Restating My "Religion Does Good" Post More Explicitly

[Splendour]

quote: I was affected by the theistic ideas, and I became consumed with guilt and had regular panic attacks featuring the hell I was sure I would go to. In my case, I was no less moral after abandoning the idea of God, but I'm much more functional and self-confident now (which allows me to do much greater good overall). Oh yeah, did I mention I'm happier?

Why be consumed with guilt? It seems like you are somehow mistaken in your understanding of theistic ideas. I admit, most people think when they believe they will be somehow immediately transformed. They expect a miraculous transformation on the spot. I guess you didn't get this immediate transformation, concluded you were bad and panicked. People are still individually different and will manifest changes in their own ways. Sort of like plants that grow at their own rates. Its only by staying in the religion and reading the text to get a deeper understanding of the spirit that you come to realize you can take it one day at a time and one bad sin at a time. Of course, it might speed up once you get deep enough into things. This is where the grace comes in. We can never do it all on our own. But once we start to put out our feelers to God he bridges the distance and does the rest. As a natural correlation from this process if you're correcting your own behavior you will be having a positive impact on the world around you and your peacefulness will deepen.