It's hilarious to see Christians like ktrap flounder with their inability to understand that atheists can be moral without a parental figure watching over them. In their minds, we cannot be anything but psychopathic nihilists, which is dumb.
Most people have empathy for others, which is a combination of both biological and social evolution. We're social animals. Our greatest advantage is the ability to create communities. Everything else springs from that. So, yeah, we understand that harming (not just physically, but emotionally) others damages ourselves. Because we have developed the Theory of Mind (look it up... although you probably won't) and understand that most others think and feel in similar ways to us, we know how certain actions will negatively affect others and strive to avoid doing so.
Indeed, studies have shown that atheists are actually more moral than theists (http://news.berkeley.edu/2012/04/30/reli...enerosity/) because we don't believe that there's an invisible parental figure who will absolve us of our transgressions, and we don't believe we're getting an eternal do-over in the next life. All we have is now, so we try to not fuck it up for others.
Most people have empathy for others, which is a combination of both biological and social evolution. We're social animals. Our greatest advantage is the ability to create communities. Everything else springs from that. So, yeah, we understand that harming (not just physically, but emotionally) others damages ourselves. Because we have developed the Theory of Mind (look it up... although you probably won't) and understand that most others think and feel in similar ways to us, we know how certain actions will negatively affect others and strive to avoid doing so.
Indeed, studies have shown that atheists are actually more moral than theists (http://news.berkeley.edu/2012/04/30/reli...enerosity/) because we don't believe that there's an invisible parental figure who will absolve us of our transgressions, and we don't believe we're getting an eternal do-over in the next life. All we have is now, so we try to not fuck it up for others.
"I was thirsty for everything, but blood wasn't my style" - Live, "Voodoo Lady"
