re: #119 MKelly
“I would think all you that like the precautionay principle would believe in God. Sixty or seventy years of righteous living against a eternity of Hell. That is a real payoff.

“

I think this sums up the difference between the religious, and the moral atheists.

The religious behave “righteously” for a reward, or because of a fear of punishment, which in my mind is childlike, or even Pavlovian.

An atheist behaves “righteously” because it is the right thing to do, to treat others as you would like to be treated. Not due for a potential reward, or to avoid potential punishment.

I’ve had it out with a few otherwise reasonable, “righteous” religious folks, who not knowing my views, declared that they didn’t see how someone who doesn’t believe in god could be a moral person. IMHO, it is more moral to act a certain way because you know something is right, than it is to act that way because you might get a spanking (here, or in some afterlife) if you don’t.