Can an atheist believe in "good" and "evil", is that the same as "right" and "wrong"?

Question

Are atheists just as "good" or "bad" as believers since even believers still do "right" and "wrong",
Is it just the fact that they don't believe that makes them especially "bad"? What if we didn't have a need for a belief system of any kind except for just the belief of "right" and "wrong" and pratically thinking "good" and "bad", would this world be a better place and would we find more peace in our world? Would it stop all wars if religion and belief of any God of any kind was gone and all our morals were based on the principles of ethics, right and wrongs we can all agree on as human beings living in a civilized world?

Answer 1

Since the concepts of good, evil, right and wrong are all independent of a belief in any particular diety, athiests can believe in them too. And as for the rest of your question, if there was some sort of universal ethical code for humanity, chances are that there would be much more peace. Unfortunately, one of the major stumbling blocks to creating one is adherance to religion, the moral codes of which many people reflexively believe is better than the moral code of any other religion. And as you can see in the news and history, there are many people who are willing to fight and die over their religion. So given that, I leave the decision up to you.

Answer 2

These are a lot of questions.

"Can an atheist believe in "good and evil...?": Even people who don't believe in God, generally believe that there is good and evil (right and wrong) in this world.

"Is it the same as 'right and wrong'?": It depends on the individual's point of view.

"Are atheists just as 'good' or 'bad' as believers?": Are you asking from the believer's point of view or the ateists point of view? My belief is that we are all sinners and the only way we can be saved is by accepting Jesus's sacrifice for us and developing a personal relationship with Him.

"Is it just the fact that they don't believe that makes them especially 'bad'?": They are not any more "bad" than any of the rest of us. In my opinion, they are just not saved and do not have the holy Spirit to guide them. I believe it is just harder to live your life that way.

"What if we didn't have a need for a belief system of any kind...would this world be a better place and would we find more peace...?": We don't just live in the physical world. We also live in the spiritual world. If that weren't so, we would not connect with one another and we would not have spiritual needs. Our spirit needs peace, without a conciousness or spirit, this world would be an ugly place because we would be only led by our physical needs and we are all very selfish. We would all be against each other because we would be instinctively competing against each other. It would be horrible.

"Would it stop all wars if religion and belief of any God ...was gone and our morals wer based on the principles of ethics, right and wrongs, we can all agree on as human beings living in a civilized world?": No, what makes you think we can all agree upon what is right and wrong. And if it were imposed upon people who did not agree, it would cause wars wether it was based on religion or not. It isn't just extremist religions that cause wars, also politics, disagreements, power hungry people. All these things cannot be controlled.

What you wish for is an ideal. It only works in theory. God will return and there will be peace, just have faith and lean on Him for all your troubles. Let me know if I have missed a question, but really try to ask just one question at a time from now on. God bless.

Answer 3

Isn't it funny how religion can also become the source of war? If so, is religion "bad"? Good or bad - are labels we put on certain things/issues/morals esp if it does not conform with the normal society. But there is a thin line dividing good and bad in comparison to what is right or wrong. What might be right for you could be wrong to the next guy. There are globally accepted norms but then again - that's where the conflict begins because some people want to change the norms set in certain societies preaching that its wrong when its right for the majority. The principle of Peace is globally accepted as well - but then comes in religion because some religions preach that peace can only be achieved if "that" particular religion was followed by all. So how do you do that in a muslim country? How do you do that in a christian country?
Bottom line - if we wanted peace globally, there has to be mutual respect - mutual respect for the beliefs of another culture and not just one country insisting on what it wants. Religion should not be a reason for war but it is becoming quite evident that muslims and christians/ catholic - will be be the greatest downfall of humanity if these two religions don't stop bickering with one another. Secondly, greed is also wrong because power becomes corrupt. If you want peace - choose your leaders wisely.

Answer 4

Of course an atheist can believe in good and evil -- they should if they expect to function in society!

Everyone has the capacity to make value judgments regarding themselves; as a Christian, I don't need to ask God is it OK for me to cross the street against the light at rush hour. Of course it isn't, unless I really have an urge to be road pizza. Whether you claim your value system (what makes an act good or evil and right or wrong) has God at its core or not, the fact of the matter is that He's the source of those values.

Contrary to the liberal interpretation of history, wars don't start because of religion or belief in God but because of finite resources and infinite ambition. You've obliquely pointed out we (re: humanity) don't agree on the existence or attributes of God; what makes you think we can all agree on moral values -- even based on "ethics", how do we agree on what works?

When people say, "I don't believe in God," more often than not they mean, "I can't relate to God (e.g. I want to serve a god on my level of development)." But a god on your level of development would be . . . you. So you can set your own standards of right and wrong, but that will end with the first other person (with their standards of right and wrong) that you meet. Your right to swing your fist ends where the other person's nose begins, so to speak.

At the risk of being a creative reductionist, I will say that good and evil require the existence of a personality, a creator and creative force that offers one the choice to do right or wrong. (2+2=4 is not good, but it is right.) It's not impossible for an atheist to believe in good and evil, but they're looking at life one-sided.

Answer 5

Thats a very interesting and yet very hard question to answer, Atheist only believe in right and wrong- which tends to feed depeer into spirituality than antyhing else. If the world were atheist then maybe things would be easier but life is not that simple, so your question is slightly rhetorical. Technically there is no answer to your question... Which sucks cause I think your on to something

~Cheers

Answer 6

To be an atheist is to NOT belive in a God. That has nothing to do with doing wrong or right. Doing wrong or right is more of an ethical standpoint to a person.