Aside from that I feel sorry for anyone these people hurt and would hope that one day people will realise that freedom of speech should not be bourne without responsibity.

Morality and ethics are by they nature relative and I will only be guided by my internal compass and secular law in judgement of myself. I refuse to judge others as I am not an expert in this field and defer to those better qualified (i.e. Judges) to do this on my behalf. I also refuse to moderate any behaviour that offends religious sensibilities (providing it is lawful), and do not consider how fundamentalists will view me when making decisions.

My actions reflect on me and not on any beliefs or disbeliefs I have. One of the reasons I dislike organised religion is because of their attempt to control behaviours through spurious arguments. I do not see atheism or agnosticism or whatever I am as an organisised religion and as such refuse to prove my morality.

A large part of the dinner conversation consisted of my husband and myself being questioned about our morals (or perceived lack there of) and how would we raise our children? What would we tell them? How would we instill any sense of morality in them? While waiting for the waiter to come back with the check, two of the couples decided that they wanted the salt and pepper shakers and proceeded to slip the shakers into one of the women's purse.

*sound of head making brisk contact with desk*

Nice story, I'll keep your quotes in mind. :)

I chuckle as I type this, recalling a dinner one night at a quality restaurant with three other couples. A large part of the dinner conversation consisted of my husband and myself being questioned about our morals (or perceived lack there of) and how would we raise our children? What would we tell them? How would we instill any sense of morality in them? While waiting for the waiter to come back with the check, two of the couples decided that they wanted the salt and pepper shakers and proceeded to slip the shakers into one of the women's purse. I politely smiled and stated that I was pretty sure that even my boys were familiar with ‘Thou shall not steal.’

"Christians are moral" - doesn't seem right either. How can group membership or a label guarantee morality?

It doesn't. Nevertheless, on the whole, I'm confident that most Christians are moral and decent people, just like most atheists are moral and decent people. As Alex said, the statement is meant to be a descriptive observation, not a normative pronouncement.

I've known some Ayn Rand-influenced atheists who definitely would not agree that "atheist morality is based on the human sense of compassion."

They're welcome to disagree with me if they want to. However, it doesn't undermine my point that atheists most definitely do not lack a basis for ethical behavior, and it is extremely dishonest to claim otherwise.

"Christians are moral" - doesn't seem right either. How can group membership or a label guarantee morality?

It doesn't. But Christians (people in general, in fact) are typically reasonably moral. Which is how that sentence should, and without other qualifiers usually is, interpreted.

I've known some Ayn Rand-influenced atheists who definitely would not agree that "atheist morality is based on the human sense of compassion."

Okay.

I've known some Ayn Rand-influenced atheists who definitely would not agree that "atheist morality is based on the human sense of compassion."