Morality is solely dependent on the individual, not their religious structure. For instance I am what could be termed by some an 'athiest'. I still believe in and always follow the golden rule. "Do onto others as you would have done on to you." Honestly unless you are some kind of sicko, if you use that general golden rule to guide your actions, you can easily live a life as moral as any religious zealot. I know there is the whole 'well what if somone has me at gunpoint and I need to escape' type of scenario. At that point they have infringed on your life so you can do what you need to to escape the situation and still live morally IMHO, but that issue is another debate entirely. Just because atheist are not presented with the reward of an euphoric afterlife, doesn't mean that they will not live a moral life. Maybe some people don't need a reward to live a moral life. Some people do live morally just for morality's sake. Maybe some people are more focused on the present and know that living a moral life they make things better for themselves and those around them. Maybe an athiest would live a moral life strictly because they fear the repurcussions of the law. There are countless reasons that athiests live moral lives. Not only is it reasonable to assume an athiest can live a moral life, but it is evident that there are many benefits for them to.
Sorry about the kind of rant here, just a couple pennies worth of my thoughts
[ 10-24-2002, 08:07 PM: Message edited by: AzRaeL StoRmBlaDe ]