OK , this seems like the old where do atheists get their morality . Morality , in essence , is a body of rules and principles that guide interdependent decisionmaking to maximize perceived wellbeing for as many participants as possible . What constitutes perceived wellbeing is often debatable , but not being killed is a natural need for most . This has been studies by game theory . The two most popular contemporary game theory models view morality as a rational social contract or as an evolved byproduct of repeated human interactions . Whatever the case , ideally , a person should intuitivelly understand why a cooperative and empathic society is a net gain for everyone , including themselves . However , some people are extremely antisocial , so as a last resort , society protects itself from them by making their antisocial choices more unattractive through punishment . Speaking of religion , it seems that morality is a more fundamental property . To be able to choose religion and choose a particular interpretation of it , you must start from a sense of right and wrong . So perhaps your question is better directed at believers if the Bible is the sole authority , how come we aren ' t killing unruly children ? Finally , you mentioned that fear of jail is similar to fear of hell . This seems to suggest that hell is just a projection of the human concept of punishment a ral omnipotent , omnibenevolent deity wouldn ' t need to protect itself nor resort to last ditch measures to prevent certain choices .