I never had belief. I also have never tried to convert the religious but I have defended atheism to believers who tried to convert me. You know, once you go to the dark side it hard to see the light. lol
I can empathize but definitely not sympathize with you. I was raised in a fundamentalist family; my Father is more moderate but not my Mother and her side of the family. They are all Bible believers spawned in the Southern Nazarine Church. College set me on the path to non belief even though I've lived among the true believers my whole adult life. I can even speak fluent fundie. Today they mostly leave me alone and we stay off the topic altogether although in my last go round my Mother condemned me to hell for denouncing the virgin birth. So, no I'll never return to the matrix.
Cap't Jack