I didn’t suddenly become reckless when I stopped believing in God. I became more intentional.

And in some ways, more afraid — because now there was no cosmic excuse waiting for me if I got it wrong.

Losing my belief in an afterlife has only intensified this sense of responsibility. When I believed eternity was guaranteed, suffering in this life felt temporary. Tragic, yes — but ultimately part of a larger, divinely ordered story.

Now, this life is all I believe we have. And that makes other people’s pain feel unbearable in a new way.

It makes injustice feel urgent instead of theoretical.

It makes kindness feel like a moral emergency instead of a spiritual bonus point.

I feel more obligated now — not less — to help people, to show up, to reduce harm where I can, because there is no heavenly reset button waiting on the other side.

If something matters, it matters here.

If someone is suffering, it matters now.

And if I make a harmful choice, I can’t outsource responsibility to God, fate or a divine plan.

I have to own it.

That’s the part no one warned me about when I left religion:

Morality doesn’t get lighter.

It gets heavier.

--Sami Garrison