>>Happy to converse further if you ever engage my point about people being very sure of themselves (which I thought was relevant to this thread), then changing their minds as they approach death.
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>There is no indication that any change in mind about belief in God. Only about a sudden desire to be remembered as a good person. My opinion........The desire to be a good person is not a function of a belief in God. I have the feeling you disagree.

However, I agree.

>>Since the definition of "astheist" includes denial of a God/afterlife, it is unclear why the fellow in my example, after a fantastic life of excitement and success according to his own proclaimed goals, would suddenly wish to be remembered for morality rather than his fabulous wins. I am told this is seen fairly often by pastors/priests/whatever in the established religions.
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>>As I keep saying, I can understand why a faithful person might make such a change- the thought of facing one's maker presumably provides a certain amount of mental clarity.
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>So it has nothing to do with real desire to be a moral person. It is merely a desire to escape punishment in a later life. Stopping a behavior for fear of the consequences is not the same as stopping because the behavior is wrong.
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>Are you saying the only reason to be moral is to have a better afterlife????

It may also imply that the atheist and/or unbeliever may change the behavior for no good reason... simply because they want to, not out of fear. At the same time, a believer (of a religion which assumes existence of celestial lifetime accounting) may always be suspect of doing the same out of fear.

This may be extrapolated, if you want, to their whole life: an unbeliever who tries to do good, doesn't have that extra incentive of his religion telling him to do so, ergo does it because it's a human thing to do, out of his own free will. A believer may permanently be suspect of being unable to do the same without a push from the institution.

For me, the reason for the guy in this matter may as well be a personal realization that the career is ending, which is a good time to think about it all and draw the bottom line.

>>For an atheist, who denies such a reckoning, I find it hard to accept that such a person after a whirlwind lifetime of success would *spontaneously* change and care about morality. Yes, I know it is possible, just as it is possible that he might join a travelling circus or countless other options allowed him. What interests me is the "why" and I thought it was relevant in the context of the thread.
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>>The previous two paragraphs explain why I thought it is relevant that he is atheist. I cannot see why an atheist would do this. These simple words express my meaning.
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>>Clearly you prefer a different argument, namely whether atheists can be moral at all.
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>It is clear that you are saying that aetheists do not care about morality since there is no reckoning later.

Note the word "spontaneously"... I have serious doubts about it being just a spontaneous spur-of-the-moment. There must have been some lengthy thinking over his life achievemnts.