Where DO Athesists get their morals from?

Question

Clearly it is not from any religion? Or is it?

Hmm. Yeah, I accept Athiests get their morals from TV, media etc but all these and the whole framework of modern life was influenced by RELIGIONS!

It's a pity some of you can't respond without recourse to ad hominem personal attacks. I can only conclude it shows the paucity of your argumentative skills.

Answer 1

They get them from God. We were made in his image and likeness afterall. Rejecting the idea of God does not change that, but it does allow for a dangerous slipperiness that attempts to change moral absolutes.

Answer 2

Things like 'do not murder' are not morals based specifically on religion. I can think of no religion or society in the world where murder would be deemed acceptable. Such things are immoral because of human nature, not because of any omnipotent being telling people so.

Religion is based on the culture of where it developed. Way before religion these morals would have been well established. When religion came to the fore the old morals became enshrined in the religions too. If the culture decreed that murder was wrong you could bet your life when they developed religion the gods would think so too. In the defence of religion, it has historically been surprisingly good at making sure people didn't behave badly, as they feared hell. But without religion the morals would still be the same.

There are very practical reasons for these morals, aside from religion. If it was not deemed immoral to murder, do you think a society could survive? No, it could not. Humans have had to have morals for millions of years to enable then to cooperate and work as a functioning group. If people ran around killing each other unchecked do you think they would be able to work together thus? Humans are tribal animals, and without the ability to survive in groups we would have never been able to survive at all. Without morals living in groups would have been impossible. Morals, ethics, empathy, etc, have developed as a way of enabling humans to work together for their survival. Thus such things have become embedded in human nature and culture forever.

If we did not have religion, the need for morals would still be the same. People mightn't have always been as inclined to follow them as they would if they feared an omnipotent God smiting them, but they would still be there and they would still be the same. Luckily these days fear of the law is often good enough to prevent people behaving immorally. You do not need religion to have morals.

Answer 3

Atheism isn't a religion... get used to that fact.

To answer your question, myself and several other atheists i talk with and listen to tend to agree that morals are a byproduct of causality. When you do something that action has consequences. You can judge the moral correctness or incorrectness based on the harm or good that comes from that action. It's not difficult for us to discern right from wrong by predicting the outcome of our actions based on reason, past observations, and common sense.

We don't need some ancient book to tell us that. Treat others as you yourself would want to be treated.


(if you're going to use the term "ad homonym" you don't need to put "personal attacks" behind it... you're simply repeating yourself.)

Answer 4

Easy...

Would you like it if I mugged you?

Would you like it if I raped you?

Would you like it and think it fair if I beat you up without a fair reason?

Would you on the other hand want me to shoot you in the head if you were in a car on fore so you would not die in agony?

Would you rather I let you drink and drive and kill a kid or stop you even if it meant a black eye?


Now you understand morality and how you dont need a god... As its simple really... Treat others as you would have them treat you and as long as you do no harm do as you will.


It means an argy if fine if safe sex and none forced

But taking advantage of someons feelings would be wrong as you would not like that done to you.



We don't follow set rules but more guidlens as thats were true morals lie.


As said with the car sometimes doing one thing thats normally wrong say stealing is necessary to prevnet worse harm such as 'stealing' heroin and a gun from an 8 year old.


Its relgion that has no morals as follows rules with no care hence getting witch burning or stoning for having a boyfriend or beign gay

Answer 5

Well I don't believe in any organised religion but I learnt alot from my parents. The're not religious but I've learned to respect people and include a healthy dose of peace love and empathy. What makes you think we learn our morals from tv and the media? Atheists have minds of their own you know. We can also decide for ourselves what is right or wrong. I think you presume too much.
Peace, love and empathy!

Answer 6

If I may be so bold as to speak on their behalf...
Most of them get their concept of morality (if they believe in it, which most do) from societal standards (which, ironically enough, are mostly Torah-based values).
There have been attempts to formulate other moral systems, such as based on evolution or simply what pleases the individual, but they never gained widespread acceptance and were just as shaky (if not moreso) than the original moral code they are fleeing from.

on the side, I asked atheists if they would save their pet dog or a drowning person -- assuming they could only choose one -- and many chose their dog. says alot.

cheerio

Answer 7

I just understand that if I want to live life a certain way I need to behave in a certain way. I don't want someone to rob me, so I understand that I shouldn't rob others. I understand that I wouldn't like it if my boyfriend cheated on me, so I won't do it to him. It's really not that hard. I just don't have the fear of hell making me do it. I don't need someone to tell me to be a good person, I just understand that it is what needs to be.
P.s. There are a lot of religious people that don't follow the rules of religion. What makes you think that they have more morals than an atheist.

Answer 8

I am afraid that religion does not have a monopoly on moral teaching.
One can quite easily have good morals without having religion.

Answer 9

No. It's from our values and principles. Believe it or not, we do have values and principles! Surprised? Well, so it is...

In my particular case, I put humanity above everything and anything else. If something is going to hurt a person unnecessarily, it's wrong. And I add "unnecessarily" because sometimes hurting a person is necessary to avoid hurting another person more seriously, or hurting your "victim" himself or herself. Think of an appendectomy, for instance. You ARE opening the patient's skin. But in return, you're saving their life.

Answer 10

Welcome to the jungle. We godless people live with the reality that humanity is what is important. We, who live in the jungle, do not need a fabricated villain or hero to decide what is right and what is wrong. If you have to base your decisions upon an ancient comic book's direction, then so be it. I choose to use my jungle instincts inherited from my animal ancestors. Wanna play a game of cat and mouse with me in the jungle? Do you think your god will protect you from us beasts, oh high and mighty moral one? You make me chuckle.

Answer 11

Hm... where do I get my morality from...

By this I assume you mean, how do I know it's wrong to kill people, rape, steal, and all that piddly crap?

Well let me tell you, morality existed long before some bloke carted a few stone tablets down off a mountain.