Not that one seeks an ethics first, and then an ontology by which to legitimize that ethics, but that, if you are going to tell me that you don’t believe in a deity, or deities, do not then tell me that the ethics by which you attempt to function, and sustain your daily existence, and bring your conscience into harmony with (particularly if that ethics is based on altruism, or what is known as ‘loving-kindness’), is more defensible (except, perhaps, on natural grounds) than those of a person who would describe themselves as utterly without ethics.