed and abused by religion. But so were they...

I was raised Seventh-Day Adventist, and now am an Atheist. For me I grew up entirely in the church with schooling and church every weekend. All of my knowledge was obtained through the church until I met the internet. While it certainly didn't change me right away, the access to knowledge that actually made some sense to me started m on the path towards atheism.

Honestly I was probably bitter about some things that happened in my childhood, but that isn't the reason I changed. Once I realized how amazing science was, and being skeptic, my rational mind took over and I couldn't get enough of it. At first I called myself agnostic and then atheist after I read Dawkins "The God Delusion". Soon I found myself in the midst of a sea of skepticism that I didn't even realize existed.

I don't know why I wrote this, but I guess my point is that it wasn't only one thing that drove me away from religion. Now I just have to figure out how to break it to my poor parents.