Poll on Atheist Morality?

Question

For atheists, what factors do you use to determine right from wrong: 1) personal conscience 2) local laws 3) consequences

As you answer, please explain why your choice is reliable, and how you evaluate its reliability (ex. how do you know if your personal conscience is reliable or not?)

Answer 1

I use the values that I have be taught, both directly and indirectly. I come from a society that adheres to certain values, most people tend to grow up sharing those values.
It works for me because i can see that I add to society at least as much as I take out, this is good for a progressive society.
I take personal responsibility for my conscience and at the time of writing this, it is clear.

Answer 2

I don't think I have ever had to consider local laws when making a choice. If it is a quick choice I use my personal conscience only, and when I have time to think it out I also include a decision based on possible consequences. I have always felt that my personal conscience is reliable, as I have no proof that it is not.

Answer 3

You don't ask easy questions, do you?

OK, here goes. I suppose my moral rudder was well established by my parents. I attended church for many years but I saw so much nonsense from "Christians" I just gave up and left the Faith. I know, I may be wrong, as Christians and Faith is not synonymous. The problem is, what is an organization if it isn't the people in it?

I now evaluate my actions by trying to assume the position of the other person. If I would not like having done to me what I contemplate doing to others I don't do it unless I have no other choice. For example, I sat on a jury on a murder case. I would not like to have someone send me to jail but the defendant killed another human and I was sworn to do what the law demands. So I voted to send him to jail. Similarly. I wouldn't like to be fired but I have had to do just that on occasion.

I can't see where any other method of evaluating morals would be any more reliable than the golden rule. I know, the golden rule is in the Bible. An atheist doesn't believe in God, it doesn't mean s/he can't take a line from a book and find value in it. I am not a Buddhist but some of his philosophies make sense to me as well. And, Will Rogers said, live your life so you can sell your parrot to the town gossip. I like that too, but I don't worship Will Rogers either.

I love opinion questions. If there is one thing I have in abundance, it is opinions.

Answer 4

I am an agnostic and I determine right from wrong based on my conscious and weighing of outcomes. I also take others' feelings and well being into consideration and put myself in other people's shoes. I know my choices are reliable because the outcomes have all been good for everyone involved. When they haven't, I change my actions. This is trial and error but at 21, I think I have it down already as to what is right and wrong for most things, and have never needed religious morals to do so.

Answer 5

I am not an atheist. But I think in intellectuals and scientists, their personal convictions, dedication to the environments they function, their commitment to social and cultural consequences of their sayings and findings will be the standard by which they should be judged. They cannot be judges of their own reliability but the time and society will evaluate whether they are destructive with their atheistic views or not. It is a less traumatic process for the believers to make God be the judge of all that they do or say. It is not so in case of atheists.

Answer 6

I guess the first problem I have with your question is the fact that you have the word Athiest and morality in the same sentence. Your religion or the lack thereof doesn't dictate your morality. While we find very religious people to be very immoral, and very non-religious people extremely moral, we have to focus on morality without their religion.

Personal consience, regardless of your religious beliefs, is nearly always situational. This is where situational ethics come in. So I don't believe personal consience is a reliable measure of morality.

Local laws make us moral only because we're afraid of consequences. So, I believe the best measure of morality would be from a certain actions' consequence.

God or none, the law of sowing and reaping is a law of nature we cannot escape.

Answer 7

I rely on 1 and 3, I suppose. Everyone has to rely on their personal conscience and knowing the consequences of an act are obviously a good deterrent if the act is going to result in a negative situation.
I have zero respect for law and government. They are the creation of self-righteous people who fraudulently pass themselves off as moral watch dogs. Other than laws preventing violence against others, all laws are a sham.

Answer 8

Common sense. I don't feel the need to kill or steal, so why should I. Local Laws have little to no effect on me. If I choose to speed, I will speed. I don't feel I have to most of the time because I want to enjoy what's going on around me so I do. Consequences are not as big in an atheists book of morality as they are in a Christians for example. If an atheist breaks the rules, they hold themselves accountable and know they screwed up. Christians claim they are going to be burned in hell for eternity for doing wrong unless they can atone for it some how.

Answer 9

What we refer to as moral values are the concepts introduced by religion that make life beautiful and rewarding. Whenever these values are distorted, we face a really disturbing picture in society. First of all, in an environment where no rules and limits are observed, lawlessness prevails. In this system, everyone lays down his own rules and principles, based on highly variable criteria. In the ignorant society the basic principle that is applied is not to go to extremes in social conduct and hence not to incur any reaction from the society. It is wholly acceptable to do anything wrong, as long as it is not publicly disclosed. Ignorant people deliver speeches about virtuous conduct and morals, or severely condemn those who hold a contrary view. However, they themselves violate these values when they are convinced that nobody sees them.
They never think that Allah surrounds them all at every moment; they never conceive that He sees every deed they commit and hears every word.

Answer 10

you think morality comes from religion don't you?

I once had a christian friend ask me, if you don't believe in god, you can murder someone then right? <--stupidest question ever asked

I also once had a christian friend who told me she was going to become and atheist so she could party and sleep with guys and do whatever she wanted without feeling bad about it <--stupidest comment I ever heard

Morality does not come from RELIGION is comes from SOCIETY. I know the difference between right and wrong because I have grown up knowing it. My family was not religious but I know stealing, hurting others, killing, lying (I guess they are all forms of harming others) is wrong.

Basically my moral reasoning goes like thing : Would I want you/someone else to do this to me? No? Then why would I do it?

Answer 11

All three, as everyone else should, regardless of religious base.
Not being Christian does not mean I have no morals and am uncaring.

How do you know if your personal conscience is reliable or not?