I was reading that thread about the burning baby in a building and it made me think about why people do good things. My question is this: Bearing in mind many religions state people will be judged in the afterlife for the things they do in our world, religious people have more reason to do good things than atheists. However, does this make them good deeds at all? Generally an atheist will do a good deed out of the goodness of their hearts as there is no/little personal benefiet in doing it. However, if a christian helps people just so they can be rewarded in the afterlife, is it still a selfless action or does it become more like a transaction, I'm nice here so I can live eternal happinies later on. I am not saying all religious people are like this but there is bound to be a minority who are. How would you feel if someone helped you out not for you but merely as an ends to their own means, would you still appreciate it as much? Is a good deed done for selfish reasons still a good deed?