Mike, you seemed to imply in one of your previous comments that people might accrue "credit" toward heaven by good deeds. The New Testament teaches that sin, any sin, alienates us from God and only the remedy is the one God has freely offered, forgiveness and new birth through Jesus Christ. There is no righteousness apart from Christ. None of us has the power to undue a single sin of our own, or anyone else. Do you? I don't. I can't balance the scales.

And you may be disturbed about religious people discounting the meaningful value of "good deeds" done for any cause other than faith, but the fact is you don't find many (any?) atheists doing altruistic good deeds in any case, simply giving because they want to help someone. The vast majority of altruistic sacrificial good deeds have been done because of a sense of religious ethics. Gratitude is a tremendous motivator, and atheists seldom seem to feel it. There are of course other, more personally lucrative motivations to do good things in some cases. But in any case, it isn't a matter of saying one person's good deed is more valuable than another, it is a question of outcome. In Jesus' words,"In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven." (Matt 5:16).