Atheists, since you don't believe in absolute truth, where does your sense of morals and values come from?

Question

Since no one is born with infinite knowledge, everything we believe in must be learned from somewhere, I was just wondering where you all get your sense of morals and values.

Oops sorry for asking the same question! Before I asked, I tried to do a search to see if had been asked but I didn't see it. Thanks for answering anyways :)

Answer 1

Everything you encounter you take something from. There are valid teachings in the Bible, some very strong moral lessons. There are also strong moral lessons in the Tao te Ching, the Koran, the Analects of Confucius etc... a surrender to a specific deity, especially one that commands blind obedience is not necessary for moral behavior. Good question, provided it was honest and not designed to incite a derogatory response. But you are a Christian, and that would be un-Christ like right?

Answer 2

That's actually not true. It's quite possible to have original ideas. That's what creativity is all about.

As for my morals...
First, i consider what i want out of life. My purpose defines my behavior, after all.
After some thinking, i figured all i really wanted out of life was happiness. So the question then becomes, how do i find happiness? I figure two things will do it for me: i love building things, so i'd like a career in technology, and i'm human, so i need the company of other people.

Both of those things require human civilization in order to happen. Therefore, my behavior should not just be in direct furtherence of my goals, but should be in the best interests of civilization as well. The more prosperous humanity is as a whole, the more prosperous i am.

But, of course, there's no point in doing that if i, myself, end up getting shafted in the works. Therefore, i prioritize my behavior to benefit these things in the following order, first to last:
-Myself
-Friends and family
-human civilization

From those priorities, i derive all of my behavior.
That's the big picture. For individual instances, it's just a simple cost-benefit analysis - can i act so that everyone wins? If not, how can i act so as to benefit the most people while benefiting myself as well? If i can't do that either, how do i act in my own best interests without incuring any negative consequences?

That's how i determine my "morals" and, indeed, all my actions.

Answer 3

There is a humorous side to this question. Unless you're a very isolated person you probably know there aren't large gangs of atheists roaming the streets raping and pillaging. Actually your chances of falling victim to violence or chicanery are statistically far greater with folks calling themselves "believers."And I needn't mention all the high-and-mighty "believers" who daily abscond with the nation's resources and good name.

In short, as most anthropologists & social researchers will tell you: Morality is a cultural product occurring across all societies. More importantly, the moralities resemble each other more than they differ regardless of religion (or lack thereof).

So now the question becomes: Why do people attribute the origin of morality to religion when the evidence doesn't support it?

Answer 4

A good basic belief is: Only do things that will not harm yourself or others. If you follow that, you're pretty well set. Of course you might have to make exceptions for eating bad foods and such but it's still a good belief to follow.

Religion is hardly a place for morals and values. Look at all the wars today. What do they all involve? Religion.

Answer 5

Rather than believing in an imaginary daddy in the sky to tell me right from wrong I can use my very own brain.

It's quite simple, see if you can follow.

1) Killing, maiming, torturing, rape, and all forms of violence ALWAYS beget more killing, more maiming, more torturing, more rape, and more of every kind of violence.
2) Being bigoted, greedy, and selfish eventually, but ALWAYS, lead to hatred, fear, and then, violence.
3) I want to live in a peaceful world where people treat each other well so we can all live with the beauty around us.
4) Therefore, I actively work for a peaceful world and stand firm against bigotry, greed, hatred, and violence.

And no holy ghost told me to think that way. See how easy it is?

Answer 6

it's called being raised by good parents who know right and wrong and teach politeness, hard work, honesty etc... It's also just being a decent human being and using your common sense to make judgments. I don't have to "FOLLOW" someone elses beliefs and they way they say I "should" act. I was born with a brain and my own thoughts----religion is like a big money making cult---the more you give to a church the more that they "love" you---please, those same ppl all dressed up in the pews on Sun. will cuss you out on Monday if you cut them off in traffic, and a million other "sins" and then go to church on Sunday and say they are following the teachings of Jesus. HYPOCRITES< HYPOCRITES

Answer 7

From the same place you do, from the sympathy and empathy that humans provide each other.

Since Christianity is not the only religion, why would you think that the christian "rule set" is universal? People in their own areas come up with the morals, rules and ethics that suit themselves.

Answer 8

I don't know for sure but I'm gonna take a wild stab and guess that you're Christian. I would like to know where you get your morals from. Please don't tell me that it's from a book of fairy tales written thousands of years ago. That's just too funny. That old book if filled with more killing, fighting, raping and degenerate activities than anything ever written. Oh, but that's ok since it's all in God's name, right?

Answer 9

Will people STOP ASKING THE SAME QUESTION AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN. This is just free points for me (giving the same answer again and again and again).

As for your question, where did brown eyed people get their values from, for that matter? I don't know how many time's I have to say this: ATHEISM IS NOT A CREED, IT'S A REJECTION OF THEISTIC TYRANNY! Atheism is not related to morality.

Answer 10

Common sense, learning from my mistakes, learning from others.... as opposed to religious people, who just believe what other religious people tell them, and what they read in an entirely fictional book (the bible).

I'd say I'm MUCH better off.