Why 'should' atheists be moral?

[GrandizerII]

Well, in short, "should" implies that such and such an action entails good or desirable outcomes, depending on what it is you value. In other words, it's a question of "what does it mean to be good?" to which an answer is found in one's sense and education.

Right, I would add that while people naturally pursue what they perceive to be good, they "should" pursue what is actually good, as opposed to what is only apparently so.

Good according to which consensus?

I'd rather decide my own morals for myself.

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Harming a member of a small family group hurt the group. As we formed larger communities the same rules fit well so we continued to use them.

Also, as I keep repeating over and over, great apes and dogs also have some kind of moral codes and empathy. Recent experiments have shown that much. It probably goes with being a social species and has more to do with evolution than any kind of learned codes of behaviour.

Your answer is for why we have morals, and it's an adequate answer (by the way). What I think the OP is wondering about is why, in the absence of social conditioning and God and the law and such, we should do moral stuff knowing that we won't be held accountable for what we do.

My answer is that there is no need for a "should". If we are hardwired to do it anyway, there is no need for a "should".

And if we don't need society to survive, then we don't have to do anything good for others (but that's not reality now, is it?).