I was a staunch atheist for many years, from 5 to about 28. I agreed with Robert Ingersoll and others. Didn't see the light until my late 20s. Started out academically reading the bible on my own, simply to see what all the hubbub was about. I learned respect for Jesus, but not necessarily his theology. Then I started talking about the bible with people that believed. Then I started experiencing miracles in the form of dreams of real events that I would later see with my own eyes. That opened my mind to the possibility we are more than we can percieve. From there picking a religion seemed arbitrary, but monotheism seemed logical (first mover principal.) I went down a few christian religion roads, but landed on what I percieve to be the most pure form. Its nothing you've heard of, and most religions would consider it radical and heretical. Jesse Lee Peterson is the only public figure I know of that holds similar theological views (I learned of him many years after adopting my views.)