I asked my mother (when I was around 10) if God, Devil, Heaven and Hell exist really. Don’t remember what exactly she said but her answer was “No” and loosely referenced these to individual`s state of mind. What I inferred was that there was no super power which could police, reward and punish. My personal assumption is that if there is a force/process that supports life on this planet, it is devoid of any judgment – just like sunlight which does not differentiate between good and bad plants /fermentation process which induces the same chemical reaction in good and spoilt milk. On a side note, my father who is very religious never tried to advise in any which way, and in this regard, I respect him more than my mother.
Following link is an excerpt from the autobiography of Sourav Ganguly – past Indian Cricket captain. (Click here) He glorifies Durga Pooja in the first half (which to me was boring to the core). Then he touches upon what he did to get back into the team, when he was being sidelined. His personality/intelligence/attitude is defined by what he did, rather than his individual religious beliefs. Whether one is religious or not is as personal as whether one likes blue color or red color, having no bearing on anything that I could think of. As such, I find intellectual atheists dumb and religious theists boring. (who advocate their thoughts opposing other belief systems).
If the idea of God is an expression of improbable human capability, the following (read somewhere) seems rationally conclusive. Belief in God is belief in – realizing unlimited potential and unconditional love. Just to clarify, I am too cynical to buy into unconditional love and too lazy to realize any potential.