Morals for atheists?

Question

where do atheists get morals and they cant get it from the Bible because that would be against their own beliefs.

Answer 1

people have a natural instinct for morals ... ive come to that conclusion .. that is after all what we supposedly gained from the garden of eden when they ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil .. the ability to distinguish between the two ...

Answer 2

Wrong! it wouldn't be against my beliefs the bible is a book *sigh* I got my morals from society and my own feelings. I try not to hurt anyone also common sense! I can take things from the bible and apply them to my life if I chose to know why because it's a book like any other book. I take it for what it is to me a a piece of fiction that people fight over. I can believe anything I want and call myself an atheist as long as I don't believe in a "god" remember that. It's the only thing all atheists have in common is the belief that "god" doesn't exist.

Answer 3

It would be more correct to say that we don't behave in certain ways simply because the Bible says so (versus the Bible being against our own beliefs). I've never murdered anyone, and I don't plan to, but it's not because the Bible says it's wrong (though I'd agree with the Bible on that case).

I feel it's wrong because I know how I would feel if someone murdered my friend or family member. I feel it's wrong because there few reasons to take the life of another human. I feel it's wrong because if anyone could kill anybody per their own whims, society as a whole would break down. The same goes for stealing and other such crimes.

Where I tend to draw the line are the "thought" sins such as lust. I'd say adultery is wrong, but I'd also say me thinking about the hot bod of a woman other than my wife is biologically unavoidable, and is harmless unless it becomes a total obsession.

I guess the short answer is that "morals" are just a rational set of behaviors that optimize the safety and happiness of society.

Answer 4

The morals worth living by are the result of our humanity, not the result of the Bible. To the extent that those morals are in the Bible, it is because humans wrote the Bible.

Morals and ethics come from within us due to the fact that we are an intelligent social species. We evolved from a long line of social species less intelligent than us. Other mammal species today demonstrate love and altruism without any understanding of what is claimed in the Bible. Our intelligence allows us to go further, and develop complex systems of ethics and justice, such that we can create laws that protect society from morally corrupt people, and ensure that innocent people are not mistakenly punished by society for crimes they did not commit.

Note that while the Bible does have some good morals, it also contains many examples of poor morals, and shows that Jehovah himself would routinely violate his moral laws and allow his chosen ones to do so.

Do you think that slavery is moral? In this enlightened age none of us do, yet according to the Bible, slavery is not immoral.

Secular humanist atheists live morally and ethically even though we expect no reward (or punishment) after we die. We live this way because we love humanity and it is the right thing to do.

If you are genuinely interested in learning more, I recommend this talk by Sam Harris:
http://dl.nmmstream.net/media/aspen/ideas07/believingtheunbelievable.mov

Answer 5

There is no reason that Biblical morality has to be excluded. After all, the Bible took from all sorts of sources, including secular sources. Much of Mosaic Law was derived from the Code of Hammurabi. The Greek philosophers certainly had a strong influence in the period from Alexander the Great's conquest to the Maccabbean revolt.

That aside, morality can be derived from numerous sources, some of whom were theists, some who weren't.

Answer 6

Morals are agreed upon norms that a society creates. Morals and ethics have nothing at all to do with the bible. Societies were creating rules to live by long before any religious doctrine came into play.
Also I am curious as to what kind or morals the bible teaches? The bible is full of parables containing rape, murder, incest, adultery, prostitution, lust, robbery, and on and on.

Answer 7

The atheists I know are very moral as are people from other religions. Morality isn't just a Biblical invention. Where did the ancient Greeks get their morals from? There has always been an innate knowledge within people of what is right and what is wrong.

Answer 8

As an atheist, I get my morals from what I think benefits society and what makes my own life more peaceful and less complicated. I don't need my morals to be handed down from a magic sky daddy because we are here, regardless of how we got here.

Answer 9

I don't know about other non believers but I get sick and tired of the same question being asked over and over again with just the words re arranged slightly..Why would anyone advertise their unoriginality in this way.One thought regurgitated every half hour or so.My morals come from how I feel about events,the way they affect me and how I see they affect others.Not from a book with even less relevance than a Harry Potter book.

Answer 10

look at the question you asked just before this one. it was pretty much the same. everybody gets their morals from society. religion is only a small part of that society therefore you cant have gotten your morals only from religion. and what about people who have never heard of the bible or christianity for that matter? are you saying they dont have morals because they dont have the bible?

Answer 11

The same place that the bible got its morals, and no, god is not the answer. Learn a little science, and you will find that this is a trivial question. It only seems difficult because religion is so dark and has no answers other than the tooth fairy.