In my youth, all schools in the UK seemed to be affiliated to some sort of religious grouping, hence: 'Church of England (CofE)' schools, 'Catholic' schools etc., etc. I don't know if that was a requirement for schools then (1950s) or whether it still is (?) My schools were CofE. As a schoolboy I had no choice but to attend morning prayers and be subjected to Religious Instruction/Knowledge/Education (or whatever it was called}. My Mother was religious - although she never discussed her faith with me. Her only requirement was that the whole family attend Evensong on a Sunday. I was also a Boy Scout which also involved being subjected to a certain amout of religion.

As a result of these experiences I decided that religion was (a) boring, (b)nonsensical (c)weird (all that droning on and on and on about suffering and someone being horribly tortured to death 2000 years ago), (d) nothing to do with me.

As I grew older I learned about history and how, in the past, many religious people slaughtered other people in the name of religion (they're doing so now, of course).

I also learned about Science - which makes infinitely more sense than religion.

That's basically why I'm an atheist - you could say they taught me to be one at school!