I Was Once An Atheist

I often hear the score: like you "I was once an atheist" but I weighed the evidence and found {Jesus Christ|Allah|Natalie Portman} to be real! While I'd prefer not to doubt their sincerity, the phrase has become too common that it has now almost achieved cliche status. Now I take it as the usual yadda yadda you can skip to arrive at the point he/she is trying to make, and that is: I know the emptiness of your (atheism) argument because I have been there already and it ain't any better. I wasn't really a true believer so I cannot counter with "I was a believer once". All I remember is that I finally accepted "god" is nothing but an excuse not to pursue the big questions any longer. Once you accepted the "god did it" hypothesis as fact, all the important questions fall in the proper places, i.e., under the philosophical rug.