Question for "life-long" atheists...?

Question

I was in my early 30's when I saw the light of atheism. Prior to that I was a lutheran.

As a father, I have taken a "laid-back" attitude toward religion to allow my children to come to their own conclusions. However, my moral base came from my early exposure to christian teachings.

I am curious what "life-long" atheists have used as the basis for their morals

I'm sure that I'll have some christians will also answer this question. I would be curious about your positions as well, just don't be a wise guy and say something pithy like "Atheists have morals??"

Answer 1

Neither of my parents were religious and they never had need of a book to teach me right from wrong. Most all morals stem from the Golden Rule and that is probably the first thing my parents exposed me to....do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

I consider myself a "normal" person with a conscience...in the past when I made a mistake and harmed others with my actions I always felt guilt. It was guilt which kept me from stealing from other people, and I also know how it feels to have something stolen...it is a feeling I never wish to be responsible for making other people feel.

I also learned right from wrong simply by observing my parents' interactions with others, I watched both of my parents treat other people and their property with respect and dignity.

But I also learned from my father that there are limits to the Golden Rule...not everyone plays by that rule, the majority of religious folks who show extreme dis-respect towards my beliefs are breaking the golden rule when they tell me I will "burn in hell" simply because I choose to have a different opinion about books like the bible than they do.

My father taught me that I might have to alter the golden rule based upon my own judgement of those people I come into contact with. It took me until my adult years to fully understand what he meant....some people need to have the golden rule applied to them in this way : Do unto others as they have done unto you....

So if someone is trying to harm me, well, I will try to harm them back to defend myself...if a christian or a muslim has the arrogance to tell me that I am "wrong" in my beliefs and that I will suffer eternally for not believing as they do even though they have ZERO proof that I am wrong...well, I just feel obliged to show them the same dis-respect and arrogance they show me.

I think the worst thing you could do to a child is make them believe that there is a supreme being that will forgive them for causing harm to others...and at the same time also teach the children that the same supreme being will punish them severely if they do harm others.

Kind of sends a mixed message don't ya think?

Answer 2

Start off with a brief study of Deontology and Utilitarianism. You needn't go too in depth with these -- morality is a process of thinking, not just accepting dogma. You need only the basis to have the words to describe your thoughts.

Deontolgy enshrines the moral concept of duty.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deontology

Utilitarianism enshrines the moral concept of service.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utilitarianism


You may also be interested in ethical egoism, which does *NOT* say that the self is all important, but that we must do what is best for ourselves -- while recognizing the rights of others to do as such for themselves.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethical_egoism


Further, don't throw out the baby with the bathwater -- the stories of miracles and talking snakes and other crap like that might be... well... crap, but Yshua did teach generally good morality. Love God (or the universe as you view it) with all your being, and love your neighbor as yourself.

Answer 3

I have a similar upbringing, although I have not accepted religion for many many years.
I believe that morals are not based on religion, god or anything like that. I think that if you look at any group of social animals on this planet you will see a moral code that they live by. Its evolution a work. If a group of social animals wants to have the best chance of survival, then the must have a moral code to live by within their group, otherwise they will become extinct.

Answer 4

I am an Atheist, raised by Atheist parents. I think 'morals' just naturally come from a sense of right and wrong. I was always taught to treat all others in the same fashion I would like to be treated with.

Answer 5

For me, it is a matter of probability. For a start we know life exists on this planet. The building blocks for life are scattered around the universe. If conditions are suitable, I see no reason why some form of life could not develop amongst the countless galaxies, star systems and planets. The same cannot be said of an imaginary being, not one of which is there any evidence for. Therefore I am atheistic towards gods but agnostic towards alien life.

Answer 6

Cooperation, altruism and love are innate properties of human existence... a more sophisticated version of the social organization that you can see among pods of dolphins or orcas, packs of wolves, lion prides and troops of chimpanzees. Moral consensus, moral conscience and mutual empathy are evolved survival traits. These are social constructs... the social lubrication that allows people to exist together. People come away with the misconception that they don't exist, absent religion. The religious puppet masters try to perpetuate that idea, in order to protect their conduits to wealth and power... but that is a canard. This has to do, entirely, with human nature.

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"With or without religion, you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion." ~ Steven Weinberg
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Richard Dawkins - The Root of All Evil Part 2.1 (moral behavior)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=mGLPViVW5ms

Richard Dawkins - The Root of All Evil Part 2.6 (evolution basis for morality)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=mGLPViVW5ms&mode=related&search=

Here's something to think about. Christians make up about 75% of the US population and 75% of the US prison population. No big surprise there.

Atheists, on the other hand, make up about 10% of the US population... but they make up only 0.2% of the US prison population. Now, isn't THAT a surprise? That means that atheists are FIFTY (50) times LESS LIKELY to be incarcerated than Christians. Pretty strange, huh, for a group that has no god-given guiding moral principals?

I can think of only two possibilities that might reasonably be said to account for this discrepancy:

1. Atheists are of a higher ethical and moral caliber than Christians, and thus are less prone to do the same kinds of nasty things that land so many Christians in the slammer;

OR,

2. Atheists are, overall, a lot smarter than Christians and thus, they are less likely to get caught in the course of their transgressions.

It's GOT to be one or the other... take your pick.

Answer 7

Here's my philosophy: This is the only life I have, so I'd better make it as good as possible. The better I treat people (as in, the way they want to be treated) the better they will treat me, in general. The better people treat me, the better life I have. The inverse is also true. There are exceptions, of course. There's always a few people who will treat you like crap no matter what you do, and people who you can walk all over an they'll keep on smiling, but those people's actions are simple out of your influence.

Answer 8

When I was a kid, if i did something wrong i was never scared of the wrath of god, only what my parents might do if they found out. So i guess my morals come from them. The bible has some nice stories in it, but that's all they are

Answer 9

The golden rule is a good basis for morals.

Answer 10

Why not use the Jefferson Bible?
It was a Bible created by Thomas Jefferson, and has the morals of Jesus without the divinity part.