leavingWT
Donny, this has been one of the most intersting topics I've had the priviledge to read on JWN - thanks for starting it off. Due to committments, I've not had time to comment, so, I'd like to do so now. But first I'd like to also thank the posters that have already made comments on this thread - several posts have been excellent, and a credit to the posters thinking abilities.
Personal morality, in my mind, is entirely different from a 'learned' morality as taught by parents, school teachers, religious upbringing, etc. Each human being has the ability to consider his/her actions and reactions to life's countless challenges before responding to any given situation. How a person reacts is governed by his/her experience, take on the subject, emotions involved, love or affection, and what people refer to as 'fellow-feeling' - some say empathy. I just like to think of it as trying to do the 'best' thing in whatever set of circumstances a person finds him/herself in. While some moral people would act first of all in their own best interests, I think the more moral person would also stop and consider carefully any/all others involved before acting or avoiding any action that could harm others.
I know some people that I'd consider highly moral people that believe in a god. However, in my experience, the people that to me demonstrate an open, all-embracing morality are more likely not religiously minded. Seems to me that this suggests that believing in a god is not necessary to encourage people to believe in a high standard of morality - indeed, godless morality seems to be of a higher, fairer and altogether more caring variety. It certainly appeals to me. This is what I try to do each day.