Why do Christians assume that atheism is inherently amoral?

Question

All of Christian ethics is derived from the ethics of pagan Greek philosophers, most of whom did not believe in the literal existence of their gods.

Answer 1

Christians believe that just about anything that ISN'T Christianity is inherently amoral. It's just another symptom of their belief that theirs is the only path to God.

)O(

Answer 2

Well, there are ethics and there are morals.

They are different. While "ethics" was indeed developed as a Greek philosophical study of right and wrong, good and evil, and personal and social responsibility *without divine authority* as a basis, "morals" are generally considered to be from some divine authority.

BTW, the root word for Ethical is the Greek "ethos," meaning "character." The root word for Moral is Latin "mos," meaning "custom." Character and custom provide two very different standards for defining what is right and what is wrong. Character would seem to be a personal attribute, while custom is defined by a group over time. People have character. Societies have custom. To violate either can be said to be wrong, within its appropriate frame of reference.

Another way to look at the distinction is to say that morals are accepted from an authority (cultural, religious, etc.), while ethics are accepted because they follow from personally-accepted principles. For example, if one accepts the authority of a religion, and that religion forbids stealing, then stealing would be immoral. An ethical view might be based on an idea of personal property that should not be taken without social consent (like a court order). Stealing would directly contradict that view. On the other hand, if one has different basic principles that didn't recognize an item as "property", a similar action might not be unethical. (Helping a slave escape would be ethical if one believes people should not be owned as property.)

It is also possible that a religion may not *have* "morals" - my religion does not. My religion teaches each follower to develop ethics: personal character and integrity rather than adherence to religiously-defined rules of behavior.

Answer 3

Lol, reading the responses just proves that christians don't have a clue about their own history.

Ask them what happened in the time between the testaments. Ask them why there are no demonic possessions in the old testament, yet the new testament is rife with them. Ask them how satan, who according to jewish belief is in God's employ and is not a fallen angel, became one in the New Testament.

All of the answers should lead them right to the Greeks. When the Greeks invaded Jerusalem in the time between the testaments, they brought along with them their belief in good versus evil (a foreign concept to the jews).. heaven and hell are Greek concepts.. demonic possession? a Greek concept. Fallen angels? A Greek concept.. none of that was originally jewish.. the Greeks imposed their beliefs upon those whom they conquered.

To answer your question, they believe that ANYONE who does not follow their tenets is inherently evil and therefore has no moral concept.

Answer 4

Probably because if there is no deity, there must be no moral code from said deity. That is what I assume they think. Religion doesn't automatically mean strong morals. I've seen more so called Christians do the most immoral things than anyone who has no belief system at all.


And yeah, your questions should probably be why do SOME Christians assume....no need to generalize. Not all are hypocritical.

Answer 5

Even though I disagree with you on the start of Christian beliefs, I will also sate that I do not believe all atheists are immoral or unintelligent. I do find that a lot of Atheists want to work on the assumption that all Christians are uneducated and lacking in intelligence.

Answer 6

Because they relate to either when they were without God or when others they know were without God. They don't actually know any decent atheists. Confucius was an atheist. Confucianists were killed slaughtered in droves by the Chinese government at one time for no real reason. Real atheists are peaceful people, philosophers. Anybody else just can't be bothered to think about the dilemma.

Answer 7

Atheism by definition has no other moral compass than their own. Therefore, everything is right and everything is wrong. Read Hegel. He was the source of inspiration for much of communist atrocities. The end justifies the means. That's not to say religious people don't do wrong in the name of whatever god. They just have a reference point to be judged by others.

Answer 8

All Christians do not believe atheists are amoral.
Generalizing in any statement is dangerously
treading on a path that provokes arguments or demeans some of the rank and file in your categorizing!

Some people may feel you are endangering your immortal soul.

Other people mix up demon worship with atheist.
You can't offend God. He is not human with human emotions...if indeed you believe in God.

Some people remember Communists in Russia and think atheists/communists will deprive them of practicing their beliefs .

Answer 9

The Christian God is also the God of Moses..and the first law written by this God was 1500 bc. Care to Give examples of what Greek philospher influenced him?

Answer 10

Because most of them Christians would be murdering rapists and thieves and general low-lives if they were not terrified of what God might do to them, they have no innate morality of their own and so they assume atheists don't either, but we prove them wrong because atheists are not filling up the prisons to bursting point, it's Chistians and Muslims committing most of the crime.