Is there such a thing as “denominalizing” or something like that?  Every time someone calls for deconversion stories, I go looking through various things I’ve written about my “spiritual path” or whatever, and I realize that I didn’t actually “lose faith” so much as stop confusing an aesthetic love of mythology and ritual for a genuine belief (as opposed to a wishful thinking along the lines of “how cool it would be if they were real!") in supernatural beings or events.

As far back as I can remember, I don’t recall ever actually feeling like God, Jesus, the Blessed Mother or the Holy Ghost were REAL.  In fact, I’m certain I had actual “faith” in the reality of Santa Claus - I knew it to be true until I saw with my own eyes it was not. Not once do I ever recall having that same sense of certainty about any of the Christian invisibles, even as a child in Catholic church and schools, duly indoctrinated.

In 2003, I stopped claiming I was anything other than an atheist when questioned about my religious identity, just because it was the honest thing to do. Saying I was agnostic just to avoid controversy or confrontation was a filthy LIE, and “big fan of mythology and ritual” isn’t a religious identity at all.

So, that’s not really “deconversion” but I don’t know what the hell to call it!  Any suggestions?

I don’t think I’ve got a real ‘deconversion story’...I was only a vague believer at best and my agnosticism-leaning-toward-atheism developed over time.  Sometimes I wish I had an ‘aha’ moment simply for the storytelling benefits.

I don’t really have a de-conversion story as such because I never actually believed or had faith (?) in the whole concept in the first place.
Not to say I didn’t want to – oh, I tried so hard to ‘be filled with the holy spirit’ but I was always just too full of my self (ambiguity noted   )
I searched and searched for ‘faith’ or un-reason.
I recall discussing the issue of god’s existence with a catholic mate, on the half hour bus trip to school, in my early teens and asking the how, what and why and he replied something like: you just believe.
Like OB, I think I’d believed in Santa more than I ever believed in god.
I recall reading a Lobsang Rampa book in the early 70s just after I came back from the overseas holiday – the gist of which I recall was his description of a man who was never satisfied in his religion and went on to search through them all and finished up having none.
I clearly remember thinking, at the time, that that was probably how I’d finish up – I did, thankfully.
Although there have been many times I wanted to believe for some reason I just can’t quite fathom – maybe so I could be like other people, maybe? 
As far as I can recall I’ve only ever mixed with people who ‘have faith’.
I wonder if this makes any sense. Doesn’t matter, does it?

I’ll take this opportunity to thank y’all here at SEB for helping me rationalise (?) what I’ve always thought about the non-existence of god.

I can see that Satan has been busy here.  “The fool saith in his heart, the Bible is a bunch of baloney”.

I have a very similar story.  Like OB, I was attracted to mythology and ritual, and spent a lot of time in my youth hanging out with believers, especially Bahá’ís.  But I never actually believed in any supernatural beings, after learning the ugly truth about Satan, I mean Santa.  In fact, I remember arguing with a neighborhood kid about the existence of God when I was about eight, and coming up with the snappy rejoinder, “Well, if God created the Universe, Who created God?” At the time I was very proud of myself, thinking no one else had ever thought of this question.  But verily “There is nothing new under the Sun”.

I was a funamentalist Christian in my youth (for about 13 years) and worked hard to study and understand my bible. I’d always been troubled by the inconsistencies in the bible that no one could explain, and my reading of the scientific evidence for the reliability of the bible suggested it was anything but. . .

So, I lost my faith as a funamentalist first and then took my knowledge as a scientist and researcher to the task of examining the question of whether there was a God at all. In essence, I would have to agree with Asimov:

I believe in evidence. I believe in observation, measurement, and reasoning, confirmed by independent observers. I’ll believe anything, no matter how wild and ridiculous, if there is evidence for it. The wilder and more ridiculous something is, however, the firmer and more solid the evidence will have to be.

I’ve long ago concluded that that there is absolutely no compelling evidence to support the idea that God exists. Consequently, I am an atheist.

It is a shame in a way—I’d love to be able to believe in God. I was raised catholic and love all the pomp and ceremony. I also like the idea of some benevolent all-seeing soul looking out for me. . . and the universe does seems a vast lonely place without one; but that isn’t a sufficient reason for believing.

Of course, (like any good scientist), my conclusions are always subject to revision in the event that someone comes up with some good evidence to support the premise. It’d have to be pretty darned compelling though . . .