I am not religious yet most of the time in my life I have not been unsympathetic towards religion. In my youth I have found it curious how in a secular world people would be able to believe in God, and I like the outsider, those who run against the grain, even when I am aware that, as a matter of fact and in reality, they don´t; plus I feel the urge to protect or to console the weak. The essence of religion however is to bring the best and the noblest out of man, to teach us humility, sincerity, friendliness, carefulness, etc, and this is something I am quite fond of. Militant atheists don´t see this because militant atheists are not in a proper contact with reality. Most people are not in a proper contact with reality, because they lack awareness and/or entertain a distorted perspective because of their (intellectual) egocentrism. (And, given what we scientifically know about the universe at the moment and since we are still unaware about how quantum mechanics actually has to be interpreted, from a purely rational point of view agnosticism is the only justified position.) The person who is in a proper contact with reality will be an respecter of all faiths (including atheism, of course). At the same time such a person will be in full possession of critical thinking abilities and she will not be light on crime and on malice.
In Either/Or Kierkegaard reflects on the Upbuilding in the Thought that: against God we are always in the wrong. He praises it, that „against God we are always in the wrong“, gets enthusiastic about it, and this enthuasiasm is truely infectious. I say it makes sense to think of an instance which is morally and intellectually always superior to oneself. And therefore, that our thoughts, motives and actions are always to be judged and evaluated against the (hypothetical) judgement of such an instance („Always act as if Epicurus is watching you“ was a maxim among the adherents of Epicurus. Yet God is infinitely greater than even Epicurus.). If you behave like this, the possibility arises that you get in a proper contact with reality. This shall serve for the benefit of mankind and for the own benefit. Because being in a proper contact with reality, not being on drugs or so, is the groovy thing. Your consciousness will be elevated and uplifted, your insights will be flashy and colourful. Everything will make sense. In addition, if you are aware that against God you are always in the wrong, enthusiastically embrace it, you will be protected, by God, even if he does not exist. This is why the thought about God is good.