Why be good?

[Fidel_Castronaut]

If there is no God, then there is no hell; and if there is no hell, then there are no ultimate, eternal repercussions, good or bad, for how we live out our mortal lives. Of course, atheists insist that people should be "good without God."

But why? If God does not exist, why be good?

Because I am a nice person and I do not wish to inflict suffering on other people and/or animals.

I do not act kindly in hopes of seeing that kindness one day rewarded. I act kindly because it is the right thing to do.

I do not understand your incredulity on what is a relatively simple thing to understand.

As to questions about objective morality, I do not believe there is such a thing as evidenced by the demonstrable changes in morality that have existed in civilisations/societies that preceded us. There are certain moral traits that have survived throughout the centuries (say, killing is almost [but not always] wrong), but there's far more evidence (ie, more than nothing at all) to suggest this as an evolutionary trait of surviving in group hierarchies and social groups.