If you're an atheist, where do your morals ultimately come from?

Question

Rule of law? Parents? (where did theirs come from?) Or are morals relative, do what you like, it's alllll good?

So far, I've seen responses of self; heritage; law; and others' morals deciding your own morals. Remember I said ultimately, and that ultimate being is who you credit with your sense of right and wrong. If it's yourself (common sense, "programming", etc.), have you tried Buddhism or Wiccan? If it's your parents, then who do they credit, because you're ultimately following that entity. If it's your friends, same thing. If it's law, then it would make a big difference where you lived, wouldn't it?

Answer 1

Wow, Yourdumb has a contextual name...

I gain my morality from some of the greatest Liberal thinkers of our history. I decide what i believe in because i look at the facts, arguments and evidence, then make up my own mind.

Religious Morality is, ultimatly, outdated. It refuses to move with the times, as morality must do. Remember, Morality is not a fixed entitiy, what is considered normal today was a sin 100 years ago, and vice versa

Answer 2

They come from within me. It's really so VERY simple! I don't need a law or a Bible telling me not to kill people, I just believe it's wrong to do so. I don't like being lied to or cheated, so I don't do it to others. I am open and honest because I think it builds trust and respect, which seems to be lacking in many people.

I find it interesting that there are questions like this. They all basically ask the same thing:

If nobody told you what the Rules are, how do you know them?

We all have the power to analyze each situation and make different choices as we go along, really. It's called Free Will, and it is everyone's basic human right, so why not use it?

The concept of "sin" is a human creation, and neither scripture nor man's laws are black and white. That's why there are lawyers and priests to interpret them.

Answer 3

Well I am personally not atheist, but I have friends who are. Basically, I'd say they come from the morals around you. Obviously you're not going to do something completely against the law even if you don't really have a set guideline for morals.

I'd also say that they came from parents and their parents. Obviously morals have been passed down and whatever happens to be socially acceptable is what your morals become. Whatever is right in your eyes, the law(not all the time), and everyone around you is what I'd say the morals are for an Atheist.

Answer 4

Evolutionarily, a base 5-10% of our morality is biologically hardwired. This is a rather ingenious fail-safe to prevent us from learning behaviors that would conflict with our biological programming. Examples of conflicting programs would be:

"The best thing to do for yourself is not eat."
"Abstinence is the best policy and you should follow it completely."
"Killing others is the right thing to do."

Even if you grew up in civilizations that impressed such values, they would never get off the ground.

That is where religion comes in. Yes, there are those who impress vegetarianism and celibacy, but religious leaders do not expect their adherents to follow those astringent guidelines. That's what makes religion different. The "seven deadly sins" ensure that everyone has sinned in some form or another.

Religion is somewhat moral, but mostly marketing strategy.

Answer 5

I don't know...I was just born with a sense of what I believe is right and wrong. I would never intentionally bring harm to another person or animal and I try to treat others in the same fashion I wish to be treated. Live and let live. Oh, and by the way, attedawg is an idiot and knows nothing because I was in fact, born an Atheist! My parents were intelligent and caring enough not to brainwash me!

Answer 6

Empathy, and social animal characteristics (ex: wolves hang in packs, and look out for another to increase survival), etc. Where do your morals come from? Do what you want, and repent then all is good? Are you telling me if an ancient nomad did not tell you not to kill you would? 10 commandments? You think it is ok to kill people if it is not for an old rock with instructions scratched into it? This is why we need religion, because there are people out there that are killers, over all horrible but are kept in line by a control tactic known as hell.

Answer 7

My morals come from my upbringing and my experiences with life. If there was ever anything in the Bible that would make the world a better place if people followed it, quite simply, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." And morals are relative. We do horrible things on a regular basis, that we have no idea is actually bad. Like walk by while people in our streets sleep on cold grounds and eat from garbage cans because its not our problem.

Answer 8

Experiences, ultimately, and how I would like to be treated (and have been treated) by others. I come from a long line of Druids, but have studied others too, and look more for the parallels in each rather than the differences.

Answer 9

I'm totally appalled that some theists think that atheists don't have morals. I have a very strong sense of ethics and morals. Any theist who thinks that if they stopped believing in God then they would lose their moral compass is morally a child. It's like thinking that if I can get mommy and daddy to praise me, then I did good, and if mommy and daddy spank me, then I did bad. Do you only behave morally because you fear going to hell? If so, then I pity you and your weak moral sense.

Answer 10

My morals came from a ten-year-old who noticed how bad it felt to hurt someone and decided that she wasn't going to do that anymore if she could help it, simply because it was bad.

Her nickname these days is weemaryanne.

As for your morals, I'm assuming that you are at least as smart as I was at the age of ten. So we know where your morals came from, too.

See? It's really not that hard to figure out.