So, if not evolution, then what is responsible? I cannot answer that question with perfect confidence, but I do have some thoughts. In particular, I like to divide up contributing components into three basic categories: First, we have an instinctual empathy for our fellow man; that is to say, very often it happens that we feel bad when we see others feel bad, or that we feel good when we see others feel good. So, we learn to respect the feelings of others since they rub off on ourselves. In a sense I suppose you could say that this is evolution in action, since evolution is largely responsible for our instincts. But regardless of where we get our empathy, the fact remains we have it. Second, we are conditioned by our environment to behave certain ways. For example, I was raised in a conservative Christian (LCMS, to be exact) home and sent to a private Christian (also LCMS) school for grades pre-K through eight, where I was indoctrinated with conservative Protestant values. So, it should be no surprise that I still share many of those conservative values, even though I’m now an atheist with an entirely different set of beliefs. Heck, I might even vote for Palin if it came to that! I regard this environmental component as the largest of the three contributors to our morality. Third, and finally, our own autonomy drives us to identify and shape our individual, personal values. Wherever our instincts and indoctrination are in conflict, or where they are silent, we may fill in those gaps by making autonomous decisions. So, for example, suppose an atheist is unsure of how to deal with polygamy. He could simply decide how to value it by connecting it to other values which have already been determined.
