Welcome, Novem!
That was a really interesting and informative introduction!
The fact is that we all took different roads that led to our interest in Epicurean Philosophy, and your grounding in utilitarianism is probably an advantage that a lot of us don't have.
I'm glad to see that you enjoyed Emily Austin's book, our interview with her was a lot of fun.
As for Epicurus' views on the gods and other controversial issues, we don't hold people to much of a litmus test (other than the no-politics rule, and no proselytizing). We have frequent discussions about all of these things, and nobody is asked to leave their brain at the door--people are more than capable of arguing in good faith!
Welcome to the forum!