That’s interesting because I only became a vegan long after I became an atheist and I think if it happened the other way around there wouldn’t have been such a delay seeing as so many Catholic religious feasts in my culture have an entire roasted animal as a centerpiece. That would have definitely forced me to confront my religion. It’s weird too because we are taught that we are stewards of animals and to take advantage of them in such ways seems contradictory to the faith.
Something that has stuck with me though is religious music, especially the stuff with darker vibes. Music targeted at a religious demographic with religious messaging like Christian rock is not what I’m taking about, just the classics that we used to sing in church and choir. I also enjoy religious precessions, I don’t see them as cultish rituals as I think a lot of atheists do. There is something meditative about processes like the giving and receiving of communion.