Rustybikes

“We'd gotten onto the concept or morality and Frida had just asked Theresa how she could have any sense of morality without a deity to define what was or was not moral.
[...]
"What deities give you aren't rules of morality," Theresa responded. "They are just rules. Do this and you will be rewarded. Do that and you will be punished. That's how we teach our pets not to relieve themselves in the house. One would hope that true morality involved more than learning not to poop on the rug by being rapped on the nose!"
[...]
"In fact", Theresa continued, "I believe that it is only possible to acquire true morality without input from a deity. It is only when you do something because you believe it is the right thing to do, instead of because of any moral desserts, that you are acting morally. Likewise, it is only when you refuse to do something because of the golden rule, rather than because of a threat of punishment, that you are behaving in a moral manner.”
― Dennis E. Taylor, Heaven's River