Christians, etc, about Atheistic morals?

Question

I've heard plenty of you saying that Atheists have no system of morals, because they have no holy book.

Incorrect.

I'm not just going to spit back the old schpeel about the crusades and whatnot. This isn't an anti-religious tirade (although the more devout among you may decide to see it that way).

MANY Atheists in the USA were raised Christian or catholic. The teachings of the Bible, as they relate to morality, still ring true with me. Don't kill, don't steal, don't lie. As an Atheist, however, I'm able to look other the bible and ignore what I feel to be archaic and foolish. 'Do not want' is in this category; desire drives us to succeed and acquire. The fact that some people skip steps and abuse the first three rules to acquire shouldn't screw us all.

Those born without religious influence, I can't presume to speak for you, so I'll just guess.

Morality is very deeply ingrained in our culture. You go to jail FOREVER(ish) if you kill in cold blood. Theft holds major consequences. Lying ends relationships every day. Lie under the right circumstances and you can find yourself in prison.

I think a good system of morals is truly part of being a good person.
I do NOT believe that having religion has anything to do with it.

And if anyone religious read this entire thing and still believes Atheists to be completely immoral, I feel sorry for you, stuck in your little world. You must have met a couple of the bad ones.

So, the question here is, is there anything you can add to this morality issue?

Intelligent responses, please.

Answer 1

*Is Catholic*

One should point out that there is a difference between morals and ethics. Ethics is a common thing that we can understand with reason and just by looking around us. Morality only can be achieved by having a living relationship with God and it only is knowable by revelation.

Most of the 10 Commandments are codified Ethics, completely knowable by reason alone. They are also elevated to morality because they also are revealed.

Now the mistake that you make in your thought that religion is not needed to know morality is that you go on to say that all of your morality comes from your religious upbringing.

About your question on Atheistic morals -- Atheist can be extremely ethical people (but like all others they can be completely rotten). No Catholic should have a problem with acknowledging the ethical standards and good that Atheists do. Atheists may even have bits and pieces of morality due to the culture they live in, what they have left behind, and the natural relationship that everyone has with God even if they do not know it. However, the scope of the morality that an Atheist can reach is limited due to not being in a living relationship with God.

Now I do not know what you mean by "Do not want". Desire is not a sin. If you have read St. Thomas, you would know this. One is to desire God and to desire Good things. Lust, envy, jealousy , those are sins, but desire is not a sin. The key with desire is to desire good things, things that are beneficial to one's own happiness and life with God.

Given this, I think that you might have a great misunderstanding of what Catholicism is all about and perhaps you need to get into the really good philosophical books.

Ready anything by Joseph Pieper...you should like him....very little religion/scripture...mostly philosophy but totally Catholic.

Answer 2

As an atheist, I can only answer your question from my point of view. In my dealings with all kinds of people, the general concensus among those who are religious is that God endowed them with a sense of morality, and that is where they get the idea that atheists are not moral. Most atheists, however, feel our sense of morality is a product of our evolution and there is no need to attribute it to God. Whether you can accept those explanations can have a big impact on your beliefs (or non-beliefs).

Edit - Liet Kynes is more than a little confused about the definitions of ethics and morals. Please take five seconds to look up the terms (in the dictionary, not pulling references from the Bible). Obviously if you twist the meaning of morals/morality to include only being derived from a higher power (see God), then it follows you believe an atheist can't be moral. Problem is the premise is flawed, therefore the rest is irrelevant. I could easily say ethics is defined as being derived from an evolutionary process. I would then go on to say that anyone who doesn't believe in evolution has no ethics. But, ethics are not strictly derived from evolution, therefore it would make no sense to bring up such a silly, contrived assumption.

Answer 3

This is starting to become a "drinking" question....

I don't believe that atheists cannot be moral, but rather that atheism and morality are logically inconsistent (and I have yet to see anyone make a good argument as how they could be). If people are nothing more than chemical and physical interactions, then what "moral pull" do they possess? And if there is no absolute morality and we're simply making guesses at it, what makes one set of morality better or preferable to another? If there are absolutes, where do they obtain this characteristic of absoluteness from?

Answer 4

Morality is not just a cultural aspect, it is indeed deeply ingrained in our biology. All social mammals have a sense of fairness, reward altruistic and cooperative gestures and attentuate social behavior which is deceptive, selfish and injurious. Morality has evolved and is hard wired in our genes.

Answer 5

Morals and ethics were in place long before organized religion came on the scene. We have laws and societal norms. All of these things contribute to a positive character. Religion is not a prerequisite to moral behavior.

Answer 6

Morality has everything to do with conditioning and is only "reinforced" by holy books.
Think about it. Morals are learned from parents. Parent from their parents. Yes many of them had "Holy Books" to tell them they were doing it right, but society has weight on that as well. What is "right" in some countries isn't in others.
Flat out conditioning.

Answer 7

Animals have the same morals that we do. And they don't have a religion to teach it to them.

Just look at the family structure of a pack of wolves.

Morality is a part of the survival of the species. If we naturally had the intent to simply kill or abuse others, we would have died out long ago.

Answer 8

Most of the Athiests I know are just as good (if not better sometimes) than many of the Christians I know. It's kind of like the problem people have with Muslims. Most muslims are great and good people but people in the US think of the worst muslims when they think of muslims. I think Christians think of the worst Athiests when they think of Athiests...

Answer 9

The idea that morals come from Christianity falls apart if you spend even a short amount of time in a country where Christianity has had minimal influence.

Answer 10

it doesn't matter what you are morals should be taught through the parents. and besides atheists are more responsible than christens in my opinan be cause they have to work for forgiviness from their peers while christens just have to say some words or get dunk in water to be forgivin.