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I originally asked this in the Ask James Jacobs thread, but have since decided to open it to the floor so to speak.
I've been engaged in a debate with a friend as to whether I put too much emphasis and am too interested in the pantheons of any RPG I'm in, tending to use them as a crutch in backstory and personality development, that there's a wealth of great RP material I'm ignoring due to my myopic focus on the setting's mythology and deities, and that as a result, my characters tend to just be boilerplate examples of the descriptions of clergy in the deity articles, regardless of whether or not the character's an actual cleric. I hasten to add that this is not a question about real-world faith vs. Golarion faith, but more a question of how pervasive and important religion actually is in Golarion (very much, I imagine, given one of the most important story aspects of it is Aroden's relatively recent death and its aftershocks), and ways to develop a character in a more secular direction, so that they're personality's not defined solely by the name in their deity slot.
I'd very much like to develop this skill, as I can already think of some concepts I'd like to play where religion would be more of a hindrance than help, like a profit-minded criminal on Golarion who isn't a psychopath, and thus doesn't feel Norgorber very appealing, isn't a pirate and thus doesn't feel the need to venerate Besmara, and isn't a hero or law-abiding citizen, so gods like Abadar, Desna or Cayden Cailean don't really appeal either, or a lawfully-minded mercenary who sticks to contracts and promises, but makes war and destruction his business, not really working well as an Abadaran or a Gorumite. Would anyone be willing to lend me some advice for taking the religion training-wheels off?
You could start by imagining your new PC as a five-year-old, to make sure he has a background with family and a home-town. Then at ten years, when he starts his education. Then at fifteen, when his basic personality should have formed. And then decide which deity such a person would adopt.
That worked for me, anyway.
Note also that your character can simply choose not to suck up to any god at all.
You can easily have a character who either: A. Doesn't care about the gods, or B. Is so self-assured that they figure it doesn't matter what they do, the gods will still love them. Additionally, you can always have people worship twisted versions of the gods. A crime boss might think himself a lawful follower of Abadar, even though his wealth is gained through entirely unlawful means. Don't underestimate the power of self-delusion.
On the other hand, here's an interesting reply from JJ as to a question I had about the average Golarion person and their afterlife: link
Essentially, the gods aren't as important as we think they are; they don't have as much of a day-to-day impact on peoples' lives.
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B. Is so self-assured that they figure it doesn't matter what they do, the gods will still love them.
An alternate way of looking at this is 'I'm worshiping the gods through my actions, not my words ... what I do will determine which god claims me after I die'. Then, you just be yourself. :)
You might try to ease into the transition by playing a "cultural" or hypocritcal follower of a deity, someone who pretends or claims to worship a god... but that claim has little to no impact on their daily life. As far as moving past religion as a backstory, I'd definitely encourage you to dive into the lore of whatever area of Golarion you might be playing in. History and local culture often play a big part in how people think, either in accepting or rejecting predominant beliefs. Like what VRMH said, maybe take some time to consider what your character would have been taught or experienced as a kid and how those situations influenced them.
You might also consider things like poverty or wealth, family life, motivations and goals. I think you've got some pretty good ideas with that criminal you were describing, though you might consider why he's like that. I've found that answering the question "How did my character get to where they are" often helps me enormously in playing an interesting, engaging, and well-rounded character for RP.
I'd recommend taking pieces of two (or more) movie/book characters, and combining them to your liking.
For example, I'm trying to flavor my human wizard illusionist in skull and shackles to be this sort of trickster dude that takes from a combination of gandalf's subtle way of doing things (like when he defeated those triolls), with jack sparrow's tendency of improvising certain actions, while looking like everything was completely on accident. (Stats were 10 str, 17 int, 12 everything else- because I wanted him to sort of seem like a normal common sailor)
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Alternatively, dive in to the pantheon! What I find nice about having a pantheon with several main gods and dozens of more minor ones is that there's more than one kind of pious. Any personality type, not just the kinds exemplified by the followers of real-world monotheistic religions. Are you a pirate? Instead of hoping that Iomedae or Sarenrae or Desna or something forgives your transgressions, you can worship Besmara! Are your interests more aligned with art or technology than any sort of religious glory? Shelyn! Brigh! Other weirdos in the higher realms who appreciate your stuff! That isn't to say that it isn't a good thing to look outside deities to define your chracters, just that a large pantheon allows for a greater variety of characters to be religious, which I think is pretty neat.
A common tactic is to flesh out the character's family and friends when he was a child. If he is a long lived character having him have lots of friends of races that die before he even hits adulthood is a decent way to add some emotional scarring.
You need to find something to build the character around, and then find three or four different pillars of characterization that the character can build around.
No one is perfect, and everyone has some sort of delusion keeping them going--if we don't then we become pure existentialist who must make the leap--so just find out what that is and try to milk it.
Ex: Silastrix WkarKorwKalDaka
I have an aasimar werewolf dragon disciple who was raised by a gold dragon in Nidal as a favor to his mother who was raped by a rather vicious werewolf. His surrogate father convinced him that he is a gold-dragon at heart, and his delusion has extended to him believing that one day he will just become a gold-dragon or that Apsu will one day acknowledged his true identity.
For pantheon placement he worships Apsu--he IS a gold dragon after all, right--and Ashava since he is a NG werewolf, but this is all brought into jeopardy by the followers of Jezelda who seek to bring him to their view by turning society entirely against him. He is proud, vicious, vengeful, ambitious, and has a deep seeded need to prove everyone wrong when they say he isn't a dragon--even true dragons who view him as Astarathian's joke.
Based on what happens to him he will either become more loyal to Apsu, dissent from Apsu to follow Ashava, or learn that everything he was ever taught about who he is is a lie and embrace Jezelda to kill all the filthy curs who populate Golarion. The latter most is doubtful.
Add players that come into the character's storyline during the "sequels" in between scenes. Have an idea of his story as he progresses through the levels, I tend to prefer three or four different forces pulling on a character's overall development, and these are usually of the four corners of the alignment table. Nothing says your good character has to stay good, and saying that you had a visitor who came to talk to you in the inn is plausible. However, these visitors should complement and direct what is happening to the hero.
In the example of Silastrix I informed my DM of the three "factions" and how two of them are active--Silastrix himself acts as the faction for Apsu--and both of the agents of Ashava and Jezelda came to The Golden Goblin while we were working for Saul. Later there were rumors that a lone werewolf murdered guards, was killing people around the area of the Golden Goblin and we had to explain to some guards that it wasn't Silastrix. Later we stumbled across two werewolves fighting over a terrified pregnant commoner and had to fight the resulting mob coming to kill them who assumed we were with them.
Character building is mostly you, the person creating the character, but also partly the DM. You need to give the DM the tools he needs to help push you in every direction. My entire Friday game is half second darkness and half dealing with everyone's character story-lines all interconnecting.
The easiest thing to do is to latch on to a single element that is character defining. Now, take the polar opposite of that element. A man of courage is also a whimpering coward in some rare general situations. Inform your DM as to what these situations are so, if need be, he can use it against you to force the other party to shine if, in the case of Silastrix, you can murderball pretty much everything.
Never underestimate the power of a character's superiority complex at thinking: "I am a dragon, I am invincible! Your cute weapons cannot get through my this hide! (DR 10/silver) So, take this silver long sword and fight me with honor!" Keep track of every time he gets away with his character flaw that is driving his recklessness, and have that be part of his goal towards something. Silastrix's recklessness is fueled by his need to constantly prove his draconic worth to himself, to Apsu, and even to Astarathian--even if he is neither there nor really cares.--
Nitty Gritty Hard Boiled characters are BORING, so have the character's goals in the clouds, have his ambitions unrealistic or even impossible, and prepare contingency plans for when he ultimately fails or spectacularly succeeds.