[TRD2000]

telling you to shoot yourself was also pretty harsh, sorry about that.
you're right though "These are principles of self-guidance and expected to be self-imposed." but there is nothing to say that people can't impose them themselves without the threat of going to hell. I could say that was psychological or spiritual terrorism, but i'm feeling nice today. now i have a thought for you, though you may not like it and definately won't agree.

"Laws are modern-day interpretations of biblical ideas used to guide behavior of man...
Before laws were created by man what dictated the actions considered unacceptable and the consequences of those actions? Religion.
Religion and laws are alike in that they both set standards of behavior and consequences."

see i view the bible as primative laws. Without an effective police force it was essential that a system be developed that caused people to act humanely voluntarily, the only way to do this when "nobody is watching" and make it inescapable is to encapsulate it in something that nobody can escape, death. By building judgement into death it made everyone accountable, it also gave a reward for a good life, meaning people could essentially escape death with good behavior. in this system NOBODY escapes judgement for their deeds. I like this. Over time though curruption occurs. see in the old testament it says you can OWN, and gives discriptions on how to beat them, at the time this was designed to be a restrictive measure, you couldn't convince people they couldn't own other people, but at least you could limit the abuse. In the setting of all laws achievability and enforcement need to be considered, the bible reflects both these issues, totally enforcable, and through transition from old to new testament it reflects improvement in conditions and as more becomes achievable it asks for more. Laws today build on these belief systems and adapt them to suit new conditions in the same way the new testament built on the old. if we stayed with the old testament we would limit our development in human rights, in much the same way if we refuse to assess aspects of the new then we halt social development.

as far as
"If someone isn't bound to religious ethos they have no character"
careful with your vanity again, and be careful about judging others, particularly with such a broad brush!