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This is my own journey as an atheist:
I became an atheist about thirteen years, when I was only seventeen years old. The reason for my change was my father. He followed the tenets of his Christian faith to the smallest detail. He used metal rods to beat me when I was younger--yeah, you read right, metal rods. He justified his abusive acts with a Bible quote that said: 'spare the rod and spoil the child'. He would accuse me of witchcraft and of using witchcraft to cause his financial problems anytime I fell asleep in his long and overdrawn midnight prayers. When I got admitted into the University of Ibadan at age 17, I became an atheist. Prior to that decision, I had slowly been doubting the teachings of the Bible, I had started thinking them as ridiculously, far-fetched set of rules created by men to explain the unexplainable in the most ridiculous way imaginable. Of Course, I kept my Irreligiosity a secret. Even in the University, no one knew I was atheistic, untill I was age 20. That was the age I decided to let it all out. My best friends at University didn't react badly because they had already perceived my irreligiosity from the apathetic way I regarded religious matters. But when I told my father, he stopped paying my school fees and stopped sending me money. He cursed me and told me my future would end in tatters . Of course, I was prepared for this, I used my business earnings to take care of the rest. My family disowned, so I was stranded without a place to call home. But in my last year at University, I won a scholarship to further my education abroad (MSC) in the University of Liverpool. The scholarship was worth £70,000. By the time I was done with my Masters I was already a millionaire. The first in my family. The first atheist, the first millionaire. My father was shocked, of course, and started accusing me of Blood money, money rituals, this and this and that, but it didn't matter to me anymore. Atheism is the best decision I've ever made, don't let yourself be discouraged by your parents or anyone else