It is easier for me to be a better person without the god concept in my life. It is not because I hated gays, atheists, Muslims, or anyone else when I was a christian, because I did not. It is not that I used my religion to cheat people or swindle them, because I did not. It is because, for the first time in my life I found I was totally responsible for my actions and how I could effect the world.

I had always believed god was in control. Nothing could happen without his consent. Ideally, I would line up my will with god’s will and he would work through me. I believed that god working through me was the ultimate way to live and the only way to be the best person I could be. I see a big problem with that line of thinking now.

I realize now that I did not believe I could do anything without god’s approval or at least his consent. That means that no matter how much good I did, I could not do more than he allowed. No matter how much bad I did, I could not cause too much harm. Likewise nothing too good or too bad could happen to me because god controlled all that was around me.

I could never be too successful because god knew how much success I could handle. I also, could not go broke and become financially devastated without god allowing it. Those ideas made it easy to spend less time working and more time praying and reading the Bible. So, I thought I was doing more with my life than I really was.

What is worse, is I actually believed my actions were controlled by god most of the time because I was convinced I was doing his will. Therefore, no matter what I did I could not really cause harm. By the way, It is that mindset that has been a breading ground for Christians to deny climate change. They believe god has been in control and we could not have and will never be able to destroy the earth. God has not and will not allow it. Climate change cannot be a true threat.

I look back and realize I did not believe I was responsible for my actions. I was responsible to follow what I believed god wanted me to do. He was responsible for my actions and their consequences. If people did not like it when I told them homosexuality was a sin then too bad for them. I told them they could not participate repeatedly in homosexual activity and be in gods will. I told them they could not be saved and ignore god’s commands. I told them if they were not saved they were going to hell. I did not care how they felt about it. I did not care about their feelings or circumstances. None of that mattered because god condemned them not me. Any pain I caused them was actually the holy spirit working on them. (Again, I did not have any hatred for homosexuals. I was preaching god’s word.) I could do no harm. God was in control.

I did not have to worry about politics, environment, world religions, diplomacy on any scale, etc. I was doing god’s will and he was responsible for the outcome.

On a personal level, my family would have what god wanted us to have. We would be rich if god wanted or we would be poor if god wanted. I made many bad decisions for my family because I truly, whole-heartedly felt I was in the middle of god’s will and doing what he wanted.

Now, I realize, I am responsible for my actions. If this world is going to be a better place I need to make it better. If people are going to care more about each other we have to work together to care about one another. If this world is going to thrive we need to take care of it. I need to be responsible for how I treat the world and the inhabitants of this planet.

No one can make a bigger difference for good in the world around me than I can. No one can do more for my family than I can. No one can cause more harm than I can. No one needs to be more concerned about my actions than me.

No god is going to save this world or destroy it. No god is going to magically make me successful. No god condemns other peoples actions. No god makes me trample on other’s rights or feelings. No god gives one nation power or makes them great.

It is so freeing to know I can be a better person and treat all others with equal respect simply because it is the right thing to do. I have no motivation to please a deity. I am a better person now because I want the world to be a better place for all of us. I am a better person because I take sole responsibility for my actions. I am a better person because I can do so much more now that I am free to do what is right and not get bogged down in what god wants. The fact that I have more time to do good because I don’t have to read the Bible or pray.

If nothing can happen without god’s permission then god limits everything. I am a better person because I am not limited by god.