who says we need religion to be good?

Question

when i was in hospital 1 nurse who took care of me was an avid atheist. But she was the kindest person i ever knew.

was Thomas paine right when he wrote this in his book THE AGE OF REASON

with or without religion good people will always be good while evil people will always be evil

comments?

Answer 1

Even with religion you will have your good and bad people.

It is not the religion that defines a person but what is in the persons heart

Answer 2

I would claim that atheists care much more about life than Christians, Jews or Muslims.


To the good Christian, Jew or Muslim life on Earth is just a blink of an eye leading to an eternity in heaven. A little extra suffering on Earth has almost zero effect on their eternal life.

To the atheist, this life is all we have. There is no redemption from suffering other than what we can give. Any major pain is a significant impact on the total quality of life that person has had. Death is the end of that person's life, the cutting short of any hopes and dreams remaining.

Does that help you understand why that nurse took such care over you?

Enjoy your life. Live it well.

Answer 3

Each religion feels that it corners the market on the " Truth". And that this "Truth" is the only way that a person can be "good/moral". And everyone outside of their circle is "bad". I do not think that people need religion to do what is right or good. I myself am not religious I am not even sure if there is a higher power. But, I am honest almost to a fault ( my honesty gets me in trouble sometimes) I would not take something that did not belong to me , and I give as much as I can to needy people. And not Allah, Jesus, Jehovah, Mirtha, Zeus, Osiris, or any other so called god has given men any inspration or told me to do these things. I do these things because I am human and other humans sometimes need help in order to survive in this world. I do concur with Paine in that people are good or people are bad. And sometimes good people do bad things in order to profit themselves. All of the religions of the world since the begginning of time are guilty of this and if they say not my religion or those that did bad things under the name or guise of my religion were not real followers are people lieing to themselves to make the feel better. I have come to the conclusion however that religion maybe nessecary for some. The reason behind this thought is because some people need something outside of themselves to show them what is right and what is wrong they also need some severe conseqence to keep them in line. I believe Karl Marx had it when he called "religion the opiate for the masses". People do not like to think that this is the only life we have, they live under oppression at work, from governemnts and they need something to say that these "bad people" will get theirs in the end because some god will punish them for all of the bad they have done and this makes them feel better about thier situation.
All people of all religious faiths should remeber that because a person does not believe in a god that does not make them a bad person. But, in the same instance just because someone believes in a god they are not bad. America is the land of tolerance and the religious as well as the faithful should keep this in mind before they speak.
Thomas Jefferson said " If my neighbor says there is one god or twenty gods, this neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg". So remember do not judge a person based on their belief or their unbelief and this will be a happier world altogether. Hope that makes sense.

Answer 4

Religion has nothing to do with a person's morals. Some churches tell the believers that whatever they do, they can be forgiven of. Some of them sure do need a lot of forgiving.
Many Atheists make a point of holding high morals. This is sometimes the most annoying thing to believers.

Answer 5

I think parents and mental health have much more to do with being a good or evil person then religion does. My husband is compassionate and the best father I have ever known and has been atheist his whole life. His mother was a drug addict and his father was int he navy and never home and he is STILL a good person. Religion had nothing do with it and the odds were against him.

Answer 6

I often hear people attributing their pseudo"good" nature to their religion.
I'm an anarchist, I don't believe I need laws to do the right thing.

I don't believe in heaven or hell, being "saved" or "damned".
I don't believe in guilt, or sin.
I do the right thing through respect and empathy for all things, not because of the fear of punishment.
No consequences for my actions, and I do the right thing.

If you rely on the "morals" of a religion to behave yourself then you really aren't a good person at all. Its just an act, who is the real you?
It should come from within you.

Answer 7

A religion does not make people good, God makes people good. God will give grace to everyone to do good, whether he or she believes in him or not. Even an atheistic nurse could be an answer to someone's prayers!

A religion is just an organization believers of a common faith, and there is nothing wrong with organization. If there is something wrong with organization, I would like to see a corporation, government, or any institution run without rules and regulations. It can't be done.

Answer 8

I couldn't agree more.

I've known religious types who are evil & corrupt while the ones who have no religion or hold no religious beliefs are kind and compassionate. Religion does not dictate a person's moral compass.... it tries to lead you to believe it does, but that is just a guise to hide their own immoral behaviour. A truly kind and compassionate religion/organization SHOWS that compassion instead of telling people that they are compassionate. They do not need to say "we are a kind and compassionate religion"... the people who view them & see them from the outside are the ones who judge them that way.

Kindness and compassion are within the person, not within a religion.

Answer 9

Religion show your way, take you out from darkness, describe God for you, tell you how should you pray, tell you why you are in here and what is your duty.

It is not all just to be good or bad. Some thing more than this.

Answer 10

Of course. In fact, atheists are more likely to be kind people. Look at the prison statistics: atheists are extremely under-represented. We know we and only we are accountable for our actions. When we hurt someone, we seek forgiveness only from the person we hurt. We know that if that person doesn't forgive us, we remain unforgiven, and that's that.