I was raised in what I consider to be a secular home. My parents are atheists, I rarely heard about God at all anywhere, definitely not my house. Except when the word was used in an expression like “oh my God,” or, “why is God punishing me?”
We did identify as Jewish and did some of the Jewish holidays, but when I was little it just seemed like something we did like dressing up for Halloween or eating turkey in Thanksgiving.
I have the golden rule on my Facebook as a quote I like. We were taught the golden rule in elementary school. Empathy was definitely a theme in our house. If empathy can be taught that is a very important thing. Lack of empathy is a dangerous thing. Certainly religious people are taught empathy too. However, I do think atheists are more likely to control their behavior for internal reasons, while religious people might be more likely to control behavior for fear if punishment. In the absence of the likelihood of punishment what do they do? Also, in my experience atheists are harder on themselves about mistakes. Not necessarily a good thing, but that’s what I have observed.
The article talked about racism and I have to wonder if that has to do with being secular or being a minority themselves? That sort of identification creates empathy for other minorities typically. Plus, I would assume educated liberals are more like to be atheists so there is a whole group think going on within that community.