I've known quite a few atheists who were morally upstanding people. In fact, I would say that they were more upstanding than some of the so-called Christians I've met. Why do some people assume that you have to have religion in order to have morals? Morality is largely a matter of common sense. If you have any common sense at all, you judge the rightness and wrongness of your actions by their effect on yourself and on others.
2006-11-02 03:43:10 · 20 answers · asked by tangerine 7 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
I believe that you can have morals and ethics without religion. For the record true christians live what the bible says theres no justifing it at all The church i go has taught me its not about religion at all it's about a personal relationship with God and and allowing him to come in and take our mess that we created in return of something wonderful it's all about faith. I know people who are wickian and have morals.
2006-11-02 03:52:14 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
The entire concept of right or wrong, moral or immoral, ethical or unethical is based entirely on God. Without God there cannot be any such thing as something be right or wrong. EVERYTHING would simplyh be relative. The fact that so-called atheists are "moral" is evidence that there really is NO such thing as an atheist. Those who claim to be atheists have an anger towards God and they lash out by claiming to NOT believe in him. However if they REALLY didn't believe in God they would have no qualms about cheating on their spouse, lying to their children, abusing animals (assuming the law did not intervene--but that is a different matter, not a religious matter) they would kill people they didn't like, force sex on people whenever they wanted to etc... Why not? If there is no God then there cannot be anything considered good OR bad. How can it be bad if someone in authority did not declare it such?
Therefore, the basis of ALL ethics is the inherent knowledge we all are born with that there is a God, that He is our Father in Heaven and that there are inherent forces (scientists call it conscience) that lead all men to know the difference between good and evil.
2006-11-02 12:50:24 · answer #2 · answered by Mr. Curious 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I argue that Christians aren't truely good people. The only reason a Christian does any good is because he thinks he'll get something back for his deeds. Does that really make him a good person? No. An Atheists that wants to live Morally does so because he want's to do the right thing. That's true Morality.
2006-11-02 11:50:03 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 1⤋
I guess, that's because those people draw ALL of their morals and ethics FROM their religions. So they cannot imagine that anything else can be a source of morality. I just hope those guys never give up their religions... Or they might become serial killers!
2006-11-02 11:58:18 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
How can we truly know what is right or wrong without consulting the Creator? Furthermore, many people, by using their "common sense" arrive at different conclusions as to what is right or wrong. For instance, even many non-religious see homosexuality as immoral whereas others see it as moral. Many see abortion as immoral, but others see unborn babies as nothing more than a clump of cells and consider it completely moral. God's word gives us answers to these things.
But most importantly of all, we are not saved by morality...we are saved by Christ.
2006-11-02 11:56:26 · answer #5 · answered by whitehorse456 5 · 0⤊ 2⤋
It sounds like you've been hurt by some Christians. I'm sorry for that.
I do agree that we Christians can get self-righteous. That's a big mistake. God wants us righteous - Not self-righteous. There's a HUGE difference.
Common sense allows for a lot of grey areas. I think that's where Christians get their knickers in a twist. We tend to see black and white. No grey.
Hope that helps.
2006-11-02 11:47:08 · answer #6 · answered by Max Marie, OFS 7 · 4⤊ 0⤋
Because just as the Republican party hijacked religion, religion hijacked morals. We know that morals existed before biblical (Jewdao-Christan) times and we even know that animals (mostly primates) exhibit morals as well.
2006-11-02 11:53:52 · answer #7 · answered by Kelly L 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Yes, ma'am. I have enough common sense to have morals. Maybe some folks need a pastor to tell them not to rob that bank they have been eyeing.
2006-11-02 11:50:33 · answer #8 · answered by Gorgeoustxwoman2013 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Because many (by no means all) religious people confuse following rules with actually having morals.
2006-11-02 11:45:59 · answer #9 · answered by fourmorebeers 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
You don't have to have religion in order to have moral or ethics. But you do have to believe in God to be saved! There are a lot of good people in this world. But being good does not get you into heaven. You must believe!!!!!!!!!!!!
2006-11-02 11:48:36 · answer #10 · answered by Child of God 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋