Thou Shalt Not

One of the bad things about being an atheist is that this life is all there is. We have no hope for a better life in another world. For me, this means that I have to give what I can now, to make the world a better place for the next generation. To me, this is immortality-- to do something, anything, that will live beyond my mortal life. Somewhere, somehow, I have to make a difference.

Many people of faith either can not or will not accept that atheists do have a morality. They tell me without (their version of) god, I have no reason to exist. Believing their faith to have the only realistic morality, many have asked me why I don't go out and murder someone. I don't understand this point of view. I believe basic morality is the same across the board, for the most part. Of course, each religion has its own views on when thou SHALT kill, but those are semantics (no offense to any soldiers fighting against these semantics). Morality can be summed up in very few words: try not to hurt people (including yourself), and make whatever amends you can when you do anyway. Why does a person HAVE to be christian, or muslim, or whatever, in order to follow these simple rules. I have to admit, I find it offensive to be taken as automatically evil by those who don't even know me.