Morality comes from religion???

Question

Now Christians claim that their morality comes from their religion. Then how do you explain all the different animals that are moral to other animals of the same species. Take ants for example. Ants work together, they take care of other ants who live in the same clan, they protect each other from invaders who try and do them harm, and they do all the things that I think most people would define as moral, which is helping others and putting other before yourself. Well ants obviously don't have any religious belief, and yet they still do these things. Now you’re probably going to say well God made them that way. Well if God made it possible for ants to live morally without any divine incentive, then there is proof right there that belief in some divine being is not necessary to be moral.

Answer 1

Well, no. Morality is taught, certainly, but it is not taught only within Christianity, or even only within religion.

Answer 2

Ants might not be the best example of morality. They employ slave labor, some of them even capture and make slaves of other insects, even other ants. The colony must have one "queen" in order to survive, who is nothing but a baby factory, churning out egg after egg...and when a daughter is born, she has to get out on her own just as soon as she is able, or her mother will kill her, for her own continued existence depends upon her being the only fertile female in the colony.
A few potent males will follow the younger gal, until they nail her, and then it all begins again...
The only ants that actually have any power are the potent males. Everyone else is a "drone".
No, you wouldn't like living an antly life. It is grossly unfair and immoral.

(You're probably old enough to be told, now...most animals are not as they are depicted in various Disney movies or cartoons.)

Answer 3

Altruism is known to be an important evolutionary survival skill. This explains why animals often work so well in groups and why they care for those not related to them. Early humans who did not carry this characteristic did not suceed as well as those who did.

For most of us, helping others and contributing positively to society feels good, we need no other reward than the feeling it gives us. Morality is influenced by society, and the enlightenment and secular humanism has given more to assist morality and social justice than religion, that is certain. Compare dark ages with enlightenment era.

If religious people followed their dogma they would stone you for being gay or picking up sticks on the sabbath. They don't because their morality does not come from their religion either, and for those for whom it does, we should be very afraid.

Answer 4

Or conversely, most animals display a different morality than ours --- well in some respects. For example most animals are not monogamous, and the species that are don't censure their individuals that aren't. On the other hand, very few species will practice cannibalism except for chimps, chickens and a few others.

I and many like 4 billion others have a sense of morality that does not come from Christian beliefs.

Answer 5

I tend to differ. To answer the question one needs to first understand the true definition of Morality.

P.1111 - §7 Moral will embraces decisions based on reasoned knowledge, augmented by wisdom, and sanctioned by religious faith. Such choices are acts of moral nature and evidence to the existence of moral personality, the forerunner of… true spirit status.

P.1111 - §8 The evolutionary type of knowledge is but the accumulation of protoplasmic memory material; this is the most primitive form of creature consciousness. Wisdom embraces the ideas formulated from protoplasmic memory in process of association and recombination, and such phenomena differentiate human mind from mere animal mind. Animals have knowledge, but only man possesses wisdom capacity. Truth is made accessible to the wisdom-endowed individual by the bestowal on such a mind of the spirits of the Father and the Sons…

God created everything, yes, but not all of his creatures are created equally. There is a distinct difference within the animal kingdom, from bacteria to man; where man stands at the pinnacle in evolution. The two apparent aspects that make man different are the capacity for wisdom and worship.

Answer 6

Ants are haplodiploid, so the best way to serve their genes is by serving their siblings (other ants). That's why ants behave altruistically. There are (slightly different) genetic bases for altruism in other species, humans included.

That said, yes, it is absurd to think that morality comes from religion. Do some people honestly think that if God hadn't told them "don't kill people," then they wouldn't realize it was wrong to kill people?

Answer 7

Ants have morals? What kind of moronic statement is that? Ants act strictly out of instinct and self-preservation. They do not think, nor do they reason. Go back to fourth grade science class, and they will teach you about instincts in animals.

Morality comes from God, not religion. Without Christ, there would be no morals. You would be breeding in the street like an animal.

Answer 8

Morality does not come from religion. But it can. Morality is know what is right, How do you know what is right? Ask yourself a simple question. Would I want this to happen to me? Morality comes from your sense of empathy. The ability to feel for another human.

Answer 9

This sounds like a fowl and the egg type questions. faith does that's superb to inspire a ethical behaviour. guy does not continuously stay as much as those ideals. i think human beings could be ethical devoid of religion. basically by using fact somebody in reformatory say he/she believes a God exists does not make him a Christian. A Christian is somebody who follows the instructions of Christ. i think that Hitler existed yet that doesn't make me a Nazi. i'm actual no longer a sort of. ******* Edit ******** that's not authentic to assert that religious human beings do the superb suited ingredient by using fact they terrified of being punished. i'm a Christian and that i do the superb suited ingredient by using fact it suitable. how many human beings obey the regulations of the land by using fact they are scared they gets caught and locked in reformatory? There are rules everywhere. the guidelines of the land or the guidelines of the church are an identical. Behave or you would be punished. ought to we drop each and all of the regulations too and place self assurance in peoples morality? I for one does not be mushy with that concept.

Answer 10

While we all have some morality in us, they are things we do not do because we are told not to and many of those things are based on Holy Books of religions. Maybe we evolved to this point of morality and that happened because our ancestors believed in the Bible and it is part of our DNA make up now.

Answer 11

Christian morality comes from the Bible.

ants and other animals don't have free will. and are they moral? of course not...

is it moral to attack and destroy others? is it moral to force certain members of society to only do certain kinds of work? is it moral to force a female to produce child after child, like she was some sort of factory?

ants are NOT moral because they have no free will. we, otoh, are certainly not moral - if left to make our own decisions, we would annihilate each other and eat our young...