Was growing up difficult or awkward due to most of your peers being religious?

To me religion was pretend, like cops and robbers or playing with toys. At some point I realized other people weren't pretending. That seemed nuts, but you get used to it.

Have you personally ever considered trying out any religion just to see what it was about?

I don't believe deities are real any more than I believe Spongebob Squarepants is real. And the LARP side of it doesn't appeal to me. Why would I enjoy being in a club of delusional people where I had to constantly lie and pretend I was also delusional? And it's not like I see any upside to it. I don't imagine there's any moral insight hidden in religion, or that I'd be accruing merit by chanting praise to a fictional character.

For example believing in common childhood entities like the toothfairy, monsters in the closet, Santa Claus, etc.

I never believed in those or ghosts. Other kids who did seemed a little off to me. I had the feeling of a "monster in the closet" but I don't remember ever thinking it was real.