Is it possible for an athiest to be a moral person?

Question

I had an interesting debate with a person, who insists that it not possible for a person who doesnt beleive in God to be a moral person. I disagreed- some of the most immoral people I have met happen to be VERY religious, and some or the most moral people i have met are agnostic or athiests..- and I think morality has nothing to do with a persons faith in a deity. It hinges on how they treat other people. What do you all think?

Answer 1

Yes, but all I have known were not.

Answer 2

Well that person was obviously an idiot. That's what you call self-fulfilling prophecy. Since this person was religious (at least I hope so since he said atheists can't be moral) he uses morality and atheism as a justification for his belief in God/Bible. Atheists and agnostics can have morals and establish such from multiple places - family, friends, school, peers, news, etc.

Being religious doesn't make somebody moral by default, either. Religious people think that no matter what you do you can just ask for forgiveness, so their morals are malleable. You could just as easily make the argument that theists can't be moral (yet, that would be a dumb argument, just like the person you debated).

Answer 3

Morality and religion are two entirely different concepts, and I think it's narrow-minded to believe that the two correlate. There are religious individuals who have molested children and atheists who have volunteered with the poor and vice-versa. Even though most religions subscribe to a moral code of conduct, there's no parallel that can be drawn either way.

It would be interesting to ask your friend if a person's actions would be considered more moral if they did something "right" because they fear an omnipresent judge or because they don't want to go to jail or because they want to avoid feelings of guilt and internal conflict ... Is an action moral based upon the action alone or the underlying intent?

Answer 4

Yes of course! Morality has nothing to do with religion. Some of most morally upright people I know are not religious, and a couple of the most under-handed people I've ever been acquainted with claim to be religious. Belief in God does not make you a better person.

Answer 5

I agree with you completely.

While being raised a Christian would certainly give a person the "foundation" for a good value system, that in itself does not dictate that the person will indeed follow it. Some of the most heinous things in history have been committed by Christians.

Just because a person does not subscribe to a particular religion, that does not preclude them from being decent, loving, giving people...just as Jesus suggested people should be.

What bothers me is how virulent both atheists and believers act toward one another. I would expect that kind of behavior in the Politics section of Y/A, but not from the minds and mouths of supposed Christians and atheists who purport to be "moral."

Answer 6

Wow. That was an amazing Q&A to read. Aside from a few digs (mostly from the atheist side, I'm sad to have to admit, but not entirely), those were very direct, plainspoken, and well-considered answers.

I, of course, agree that it is possible for an atheist to be a moral person. As a Humanist, it is very important to me to try to live a moral, useful, and fulfilling life--not out of fear of some posthumous retribution or in hope of heavenly reward, but because I care about my fellow human beings, and because the world works best when people try to follow the rules and respect one another.

Answer 7

Loyalty to a set of moral tenets is called integrity. Just as there are moral and immoral people in any religion, there are moral and immoral atheists. Just because you realize that you won't be eternally damned by your actions or inactions, doesn't mean you'll abandon moral behavior, anymore than believing in God will make you moral---indeed, too many religious people fall into the "out" that God is loving and forgiving and thus contrition is somehow not necessary to have a pure soul. I'd rather be around good atheists (people who are good because they want to be) than lowlifes who obey commandments simply because they fear some eternal retribution.

Answer 8

I believe that there is good and bad in everyone. No one is morally all good or all bad all the time. Morals have a subjective or an objective basis. If you don't believe in God then morals are based on subjective reasoning and can not be absolute. Subjective reasoning produces relative morality, whereas believing in God bases morality on objective truth which says that there is absolute right and wrong.

Answer 9

Yes, an athiest can be moral and it's because the morals that religion has set over time has been passed down generations. Therefore, even if you are not religious the morals of your religious ancestors have been deep-rooted in the ways of society and passed on to you.

Answer 10

Of course an athiest can be a moral person. Just about as much as a Christian can be a moral person. Just because a person believes in God does not make that person a moral person. Just because a person believes in Jesus Christ does not make that person a moral person. What it makes the believer is justified before God but not moral. We are all sinners that fall short of the glory of God.

Answer 11

Yes, it is possible for an atheist to be a moral person, and most of them are, but living a clean and moral life doesn't make a person a Christian. How good is 'good'? That is the real issue.
Most people have a warped idea of the true standard against which our goodness should be measured.

Compared to a mass murderer, you may feel that you're ready for sainthood. Even compared with your family and friends you may come out OK.

But God's standard of goodness is very different. he puts you up against His Son, Jesus Christ, who lived an absolutely perfect life here on earth. Compared with this level of perfection, our own goodness looks pretty shoddy.

Remember, the world has always had plenty of good people. So if goodness were enough, God need not have sent Jesus. The fact that Jesus had to come to die to the cross to make our forgiveness possbile shows that goodness doesn't make someone a Christian.

For by grace are we saved through faith, not of works lest any man should boast.

It is by asking Jesus Christ for forgiveness for all the wrong doing in your life. Turning away from sin, to live to please God, putting Him in the driving seat of your life, rather than live to please your own selfish ideas.