Benevolent Creator God?

[Ahriman]

How can using empathy and reason result in forming a sense of morality?

Simple:  If you're capable of imagining yourself in the place of someone else, and imagining what they're feeling, you can identify with them and avoid doing things that hurt them.  This is where things like the Golden Rule actually came from.

The reason that we (and many other animals) evolved empathy is simple:  There's strength in numbers, and we prefer to associate with those who help us rather than hurt us.  Over millions of years, less empathetic animals have a harder time surviving because they have to go it alone.

I can agree with your first statement. The second, not so much.

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A "greater good" without God, is pointless, because then the "greater good" is just whatever a ruling oligarchy decides everyone should do.

What is the “greater good” of a god? Can you define it without begging the question?

Look inside yourself. Search your heart.