Question about Atheism, Morality, and being "accountable to "ourselves""?

Question

It has been suggested that Atheist Morality has a dimension of being accountable to "our self".

As many of you know, I am an Atheist. I come to this Category mainly to talk to Atheists/Agnostics/Liberal Religious persons. Often times, the people who are regulars say something that makes me think, or makes me ask for more information.

Such has happened this morning. It has been put forth in answers to my last question that as an Atheist I am accountable to myself.

What does this mean?

Does this mean that if I as an atheist do something that I feel is wrong that I would have to live with that guilt on my own conscience?

I ask this question not to be rhetorical, or to be comical,

but to ask my merry band of regular answerors and the public to articulate what you mean when you say,

"The atheist is accountable to himself/herself".

Answer 1

I see some good answers up above. Isn't it telling that some religious people think being accountable yourself is a bad thing?

Its almost as if they think that if they didn't have God(s) that they might all become thieves and murderers.

I know this does not apply to all theists.The golden rule ( which by the way encompasses all the commandments ) is plain for most people to comprehend.

Is belief in God(s) a lack of integrity (self honesty) ?

Answer 2

I think that everyone is accountable to himself, this is not a special feature of an atheist. Every sane person has a conscience. Religious people might deal with it differently, with all the afterlife and judgement day calculations and all, but essentially they will not be able to "postpone" their conscience until some afterlife, or that's what I'd expect.

What's more, a conscience is a socially determined thing. A person develops his or her conscience mostly in childhood and it very much matters what other people do and say. Moral standards are transferred from adults to children by education and by giving an example.

On the other hand, an atheist is of course not ONLY accountable to himself. He or she will have to stand the judgement of his fellow people. Nobody is an island ... and things you do will eventually come back to haunt you. In THIS life.

Answer 3

Morality is not a function of religion, but of culture. One is never only accountable to oneself only, but to the culture in which one lives.

Morality existed long before religion, evolving (Oh no! He said, "evolving!") in the experience of preliterate tribes and perhaps even existing to some extent as a genetic predisposition to social behavior.

As tribes gave way to larger communities upon the development of agriculture and the written word, morality began to be codified and administered as "justice" by community leaders who were often a combination of chief priest and "king."

The development of urban life led to a division of labor between the religious and civil administration, and the codification of morality largely fell into the purview of the "religious" end, while civil matters became the province of the government.

As a result, we have somehow developed the illusory notion that morality is the province of religion, and that those who do not practice a religion must therefore not practice morality.

Answer 4

It means that we don't have to answer to a higher power, we realize that we are only governed by ourselves and as you put it we have to live with our wrong doings. I think the person that wrote that should have said "The atheist is accountable ONLY to himself/herself". This means;

That the religious whenever they do something wrong can go to a church and be forgiven. There by "relieving" themselves of any moral unsoundness. While Atheists have to live with the fact that they did something wrong and only the person they did it to or themselves can forgive them.

Answer 5

Ok- I know that you want answers from people who believe as you do. I am not of your belief- I do believe that there is a God- and that everyone, who believes in Him or not will be held accountable to Him one day for everything that we do. The problem with being accountable to ourselves is that our thinking is erroneous. We cannot judge what is truly right, unless we believe that there is absolute truth. Relative truth, can mean something is right for someone else but not for us. If hold ourselves alone accountable for what is right and wrong, we will one day find out we were wrong. The only One that can judge us justly is the Lord. When an atheist says they are only accountable to themselves, that is an excuse for doing what they desire. No matter if you believe there is a God who we are accountable to or not, does not nullify the fact that God is real- and each of us are accountable to Him.

Answer 6

Whether you are an atheist, agnostic or a religious person, every human being is accountable to him or her self. If you commit a crime, belittle others, practice cruelty to animals and are not caught and punished you have to live with your own conscience.

It is supposedly a "Live and Let Live World" with "Do Unto Others as you would have them do Unto you".

Answer 7

Yes Jim, it all comes down to the guilty conscience. Atheists don't have a deity to forgive them of their "sins." There's no confessional to visit, no higher power to ask forgiveness from. No rationale for thinking that any wrong doing is forgiven at all. So you have to be able to live with yourself, to forgive yourself, to accept that you did the best that you could and that you are still a good person. I've found that most atheists are exceptionally moral, upright citizens, because no one judges you harder than you judge yourself.

Answer 8

Yes, you will have to live with the choices you make. While you might enjoy the new car you bought with the money you swindled from some elderly person, will it really feel that good knowing you stole someone's money for food and medication? It doesn't feel good to normal people to get ahead by pushing others down.

Any decent person would not feel good doing bad things and you have to listen to yourself make you feel guilty about it 24/7.

Answer 9

I interpret that to mean that we don't have a god to answer to. Therefore, it is up to the atheist individual to determine right from wrong, and we have to live with ourselves (and any potential guilt) that might follow from an incorrect decision. Our conscience is our judge.

Just my two cents.

Answer 10

Jim even in my beliefs
we are still accountable to ourself
we are our own judge and jury in the next life
no one knows our heart like we know our heart
no one has walked in our shoes
no one knows the intention behind our actions but ourself
if one person sees your action as negative they may not understand the situation surrounding your action
only you can see that
and i know you dont go for life after death
but i believe we place ourself in our next life
so either way yes i believe we are accountable to ourself ... atheist and theist alike