On a side note, I really do not mean to be picky but I thought you wrote that you were not religious but in that second quote you say "I choose to believe that the universe was created by a god." This is not a call out, I am just guessing your idea of "religious" may be different from mine and I would like to hear yours.
I am not religious because I do not practice any religion. The word religion is open to interpretation, but I would define a religious person as someone who has a specific belief about how (s)he should live his/her life and practices following that belief. I am personally closer to being agnostic and I don't follow or practice any religious pattern.
I do not like to discuss the details of what I believe because I am both uncertain where I stand and I have a sensitive situation with my family. My entire family that I have grown up around are firm Christians, I have avoided telling them where I stand because even though I know they will not be angry with me, I do know that it will make them very sad. Both my parents and grandparents were saved by their beliefs, none of them grew up in a christian home, but all of them at some time in their life came to a breaking point and decided to follow the christian god and accept Jesus. My whole extended family who were saved are all experiencing happy lives and all get along wonderfully, my parents are very earnest about their beliefs, my father has even served as a full time pastor while still working a full time job and caring for his large family. I have three older brothers who went into history, philosophy and modeling/acting, my oldest brother is in the Philippines teaching English to children who can't otherwise afford an education. Both my parents and several of my siblings have all gone on multiple mission trips to Mexico to build houses for people who live in the dumps, even when there were gang wars in the area. All in all, I could not be more proud of my family.
But I went into Biochemistry. I am daily seeing conflicting arguments as I move through college. I see large amounts of evidence for evolution, but none of it is proof, all of it has holes, but it is evidence nonetheless and I am determined not to be held back by what my family raised me to be. At the same time, I am not convinced by evolution, its a daily mental debate, and no one has all the answers for me. Also, the farther I pull from the happiness I was raised with, the more depressed I become. Funny how the less I believe in hell, the more I feel like I am in it.
Even though I don't see myself as a religious person, I still feel offended when I see people denouncing or insulting Christians.