Well, I do not, in fact, consider that I am good to others in any remarkable fashion. Indeed, some of my private thoughts, in particular, are often most uncharitable. I think the truthful answer for me is that I am good to others to the extent I was trained to it by my upbringing and by the example of my parents. My parents were both very kind individuals and, witnessing the effects of their many acts of kindness through the years of my childhood, I came into the habit of thinking that kindness was a pretty good idea. Had I been brought up by a pair of rogues, who knows what I would have turned out like. Perhaps this is not giving me sufficient credit for intelligence, and I know that there are always exceptions, but the influence of one's home and upbringing is a mighty powerful force.
Neither of my parents had anything to do with religion and, of their parents, only my paternal grandmother's family followed a religion. However, the societal values prevalent a century ago were probably quite heavily influenced by religion, for good or ill I am not sure. It gets very complicated. I think character is probably a convoluted mixture of genetics, conditioning and personal experience, with the upbringing and the home being of paramount importance.
Of course, I could answer that I personally detest pain and suffering in general, certainly not restricted to the human domain though, and in consequence I see merit in directing events, within my limited capacity, toward the overall reduction of these conditions. That is the simple answer, and I consider it a very worthy one. However, something tells me that this principle is to a large extent itself the result of my upbringing, rather than something acquired through philosophy, either rational or mystical.
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