If you think that there is no God would you do whatever you wanna do? like raping, torturing...?

Question

What stops you from doing these things?your objective moral values?where did it come from?how do you explain your moral values without existance of God?

Answer 1

Simple, 2 things

#1

Morality comes from the mutual benefit of living in society. We all realize the benefits of relying on one another to specialize so we can obtain or needs much easier. Since we cant possibly rely on each other if everyone rapes murders and tortures, we agree to pass laws to prevent these atrocities. We realize that in order to not be stolen from, murdered or raped, we must also not condone these activities

#2
Empathy, most humans can see or imagine the pain of being raped, or the horror of being murdered, so we avoid doing it to others by sheer terror of it happening to us.

~Tollbooth Willy

Answer 2

If you need a "God" to tell you that those things are wrong, then you have a bigger problem than people who don't believe in God. I don't believe in God, but my moral values are second to none. It's called a conscience. You either have one or you don't, so whether you believe in God or not is irrelevant. Unless someone is a sociopath or has some other mental problem then those thoughts usually don't occur, regardless of whether or not they believe in God. And if you've ever read the Old Testament, God was, originally, a very vindictive, almost evil person. Allowing a good man to suffer on a bet (1); destroying the world population because he didn't like what people were doing with the gift (curse) of free will that he bestowed upon human beings (2); allowing a person to be sold into slavery because he, accidentally, saw his DRUNK father naked (3);? Really moral, huh?

Answer 3

That's an old argument - as said by Dostoevsky, "If there is no God, then anything is possible."

I've actually thought it works at least as much the other way. If God is real, then as long as you are serving God, no moral laws apply to you any longer. The end justifies every means. We see this over and over, from the Inquisition to Al Qaeda. Really, it's very strange that religious people can even argue with a straight face that they have the only moral values - their record just isn't so impressive.

An ethic based on humanist values is perfectly sound and is embraced by many secularists. When a non-believer acts immorally, they are responsible for their acts, not some person who pointed out to them contradictions in the Bible.

Answer 4

You can't explain it now cause the religious influence is in man all over the world and since the beginning of time and will continue long after our time under the sun..

That's the whole problem with this question.

Therefore hypothetically if there was no God and no religious influence,. No man's laws or people's or societies laws are better or greater than anyone else's. We'd behave exactly as animals where the strongest rule the weaker. Written or oral agreements would mean nothing. People would become amoral and selfish and cruel.

Perhaps even to save mankind from himself. Someone would have to create a law that everyone would agree is the highest law there is. That all men were subject to it. And that no one was above the law.

Thankfully that is the kind of reality we live in. And that is because there is a holy and righteous God.

Answer 5

This question is a great observation.

Many people would say they would not commit carnage because of no-God, rather, because of the Laws. Others would cite their moral values, values learned from their family.

History proves that belief in the existence of God has not stopped the carnage and genocide around the world. It may have slowed it some but it has not stopped it.

"Man's inhumanity to man" still is true today as it was thousands of years ago.

Jim DeSantis

Answer 6

Absolutely not. Because God isnt the person who gave me my moral values. That was my parents and my own common sense. Whether there is a God or not, the idea of raping or torturing another human being is distasteful to me because it isnt the way I was brought up. I respect my Creator, but what keeps me from doing these kind of things is my own inner sense of values. Pax - C

Answer 7

I guess you could argue that morality comes from a variety of sources. Some people turn to religion for it, others might go to different sources.

There have been many, many horrible things going on over the years -- see Stalin, Hitler, Darfur now, etc. If I argued that my lack of bad behavior proves there is a divine being, then someone else could say the Holocost might prove the opposite.

Morality often comes down to "Love thy neighbor," which is a pretty good starting point for all of us.

Answer 8

What stops me from doing things like that is that I am not a barbaric human that gets off on torturing human beings or animals. My belief in God gives me hope and faith in myself, my fellow man and the promise of better things to come. I do not go to Church because quite honestly I am too lazy and want to sleep in on Sunday. I would have to say my moral values came from my parents. They taught me right from wrong. Its really common sense. Treat people the way you want to be treated.

Answer 9

If you use you logic you should be able to tell right from wrong. Many ppl who believe in god are hypocrites, they follow the religion but yet don't follow their own values and morals. But ppl did create the image of god to enforce morals on ppl.

Answer 10

i do not believe in god. how can you expain your moral values? like believing in god gives you all the answers to the way to live. i could give you examples of how unmoral the "church" really is. you like to rape young people? you like to force your ideas on others? do you go to war against other people just because they don't believe in your god?

my point being just because someone believes in god-that doesn't make them a good person with great morals. just as not everyone who doesn't believe in god is a bad person who rapes and tortures, etc.

i've become who am i without the need to believe in a "higher being", i am not a needy person who needs the justification of my life explained to me or whatever.

i treat others how i would like to be treated, i try to do my best to help others if it's in my power to do so, pretty much it's all common sense-if you need a 'god' to teach you common sense that's your problem, not mine.