My atheism came after a long journey, and not suddenly after leaving (being DF'd from) the JW's.
At first I thought of myself as merely an ex-JW Christian, and then as I studied history and the Bible more, I came to doubt its believability. As time went on, I realized I couldn't assume that God either does or does not exist, so I became agnostic. That was where I was at for several years.
Then after further discussions with free-thinking people, I realized that atheists really only weigh the evidence for or against a God who either exists or is involved in earth's affairs, and see for themselves that the evidence is not enough for belief. Atheism is not necessarily anti-God, any more than not believing in the tooth fairy makes you anti-tooth fairy. Rather, it's just looking at the evidence available and making a judgment.
If there is any God, I surely would think he or it is not like the one described in the Old Testament, the one who says he causes both good and evil. The one who told the Israelites to commit genocide in Palestine and "dash children to pieces against the rocks, and let not your eye feel sorry". The one so jealous that he demands worship and belief or he'll run you through the winepress of his wrath. The one who says in his book the Bible that yes there is evil, and you just have to put up with it, and he'll explain it all later.