In fact, apart from religion (and not all people are religious) there is no compelling reason to follow any moral standard at all.

I don't want this to turn into another religion thread (any more than it already is), but this is, if you'll excuse the expression, bullshit.

I don't have a religious bone in my body, yet I cannot bring myself to kill anything. I realize that's hypocritical given my carnivorous nature, but it's true. On several occasions, I've been in the situation where I've come across an animal too hurt to survive and in pain, and I still can't do it. Fortunately for the animal, there were others around who could. But the fact that religion has anything to do with it is totally bogus. Society, maybe.