Worldview and morality from an atheist perspective

As a devout Mormon, my morality consisted of a set of rules. Reasons for the rules didn't matter much- obedience did. Certain activities were prohibited, others required. End of story. Mormons are taught that "obedience is the first law of heaven," and that God will bless them for their obedience to church leaders even if those leaders are wrong. When the Mormon prophet has spoken, the thinking has been done, the debate is over, and all that remains is for the faithful to live in strict compliance.

After the last tatters of my Mormon beliefs evaporated, I looked carefully at the rules I had grown up with, discarding most of them and keeping the ones that made sense outside of a religious context. Prohibitions on murder and theft, for example make sense outside a religious context, because the harm they prevent is self-evident. Restrictions on what I do on Sunday, or as a consenting adult in the privacy of my own bedroom, do not make sense outside a religious context.

From these, I consciously constructed a new worldview and set of guiding principles:

• My life belongs to me. I own my decisions and their consequences. Being true to myself trumps most other considerations, so long as I do not infringe on the rights of others. I am under no obligation to believe or do anything solely because someone else's feelings will be hurt if I don't. I alone am responsible for ensuring my happiness and finding ways for my life to be meaningful.

• I do not believe in a supreme being or an afterlife. Current scientific knowledge is more than adequate to explain my existence. I do not need a Creator for the universe to make sense.

• I don't need religion or God in order to be moral and ethical.
  

Consequently:

• Life is extraordinarily precious. There is no second chance, no heaven where everything will be made right. Premature death, or a life subject to grinding poverty or disease, is a tragedy. For that reason, I feel compelled to support humanitarian causes.

• Present relationships and enjoyment should never be sacrificed in hopes of a heaven that may or may not exist.

• I have the right to set and enforce boundaries in my relationships with others in order to protect my individual sovereignty.
  

My assessment of right and wrong is loosely based on the following questions:

• Is it consensual?
• Does it hurt or benefit anyone?
  
• Is it sustainable? If everyone behaved this way, what would society be like?

In other words, I try to enjoy life as much as possible, do as much good and as little harm as possible, and above all, to respect the individual sovereignity of my fellow human beings.

I am willing to reconsider my views in the face of new and compelling evidence. If there is a god, he, she, or it is welcome to bring that to my attention at any time. However, I believe that any god worthy of the title would have as much regard for my carefully thought out disbelief and consciously constructed moral compass as for the blind faith and unquestioning obedience of the devout. Any god that would condemn me to eternal torment or deprive me of blessings for taking this path is nothing more than a tyrant with superpowers and is undeserving of my worship.