[Pete]

Those that instill fear of immediate or eternal punishment and hope of reward as a basis of moral behavior hardly provide an encouraging alternate vision to those who suggest a moral sense stemming from intelligence, cooperation, reflection, wisdom.

If that is your description of Christianity and secular humanism, respectively, then I reject both characterizations.

The question still is: What motivates those to suggest either? If you believe the logic of E.O. Wilson, it's not what they think. Once again, from the article:

“Evolution in a pure Darwinian world has no goal or purpose: the exclusive driving force is random mutations sorted out by natural selection from one generation to the next. … However elevated in power over the rest of life, however exalted in self-image, we were descended from animals by the same blind force that created those animals. …”5

and

Ethics as we understand it is an illusion fobbed on us by our genes to get us to cooperate.”6

[PreciousLiberty]

"Ethics as we understand it is an illusion fobbed on us by our genes to get us to cooperate."

I'm afraid Wilson was rather dysphemistic in his wording. Let's try and translate this sentence using less loaded words and see how horrendous it looks.

"Ethics as we understand it is a system developed through evolution, experience and thought to enhance our survival chances."

Works for me.