This must have been a very hard decision to make, and I offer my sympathies.

It was a very brave decision to go public with your choice and expose yourself to the fundementalists who are ever eager to cast the first stone.

Bravo AJ Phillips and Grim. Well said.
Religion is an excuse for selfish, arrogant thoughts and actions.
Despite your own propaganda, it is clear that secular atheists are more moral. Look at how Bush used the Religious Right to drum up support for a dubious war. Also the "war on drugs" and the activities against abortion.
BTW. God is the biggest "child killer" of all! Up to 60% of fertilised embryos are discarded by nature due to the shockingly inefficient "design" of our reproductive mechanisms. Seems you like to make God responsible for truth, beauty and moral behaviour, but ask us all to ignore the outright evil that "God" commits every second.
Humans invented Good. Nature/God is clearly indifferent.

No not quite Houlley. I drink from the bidet and use the chardonnay for bathroom activities.

Whoo pelican, I feel all flushed. All tingly down there. I need a cold shower now I think.

*please tell me what basis there is for moral values beyond one’s own personal preferences and opinions.*

JP, if you read up a bit about primatology, you will find the
basics of morals and ethics grounded in the biology of various
primate species. Empathy, food sharing, altruism, etc.

In social species, it is in the interests of the members, to get
on with one another, for a harmonious co existence. If killing
one another was acceptable, the tribe would soon go extinct.

So it is in your and my interest, to agree not to steal each others
belongings, not to rape each others wives etc. Bingo, you have
the fundamentals of a moral society.

OTOH, if we listen to the religious, each with their imaginary
friend, claiming to be in touch with the Almighty him-herself,
we have literally thousands of so called moral codes based on
nothing but claimed contact between each of them and their friend.

No evidence for their claims, no checking to see if schyzophrenia
might be the problem, just a complete transfer of power regarding
what their imaginary friend might have told them, which we should
accept as gospel.

I read recently that old JP2 used to whip himself on occasion.
Give me a good reason, why I should trust the word of such a kinky
individual more, then my own ability to reason

Morality is basically an agreed set of principles between members of a society, no matter where it comes from and is subject to constant review.

What was considered "moral" a hundred or a thousand years ago may be as different from today as it will be years from now.

For example, a King may have had the direct power of life and death over all his subjects and in an overpopulated world the notion of Soylent Green may yet become an accepted reality.

State sanctioned murder has always existed in one form or another and religion just adds an extra layer of guilt.

In this case, the outcome of the author's decision has absolutely no impact on my own life and I'm not qualified to make personal judgements on her behalf.