My Loss of faith has caused severe depression

[Aran]

You're right, my lack of confidence in humanity has always been there. But when I was a believer I was certain that God would always be there to keep us in check. I'm afraid of what people can do, should they be left to their own devices. The idea I accepted upon my becoming an atheist that humankind is the sole master of its own destiny is daunting and troubling, given what we are capable of. Its the lack of that omnibenevolent agency which most disturbs me. Thank you for taking the time to respond to my problem.

Did you ever see god keeping anyone in check? Did it seem to you then.... that god was engaged in this sort of daily business? If not, what? If so..now that you don't believe that god had anything to do with whatever you saw keeping us in check isn't whatever it -actually was- still doing precisely what it did before?

I don't know if I could honestly lay claim to being the masters of our own destiny. We have limitations. We are subject to things beyond our control. We seem to be able to exert a great amount of influence though. Sometimes that influence, the pursuit of our interests, appears to come into conflict with the interests of others (or even..admittedly a potentially horrifying scenario - our own interests). Perhaps this pulls you in the direction of pessimism..but if I could be so bold as to suggest that even in conflict we are capable of bettering ourselves, what would your opinion of this be?

There may be no omnibenevolent agency in your POV now, but there wasn't any omnibenevolent agency back when you believed that there was either (if your current POV holds). Is the belief in the agency more important than it's actual existence? If you were capable of manufacturing that sense of insulation before - why not now....with the realization that it was internal?

Thats precisely it. My ignorance was bliss. But I didn't manufacture the insulation before. I simply knew no better, and had no desire to. Its after the realisation that this insulation melted away.

Perhaps God 'keeping people in check' wasn't the right way to put it. I didn't mean to imply that I believe the deity intervened in physical events to prevent wrongdoing. What I meant is that he would force people to behave by dangling the threat of damnation in front of them.

Do I believe human beings are capable of bettering themselves? Of course. Most of us are good. But I'm a pessimist. I'm always on the half empty.

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I'm afraid of what people can do, should they be left to their own devices, left to conceive what is right and what is wrong for themselves.

There are moments when You need to trust people and yourself especially, while still being cautious to the best of your ability (safety-first). Fear is not wisdom, remember it well.

If You had to take an intercontinental flight while knowing that a terrorist was at an unspecified airport, You can stay away from people (as they may suicide-bomb) while proceeding with your travels.

That makes perfect sense. It appears that this problem is more to do with my perception of people than a transition in religious belief.