Is it not possible, then, that the only 'higher power' is Nature itself?
We might be at the top of the food chain but we have absolutely no control over whatever Nature throws at us and seems to be the only retribution we get for our abuse of every other species- as well as our own.
Who says that there has to be any other controlling force to which we have to look for our moral guidance? I realise this is going to put noses out of joint but the reason I balk at religion is because it is- and has been for years- a means of control. (Yet another one.) I'd rather think for myself.