2007-09-14 18:54:11 · 18 answers · asked by Diane 4 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
I garner my own morality thus:
personal responsibility for myself, and for that for which I am responsible, such as my child, my students, etc.
"species" responsibility for doing what I can to help other humans to live well if they seek my counsel or help, to have my hand ready to reach out, to be of service to others, to dry tears or feed a hungry person or buy a goat for a family in Namibia.
"global" responsibility for our planet, to do what I can to help keep our world beautiful, to try to spread the word and be proactive in saving Her from global warming, pollution, deforestation, etc, by recycling, re-using, driving a hybrid, and teaching about what we can do to help Mother Earth.
Thanks for a lovely question!
Bright Blessings,
Lady Morgana )0(
2007-09-15 06:33:10 · answer #1 · answered by Lady Morgana 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It comes from me.. my moral compass. I have no religion, I have my own beliefs and my own feelings, I treat others as I would wish to be treated.. I dont need a religion to tell me that. I decide based on my own ideals, feelings, conscience.. and the feelings of the people around me what is right and what is wrong.. That way in any given situation my morality can change, adapt to the circumstances.. For a believer its like this... Stealing is a sin= all stealing is morally wrong.. for me its more complicated Stealing is wrong because of the people it affects= but not all stealing is bad=if the person stealing has a morally justifiable reason its acceptable, still not right but justifiable. I mean is it really wrong for a starving child to steal food from a rich farmer? not according to my morality anyway.
2007-09-15 02:06:19 · answer #2 · answered by Kelly + Eternal Universal Energy 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Seeing as how I don't believe in god or organized religion, my morality certainly doesn't come from that! My morals and values came from living and learning as I went along. My parents had a lot to do with it, of course, as most people's parents do. Plus, I just know that stealing, killing, cheating, lying, etc are bad things. I don't need god to tell me what is pretty much common sense.
2007-09-15 06:26:25 · answer #3 · answered by Two quarters & a heart down 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
All morality comes from God because all morality is objective.
But that really is the problem with the atheistic worldview. Not that some atheists choose to be immoral, but inherantly it provides no objective foundation for morality whatsoever. Any atheist Ive ever talked to on this subject at length eventually admits that he or she believes that morality is subjective because the bottom line is they are forced to say that morality comes from humans and not a transcendent being. If morality comes from humans, then there is nothing objective about it!
If I tell you that an apple is red, grows on trees, is a type of fruit, and grown in Washington, Ive told you a set of objective statements about an apple. These have nothing to do with how anybody personally feels about apples nor did I have a hand in determining these facts. Now if I tell you I dont like eating apples but my brother does, I didnt really tell you anything about apples, only a set of subjective statements about me and my brother.
So invariably any answer you get from atheists is going to be just that, SUBJECTIVE. They will say "well I believe doing this is good for this reason" and "well I dont believe in that so much." A subjective moral viewpoint tells you so much about the person but it doesnt tell you squat about morality itself nor clearly objectively defines what is RIGHT or WRONG. Therefore what Hitler did wasnt WRONG, you just happen to disagree with it!
Its true you dont have to be Christian in order to hold to good morality. But you do need to be a theist in order to have a proper grounding and understanding of it. Otherwise, choosing good morality to the atheist may as well be as arbitrary as picking MCD's or Burger king, you arent obliged in any objective sense to pick either. Morality becomes a subjective picking and choosing what YOU think is right and wrong and not what is ACTUAL right and wrong.
2007-09-15 02:13:40 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋
My morality comes from Hammurabi who predates the Bible by about 1000 years, because he was the first one to actually write down the basic laws governing human behavior. Not directly of course, but through generations it finally passed onto me.
2007-09-15 01:59:18 · answer #5 · answered by Belzetot 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Morality is an inherent part of what it means to be social animals. You can't live in community with others without having some basic standards of behavior. It's just that simple. It's a part of our biology.
Peace to you.
2007-09-15 03:15:28 · answer #6 · answered by Orpheus Rising 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
From knowing that all actions have a ripple effect....
What I put out I get back..but I don't mean this as a personal reason...
The world I live in is up to me.....What can I add or subtract ....
I hope my best is good will to all....this sometimes requires 'skill' and sometimes I am required to say I am sorry..a prime motivating factor has been the 'world our children will inherit.'
May All That Live Be Well and Happy
2007-09-15 02:04:05 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Well I have been both religious and non. But my morals remained the same, I just feel no guilt over certain things, like the first answer said, it's about empathy and to what extent you have it
2007-09-15 01:59:24 · answer #8 · answered by chocolateman 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I don't have a religion. Knowing right from wrong doesn't have to do with religion at all. If comes from common sense.
2007-09-15 01:58:06 · answer #9 · answered by mathaowny 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The Scriptures... when I'm doing the 'love God with all your heart and love your neighbor' thing, the natural response is being morally responsible.... otherwise I can be pretty selfish...good question
2007-09-15 01:58:48 · answer #10 · answered by Dulos 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋