I've never understood the need for a supernatural "carrot and stick" approach to ethical behaviour. There is a clear and immediate payoff for acting decently: other people will tend to treat you decently.
For me, there are a lot of moral behaviours that are quite obvious and will allow you to function in society. These include being honest, fair, trustworthy & trying not to harm others with your actions.
It is commonly assumed that atheists or agnostics cannot be moral, without a religious background to guide them. However I really don't see how this stands up - if religion stopped existing tomorrow, would you really start killing and stealing? I know I don't!
I'm not saying atheists, or me, are perfect but I really don't think they are worse or less moral than the religious. There may be some evidence that religious believers actually commit more crime however as the linked article reinforces, this could be due to socio-economic and other factors. Still, there's certainly no suggestion that all humanists are at lawless orgies every night!
I volunteer, I donate to charity, I try to be a helpful & productive member of society... all because it enriches and adds meaning to my life, not because of some promise of eternal salvation (or threat of eternal damnation).
With children, I think it's really important to lead by example, so I take time to encourage their empathy. One example is asking them to use a small amount of their saved pocket money to donate a gift at Christmas time to go under the Wishing Tree at kmart. [Christmas! Yes ok it's technically religious but for us (and many many religious people for that matter!) it's a time to celebrate the year, join in a cultural tradition and spend some great time with family and friends. And anyway, why not pick & choose the lovely things to do - it's really an old midwinter festival anyway :-) ]
In our home, we value honesty and fairness and strive for these goals.
It's definitely a topic I want to explore further, I'd love your input if you have an opinion.
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