Reply #9: Thanks. I'll try and hit the ball in bounds.

[Thats my opinion]

While I hold to the statement you quoted, it certainly does not assume that all good-will comes from religious motivation. In logic, what I said is a sufficient not a necessary cause. Neither would I like to live in a society where no one is allowed to question the religious ethical viewpoint. Those closed clerical dominated systems are deadly! It always takes non-religion to keep powerful religion honest. With all the warts and down-side religion in the US has fostered, I cannot assume we would have had the advances for human good--the civil rights movement for instance--without the black churches of the south in the forefront. That was a movement that could not have won without religious influence. i could cite many others just in the US,

I have honestly been trying to think of a peaceful society that provided for everybody as a human right that was totally devoid of an ethical sensitivity that came from some group of faith. Could you name a few? If there are those that someone could cite I might need to amend my original statement.