I suppose for me, I believed in god because my family around did. It helped that, as a Hindu, Hinduism is quite accepting of new spiritual ideas; there are many different sects and belief systems surrounding spirituality in Hinduism, although the main mythology remains constant. As I went through school, education and science, my belief starting slipping to the point where anything religious was just done for the sake of tradition. I distinct remember on Religious Studies class in school where some of my classmates were asking questions about religion/god that I wouldn't have dared ask back then. That's probably when I realised that these questions were in fact valid and that the answers were becoming more and more like excuses.

It's only in recent years that I've been more open about it all. I've also found that most of my family aren't anywhere near as religious as I thought, although some of them to seem to follow some strange superstitions that I just can't get my head round. I manage to keep it fairly diplomatic around them.

Having said that, as far as my mum's concerned, I was born Hindu and will always be one no matter what I believe. Illogical, but whatever.

I have been an atheist since god made me, that's how he wanted me to be

I think I get what you are saying. Correct me if I'm misinterpreting you, but you're saying that because we all go through imaginary and magical thinking at some point in our lives, that makes the magical/imaginary thinking the default position. While it may be true that everyone goes through imaginary/magical thinking, I don't think that makes it default, because it is not until years after birth that such thinking arives. Your assertion would still agree with mine that people aren't born with any philisophical beliefs (such as a belief in God), but we attain them later in life.

And besides, when it comes to belief in a God, that's simply not the case anymore. It may have been true in the past that people naturally associated God with inexplicable phenomena. But today, most things can be explained and I don't think it's default for people to bring God into the equation. For the most part today, people's belief in God is the result of cultural upringing, not innate inclinations. 

My brothers girlfriend is an internet athiest.  She pokes & provokes every chance she gets, it's pretty annoying, even though I'm an athiest myself.

Aaah, yes, I see. Sorry, just thought you'd make a good sparring partner so I had to try out another angle =)

You have said it's closeminded to say atheism is the default position. But that's false because people lack a belief in God when they are born.

And if you disagree with that definition of atheism, then forget the term "atheism" altogether because it's too much trouble to go back and forth. Do you agree that people are born with a lack of belief in God?

TO ALL YOU LOGICAL PEOPLE OUT THERE TELL ME WHY NOT BELIEVE IN GOD ?

If he exists and you dont believe in him you go to hell but if you believe you go to heaven..there is nothing you can lose..so why not ? and if he doesnt exist then he doesnt exist you wont ruin your life or anything like that..thats simple logic and everyone should agree IMO.

What God(s) are you talking about? There are literally thousands I could believe in. How could you possibly know you choose the right God(s) to believe in? What if I believe in the Christian God but it turns out Islam is the correct religion? I'd be just as fucked as the atheist.

You also can't jsut flip a switch in your head and suddenly believe in something. Even if I really wanted to, I'd need the sufficient evidence to truly believe.

My friend had this very view.  He died in Afganistan after joining the "holy war" at the urging of his parents.

EDIT: One time I was a passanger in his Jeep driving on an outback gravel road.  The road was a steep, maybe 30 degree incline and we were driving down it at around 60kmh.  One side was a cliff that dropped off 100's of feet into jagged rocks & a lake.  He locked the brakes & put the Jeep into a slide going towards the edge to try prove a point, he said he did it to show me how believing in god is "insurance", and my fear was because I was uninsured.  Needless to say I always looked at him sideways after that.

If god is anything like what is depicted in the bible and/or the qur'an or most religion, I rather take my chances as an atheist since I find the Abrahamic god to be very, very cruel and the most evil thing there ever was.