Why is it that so many people can't grasp the idea that you can be a good morally sound person without some religious test telling you how to do so?

Are there really people out their who without a koran or bible would be going around raping and killing people? Can they not use their own judgment to determine whether something is good or bad?

I always here the argument that atheists don't have any morals because they don't have a book to guide them. I just simply cant come to terms with that idea.

Why is it that so many people can't grasp the idea that you can be a good morally sound person without some religious test telling you how to do so?

Are there really people out their who without a koran or bible would be going around raping and killing people? Can they not use their own judgment to determine whether something is good or bad?

I always here the argument that atheists don't have any morals because they don't have a book to guide them. I just simply cant come to terms with that idea.

While most who adhere to it probably don't call it by the name, I think it's safe to say that atheists who subscribe to a moral code base it on the notion of Social Contract - that is morals and the laws based on them being made for the benefit of all. With the exception of some of the 10 Commandments nonsense about false idols and such, the more important commandments (like Murder and Theft) easily fall under social contract. There's a lot more to this concept than what I've said, but if anyone really cares to learn more about it, they can look it up.

IMO, social contract is equal to any divine mandate as a reason to follow moral codes, possibly even superior when those divine mandates are so inflexible that they demand discrimination and intolerance.