The simple and short explanation is you are surrounded by stupid people who happen to be religious. But there is nuance there that you are misattributing to religion. There is a link between repentance and suffering, as with all punishment systems. For example the idea that "you served your time" and should not be judged negatively for going to jail. This does get more pronounced with people who believe they can cleans thier soul and essentially abdicate thier responsibility for thier sins. Some people do this excessively. Not because the religion calls for it. Not because the religion claims this makes them better. Simply because they obsess. Low IQ people have a predisposition to obsess. If they weren't religious they would obsess over something else.