2 parter: Why do SOME people associate atheism with lack of morality?

Question

Atheists, where do you get your morals?

Answer 1

When I was religious & was tempted to do wrong, I would think of Jesus or spiritual teachings to help give me strength to do right.

I imagine many Christians wonder how you can resist doing wrong without the same support that helps them.

But now that I'm no longer religious, I "resist temptation" by thinking something like "Is this really who I want to be?" As well as the Golden rule.


Elliot - one moment you claim the Bible doesn't teach morality & the next moment you site the Golden Rule (from the Bible) as a source of your morality.

The Bible teaches morality AND obedience to the moral code.

Answer 2

Morals ARE relative. If you examine with an open mind the moral values of people all over the earth you will find some that are similar and others that are vastly different.
The most fundamental source of moral principals and values can be derived from simply thinking about what does the most good for the most people. Example: should we kill others? Some would say yes, some would say no. If you examine it using the above noted guide however, you will see that killing other people never does the most good for the most people since someone will always die even if you only kill one person, where as if you never kill anyone the most people will survive. This is one extreme. Taking the opposite extreme of behavior lets say the question is should I go to school and educate myself? Using the above guide one realizes that any education that you get improves your knowledge and your ability and since you are one of the people then to that degree you have improved the total lot of people on the earth. You've helped do the most good for the most people. You can use this principle to examine any question about behavior and come up with a resonable answer. You don't need a book or someone else's set of values to determine morality, you just need to use your mind and your intelligence and your ability to reason. As an atheist, this is how I decide what is the best course of behavior. Atheists have morals, they are just not based upon some religious doctrine or some religious text. Most atheists use their own mental faculties to decide what is moral.

Answer 3

The question isn't a lack of morality, it is the source of that moral code. Morality based on one's intellect or societal norms, which is what atheists go by, is entirely subjective and can and will change with societal norms. By the definition most atheists go by, Germany, in the 1930s and 1940s was acting morally, based on their societal norms. This cannot be correct.

Morality, true morality, must be objective....it cannot change with the times. People of faith point to God (and fear of God)as being the source of that objective morality. Atheists base their morality on fear of the State, which is not an objective source.

Just remember, atheism sprouted communism, socialism and fascism....three polical theories responsible for the systematic murder of some 200 million or more people in the 20th century. And every one of those murderous societies believed it was acting morally.

Answer 4

From the backs of cereal boxes, fortune cookie papers, and conspiracy blogs. Other than that, I have no moral code whatsoever. I lead people on with lies, then get laid by gay prostitutes after taking meth...

Wait, that's not me. That's Ted Haggard.

I molest small children that come to my house under the guise of an in-home day care...

Oh, that's not me either. That was a priest I saw on the news this morning.

I fill my belly with fattening food, then take diet pills and tons of prescription medications to make myself feel better...

Nope, that's Anna Nicole. Wrong again! Sorry!

I do exactly what this really neat book tells me to do, except the parts I don't agree with or want to follow anyway. But I'll be really quick to point out others' wrongdoings according to the rules I've been told to follow...

Damn, I just can't get it right, can I?

I dunno, maybe I don't have any morals at all. I mean, I just live my life trying to better myself and learn all the time, and treat others the same way I'd like to be treated. I can't remember where I got the idea, but without God pulling my strings I must be a horrible person. How sad for me!

Answer 5

The term 'atheist' was originally defined as just that - Godless and without morals. I am interested in where morals come from, and have my own view. I don't believe that atheists have a lack of morality. I don't think they understand where morals come from either.

It seems as though most atheists end up with relative morality, which is a slippery slope.

I'll be interested to read the answers.

Answer 6

Part 1: Because SOME people think that we are instinctually immoral and struggle with it daily and therefore need incentive or motivation to be good (this is where religion would come in to save us from our bad selves). This, however, is not at all true.

Part 2: I don't seek my morals from any outside source. My morals come from myself. When I am doing the right thing, I know it, and it makes me feel good inside. I enjoy peace and happiness because it is natural. Everyone has bad days or bad thoughts about things. Religion was created to scare people into thinking that their natural bad thoughts (i.e. jealously, envy, lust, etc.) make them evil. To me, these are all natural thoughts, but that doesn't mean they consume me all the time. If you just let bad thoughts come and go as they please and don't focus on them it really doesn't do any harm or make a person less "moral".

Answer 7

"Why do SOME people associate atheism with lack of morality?" - Easy. Their preacher told them so.

"Atheists, where do you get your morals?" - Depends on the person. I got mine from my parents, although I don't follow all of what they would have considered to be moral. I took their morality as my base and made changes that I thought would be appropriate in my life.
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Answer 8

They probably look at things like history. They might notice that the atheist country of Russia, China, North Korea, North Vietnam and Cuba in the 20th century were responsible in 70 years for 23 times as many deaths as the entire 7 centuries of the Crusades. That kinds of makes people wonder how moral those atheist were....

Answer 9

Some people associate it with a lack of morality because they don't understand atheists, don't want to understand atheists, and are told by other people who don't understand atheists that atheists have no morals.

I get my morals from my parents, my society, my intelligence, my common sense, and my ability to empathize with my fellow human beings.

Answer 10

See "A Turning Point in History - The Fall of Atheism"
http://www.harunyahya.com/articles/70the_fall_of_atheism_sci34.html