It makes a lot of sense to me. I think people on here for the most part really question and think about the things they were brought up believing and strive to think for themselves and be more real and sincere.

Its not god's will here.

We evolved moral behavior likely long before we constructed religious ideology so I think it's safe to state that yes, we can be without it. But this I think is more about the form your empathy takes when you think life ends with death, vs when you think life simply changes.

I would not say that religious people are incapable of empathizing with the finality of death as atheists see it, but most fear that idea. And often faith and it's associated ideas serve exactly as a set of easy outs to the uncertainties and fear surrounding death. One of it's big selling points is it not?

The faithful don't have to think about it, or resolve that. They can pad it over with a notion of life going on elsewhere. It comforts them, and I suspect they don't really understand others don't find the same solace in that.

yea like you say it was god's plan [for him to die at 47]...when i say it sucks that he died so young. religious ppl would say that he's in a better place and we can be comforted in knowing that. i think his place was to hang out with his kids for many more years.

Yup, animals have morality.

I've seen my horse, Whistle, and my son's horse, Black Jack, working together to fight off a stallion that was trying to kill my seven-year-old son while he was walking through the pasture.

They held off the much larger stallion until I could get there with a bucket of oats and lead rope to get the stallion (I called the vet, threw the stallion, and had him gelded within two hours).

My son's horse, Black Jack, risked injury more than once to keep my son safe.

Religionists are lazy people, just say the easiest ?

Yes, I am pretty certain that I understand what you say. A religious person can simply utter a platitude, I mean, well after all heaven is a great place. But as an atheist , there is no simple one size fits all expression of sympathy. I tend to find that a message from an atheist is individual and heartfelt..