How do Atheists determine right and wrong?

Question

Laws come from religion right! (Christianity for the western world) Sooo Do you just do what ever feels right?
What if breaking the law feels okay? Petafilia, murder, rape etc. Who makes up weather thats right of wrong...

Answer 1

Same way as everybody else. Do you really think that Christians and people in other religions get their morality from religion? If that were so, then the world's sense of morality wouldn't change over the millenia. This is not the case, though. Unlike what is taught in the Bible, we no longer consider women as property. We also don't condone slavery or ethnic cleansing, as was done under God's direction in the Bible.

Sure, religion does influence some people's morality to some extent. You seem to put a lot of weight in what your pastor or priest says that your religion considers right and wrong. But this is not your only source of input on that issue. You also take what your country says is right and wrong, and your family, and your friends, and your culture, and your own life experiences, and even your human instincts. All of that contributes to what you consider to be right and wrong. Everybody has different values. You can go to your church, pick the guy sitting next to you, and find some moral value that you two disagree on.

So, who makes up what is right and wrong? We do. Simple. The reason that we tend to make morals goes back to our instincts. Humans tend to be pack animals. We form groups and establish pecking orders, just like wolves do. In order to live amongst each other, we have developed rules of behavior. Those rules of behavior permit better human interaction. A hermit doesn't need such rules.

Those rules also evolve over time as society evolves. It wasn't until the last hundred years or so that women stopped being treated as lesser beings and were given the right to vote. There are still some places in the world that do. But back when the Bible and Quran were written their society was heavily patriarchal. That's why you see all the slights against women in them.

Of course, people walking around with different moralities can be anarchic, though that's molified by the fact that we have common experiences and DNA. So, society comes up with rules that are establishes as laws or social mores. This forms a common basis for interaction, without having to figure out a common ground between each person we meet.

I hope this answers your question.

Answer 2

laws come from a kind of moral code that has evolved over millenia. There are evolutionary benefits to altruism, kindness, etc. Richard Dawkins has a very good discussion of this in The God Delusion.

Religion and law merely are social constructs that codified what we already know intrinsicly to be right or wrong.

If the only reason you dont rape or murder is because it says it's a sin in your dusty old bible, then I feel sorry for you. And a little scared of you.

Answer 3

Ethics and morality were around long before Christianity. Plato and Aristotle were lived long before Christ. The earliest civilizations had moral codes. The records go back to the ancient Sumerian culture: The Code of Hammurabi. Common sense will tell you that society could not have evolved without rules. Psychologist have found that we all have a conscience except for sociopaths. It is for sure that you're not a Rhodes Scholar.

Answer 4

There are certainly religious laws and sometimes they overlap with secular laws, but that does not mean that the secular law is derived from the religious.
The main purpose of law is to keep people from hurting each other. I promise not to murder you and you promise not to murder me, and we set up a police system to enforce, or at least, punish you if you cheat. It is in our mutual self interest to make this agreement and to abide by it. It's called the social contract. Almost all criminal law falls in this catagory ( at least with the exception of victimless crimes.)
The main purpose of civil courts is similar, it is partly to right wrongs, but came out of a desire to bring closure to disputes before they became incentives for violence.
If you were to argue that laws come from religion in law school, the professor would probably offer you a dime so that you could call your mother to come pick you up.

Answer 5

what kind of question is that my dear? Just finish from a session witht he bible that says something about heathens? Atheiest people (and I am not Athiest thank you, far from it), do not believe in god, that doesn't mean they don't have feelings (as my friend Raven just said). They are perfectly capable of determining what is right and wrong. And I am going to assume that you do not have children because then you would know that it is the "parents" that teach children what is right and wrong, religion just lends you something to connect to and lean on.

i really must say, and take no offense please-

what an idiotic question.

Answer 6

If laws come from Christianity why is a much larger % of Christians in jail than Atheists compared to the non-belief population.

Seems like your logic is flawed.

Morality and religion have nothing to do with each other. Christianity is the last thing I'd consider moral..

Answer 7

Right and wrong come from one's parents, regardless of religious background.

Atherist turn away from God owing to an action that makes them feel there is no God.

And some very religious people break the law with murder and rape, OK?

Answer 8

Laws DO NOT come from religion.

let me ask you this.. do you want to be raped, tortured and murdered? Do you want to have things you worked for stolen from you?

No?

Well, why would an Atheist think any different?

Atheists live by "I wouldn't want that done to me so I won't do it to others because then they might do it to me in return".

Its not the hard to understand, Christians just try to make it so.

Answer 9

laws do not come from religion,but some laws are influenced heavily because of it and its WRONG.right and wrong is what you get from being nurtured and raised by whom ever does it,as a child,common sense,rational thought,logical thinking,human nature,empathy,those are things that determine right and wrong and morality.by the way,this question is old,so arm yourself with knowledge.

Answer 10

by ability of communicate and rational wondering. Being appropriate from the starting up isn't the point of the rational philosopher. The objective of the rational philosopher is to locate the actuality and to comply with it, inspite of it that actuality matches up with their unique position or no longer. Atheists tend to be a exceedingly rational lot, and subsequently habit themselves, for the most section, interior the way. i'd assume the communique would start up with making advantageous they have an person-friendly foundation as to the thanks to evaluate something as "appropriate" or "incorrect." many times "appropriate" issues reason a lot less harm than they do good, or have a compensating destiny good which comes as a results of preliminary value or harm. incorrect is many times the option. for sure, there's a tremendous number of gray section as well that would or gained't have a label.