Atheism and morality

Right in time to spur awkward theological discussions with extended family members, the American Humanist Association and other related groups are preparing to launch a holiday advertising blitz aimed at drawing stark distinctions between believers and their less devout brethren.
"We’re going further in our attempt to challenge the intolerant view that atheist and agnostic humanists can’t be good without Bible derived morality," stated a release by the organization, which is planning a $200,000 ad buy that includes a commercial on NBC's Dateline.
Read full article: http://news.yahoo.com/s/atlantic/humanistgroupsaimtopushbackatbiblederivedmorality5785

After reading the above article, I was curious as to why "the percentage of American adults who say they have no religion has doubled in the last two decades, to 15 percent." This morning I posted about how clergy from all faiths got together to pray for rain. I read about the deaths of people in Indonesia, due to the Merapi volcano. And I thought that one reason that people are turning from G-d in America is because they are not facing natural catastophes. The sun continues to rise every morning, storms do not lead to excessive flooding and people can go on with their daily lives without giving much attention to the fact that the world is operating according to the laws of nature. When an event out of the ordinary occurs, such as the tragedy on September 11, people turn to their houses of worship to find solace.

An article by Jeff Jacoby illustrates why "reason alone is not enough to keep human beings humane."

In our culture, even the most passionate atheist cannot help having been influenced by the Judeo-Christian worldview that shaped Western civilization. "We know that you can be good without God," Speckhardt tells CNN. He can be confident of that only because he lives in a society so steeped in Judeo-Christian values that he takes those values for granted. But a society bereft of that religious heritage is a society not even Speckhardt would want to live in. Read full article: http://www.aish.com/sp/ph/Good_without_God.html