Why do some theists assume atheists have no moral code?

Question

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AgFKjKpufPNINPbrwo1Vfd7d7BR.?qid=20070506171534AAr6D0G

Questions like this make me a sad panda.

Morals are largely formulated by legal and cultural factors so they're pretty much common to everyone in a particular society regardless of religious orientation. The assumption that atheists must be immoral because they do not believe in a higher being is one of the most erroneous of all time - one does not need to believe in God to have a healthy respect for the law and the feelings of others.

In fact one could argue that atheists have stronger morals because they hold to them without the threat of eternal damnation if they don't. ;)

Agree/disagree?

Aretz:

Good for you. However you are but one person, not all atheists.

Oh yeah, I know dze is as dumb as a sack of rocks but it's still depressing.

At least fireball's funny.

Beverly:

I know, hence the ;) at the end!

channiek:

Your ignorance is showing. Atheists do not believe in God. We belive in lots of other things though: law, justice and morality beign but three.

FISH:

So God also put hate into people's hearts then and the desire to committ heinous crimes then? Strawman argument I'm afraid. Very foolish.

Tim M:

Totally incorrect - altruism exists in some animal societies and provides a demonstration of how moral codes can begin to form. Morality exists as a development of this.

As for us living by laws developed in the bible, I agree to a degree. However, like all moral and legal codes, it's evolved over the centuries. We no longer stone people to death for adultery anymore, for example.

It's also worth pointing out the earliest extant code of laws is Hammurabi's so, like it or not, it's highly probable Moses adapted them.

Catch:

But there are. Most atheists are living proof of that. So, wrong I'm afraid.

Jurgen:

Judging by the hate reflected in your post I wonder who it really is with the mental health issues? I wonder if it's fear rather than morality that keeps you in check.

Answer 1

The history of Christianity itself is the story of an evolving moral code; Christians are instructed in the Bible to keep slaves in a particular fashion, but now most Christians would find the idea of any human slavery reprehensible. Irrespective of the effect religion has on a society's morality, morality does exist outside of religion.

Answer 2

What do morals have to do with religion in the first place? I mean, we are inherently moral. If we are born in sin then morality and sin are there at the same time. Therefore, sin(if you believe in sin) can and does co-exist with morality. The most moral people I have known have a deep reverent respect for themselves and others no matter their ilk. God didn't invent morals. It is a human quality within us whether it is acted upon or not. Born into sin? That's the ultimate guilt trip. You'll find no morals or moral lessons here. Even the apes have their own codes of conduct which boils down to having morals. You show me one religious ape.

Answer 3

Morals are the effect of ethics.
Ethics are learned and taught, you are correct.
What is the authority for those ethics?
What is the source from whence they are derived?
On what basis can right and wrong be derived?
What makes your choice right and mine wrong?
There must be some source, an external source, of the ethics; we, in and of ourselves are inadequate authority to determine right and wrong.

If you believe in the science of evolution, you accept the law of natural selection, which says that the strong survive, the weak do not. Based on that, the strong take the resources of the weak as their right and as their due, because they are strong. What's mine is mine, and what's yours is mine, if I am strong enought to take it from you.

Surely you don't really want to live in a society based on the law of the survival of the fittest! There would be no philanthropy, no beauty, no art, no trust and no love. Everyone would be out for what they could get from the others, self above all: survival.

Legal and cultural factors are derived from sources too. What is the source of American law? British common law is a BIG source, but the founding fathers also derived our laws on, what for it, hold your breath, SCIPTURE.

Like it or not, you live by the rules laid out in the Bible!

Answer 4

it somewhat is an extremely exciting question. i could say that the moral code is ordinarily equivalent - inspite of the reality that there are some theists who do sturdy just to shop their soul, there are atheists who do sturdy to appear as if a hero, and so on. with the point to 3 quantity it is going the two techniques. whether, i could say an atheists morals ought to be better earned. fairly of being exceeded a e book or morale values to maintain on with (yet in many cases no longer comprehend), the atheist has to return to a decision for themselves what's right and incorrect.

Answer 5

I always get a chuckle out of that line of BS. Theists need to chew on this for a little while...

Christians make up about 75% of the US population and 75% of the US prison population. No big surprise there.

Atheists, on the other hand, make up about 10% of the US population... but they only make up 0.2% of the US prison population. Now, isn't THAT a surprise? That means that on a per-capita basis, atheists are FIFTY (50) times LESS LIKELY to be incarcerated than Christians. Pretty strange, huh, for a group that has no god-given guiding moral principals?

I can only think of two possibilities that might reasonably be said to account for this discrepancy:

1. Atheists are of a higher ethical and moral caliber than Christians, and thus are less prone to do the same kinds of nasty things that land so many Christians in the slammer;

OR,

2. Atheists are, overall, a lot smarter than Christians and thus, they are less likely to get caught in the course of their transgressions.

It's GOT to be one or the other... take your pick.

Answer 6

I believe anyone can have a good moral code as long as they try to seek it with sincerity and justifiably. Those who seek to be good and follow it wholeheartedly can be a great witness to a sound moral life with genuine feelings .Hey look at some of the Greek philosophers like Aristotle and Plato who really did not believe in God but was very moral and believed in proper ethical conduct.

Answer 7

Many people make a good point here. People choose lessons of morality from the bible. So the belief comes before the choice of what is moral. Otherwise it would be fine to own slaves and kill your child if they don't believe in the Christian God. Our own sense of right and wrong led us to choose the lessons from the bible.

Answer 8

It gets to me as well. They also assume that people of non Abrahamic religions have no morals.

I would personally place more trust in someone who was ethical and moral simply because they knew it to be right than someone who was that way out of the fear of hell.

The idea that Atheists and other non believers have no morals is almost as aggravating as the idea that Atheists (because they do not believe in God) don't believe in anything.

Answer 9

I agree up until the statement that Atheists have stronger morals, because I don't think any group can truly make that claim.
I would have the same morals whether I believe in God or not and I don't do something "good" or not do something "bad" because of some "threat of damnation"....which seems to be a huge misconception that atheists have of some Christians.

Answer 10

Agree to some degree. Talking about morality can be a philosophical question, and first you must define "morality." One main issue is that religious people define the word "morality" as to blindly believing what authority tells them without learning many facts. This is the main purpose in religion today, it keeps people controllable and has been the most powerful tool in politics throughout the history of mankind. So what are morals? When you really think about it, morals are just rules that a certain group of people follows. The thing is, when most people connect their morality to religion, you have tribal features form church to church. The ones that are not a part of one of these tribes don't blindly share the same beliefs, and end up having "no morals" because they are not a part of a certain set of beliefs. So... morals, defined as a set of unchangeable beliefs, can not actually exist in atheists, UNLESS we begin to join, and start our own church, where the rules can change, people can talk rationally, and discuss issues. And have the benefits of belonging to a "moral" group. So, I agree with you, to some degree. ~Fellow Atheist