Atheists Only...?

Question

Aw, they're always doing clubby little posts, so why not us? Anyway: Religious folks seem to assume that without religion, people will run amok and be devoid of values. Neglecting the fact that this insinuates that only fear of godly retribution keeps them in line - what is it that you think causes and shapes our atheistic sense of morality?

I absolutely loved this post:

You are quite the immature piece of work, aren't you.

I'm not an atheist, but I'm going to answer your question anyway.

That is a broad generalization of Christians. Most believe that all people, regardless of faith, can do good, but those acts without faith are meaningless, and faith without good actions is meaningless. Perhaps you should *study* the religion that you attack.

If not god, it is society that makes people do things that they consider good. I could go into evolutionary theory, but I have found that 99.999% of athiests understand nothing about evolution, and only think they do, so, I am going to aviod the subsiquent argumentation.

1. I did not claim any religions said that atheists would run amok. This was a commentary on many of the postings I looked at.

2. My question had nothing to do with religion or studying it. It was a question about atheist morality

3. Evolution was not mentioned in my post at all.

Answer 1

Atheists have better morals, in general.

Religious people are spoonfed rules from old books. They are told what the religion considers good and evil, but discouraged from discussing why something is good or evil, other than "god said so". They are also taught that good and evil are actual substances or characteristics that people can be tainted with.

Atheists tend to be more independent than that. They generally don't follow people's list of rules, preferring to actually think about why something may be good or bad. They realize that good and evil are subjective value judgements.

Everybody gets their morality from society, culture, family, friends, and their own experiences in life. Religious people are just less likely to admit that. Though if you look at each religion, you'll see that they also evolve and tend to reflect the society they are in.

Answer 2

The do-unto-others, or the eye-for-an-eye principle seems to be endemic in human experience, irrespective of whether there is a belief in god or not.

Generally, people are driven at the deepest levels by a survival instinct. In various ways, thats the basis for territoriality, etc.. But humans learn that there's a limit to the exercise of power, namely that the other guy might be bigger and stronger. So, we've figured out how to live together more or less, and codified it into something called morality.

All cultures generally have the same basic taboos against things like murder, incest, theft etc. Some cultures are monotheistic, some have been polytheistic, and some have no God at all.. Morality has nothing to do with religion, although religous folks do seem to have a tendency to try and claim the high ground.

You can wrap God around it if you want, but there is no need. There are many moral athiests, and many immoral religious folks. How many countless millions have died in the name of religion, sigh..?

-Guru

Answer 3

The most moral society is the most corrupt society. The more the laws, the more the laws are broken. The law creates resentment against others if the law mandates morality. Compassion should be left to the individual to show or not. When the law is disobeyed, the do-gooders come out in force to show everyone how law abiding they are and that everyone can see how corrupt those who do not obey are. Religious people are the most corrupt and morally bankrupt of society because they believe they need a book of writings to tell them to be moral and compassionate. The true blessed are those who have never bent a knee to religion and will give you the shirt off their backs to help you. Religion is not a moral meter for humanity, it is the opposite and the reason for suffering in the world.

Answer 4

Ha I have heard many of them not only insinuate, but outright state that without thier "god" they would be doing bad things... All that proves is that through indoctrination or upbringing some people are produced who must have a system of punishment and reward if they are to act morally. In truth nobody needs rewards or punishments as an incentive to behave morally, all we need is empathy and compassion.. along with an understanding that we are all one and the same. Religion fosers dissent in that it teaches not everyone is the same, believers go to heaven, non-believers go to hell, etc etc. The reason being that religion takes us away from nature, away from progress, social cohesion and co-operation.. all of these come from our evolution as a social species. Look at all other animals and you will see that the only prerequsite for morality is the ability to treat another as you wish to be treated... All you need to make this world a better place is to unite all of humanity as one, and encourage EVERYONE to act towards others as they wish others to act towards them. If we didnt have organized religion telling us that you will be rewarded while others will be punished, and we could see everyone as ourselves, this world would have the ultimate morality. Every social creature on this planet has evolved a way of life to live together harmoniously, we humans have forgotten that we need to keep evolving better social structures, we have relied on FALSE morality fed to us by religion. When you realize that then humanity can take the next step in social evolution to a new collective morality that has no reward or punishment at all, we only need to realize that hurting someone else is hurting yourself..

Answer 5

Despite what evangelists tell you, the threat of hell is not what stops most people from, say, going on a mass-murdering spree. Even if there was no hell, there are still bad consequences for bad behavior. Our society has laws that threaten criminals with fines, imprisonment and sometimes death. And even if those laws didn't exist, there would still be the threat of punishment from other sources. For instance, if you commit a murder, the victim's family and friends might come looking for revenge. Nobody likes to be taken advantage of. The justice system just makes the whole process a little more orderly, which is a good thing.

Answer 6

Stuff that makes sense. Seriously. Don't Steal, Don't murder and the like are the rules because society wouldn't function properly without them. It has nothing to do with religion.

Did the Jews *really* lie, cheat, steal and murder each other before they got the 10 commandments? Like was it *really* an accepted part of their society? No, that would be ridiculous - such a society would not last even a few years - Doesn't everyone see how silly that Bible story is?

Answer 7

Religion has been shown that moral values are not a part of that, to many have killed in the name of gods. Moral values come from within by realizing that we all have live together. Do not do to others what you do want others to do to you. A open and caring mind will develop morals as has been proven by many Atheist world wide. Atheist can not hide their actions bihind gods or holy book, they have to acount for it them self.

Answer 8

I think that identifying oneself as an Atheist is unnecessary. As I heard an author, Not C. Hitchens, someone else say recently. We don't identify ourselves as afairyists because we don't believe in fairies it is just commonly accepted that fairies don't exist. So that is the first point Atheists, if you accept the label, are not weird or different or strange, or necessarily amoral or is it immoral? I "believe", we are just awake to the fact that divisive cultures of Religion are a source of tyranny and immorality unparalleled by, the non-Religious. How many lives lost how much blood spilled in the name of Zeus or God or Allah, Vishnu?, Buddah(probably not), Whatever other name people might have for a super-natural guy or gal in the sky. Looking down on us mortals, to strike us dead and send us to endless suffering and torture. What it all comes down to is when a few, elitists want to grab the reins of power, a boogey man in the sky to scare the common folk, sure comes in handy, and takes care of the "math problem" of few trying to control many. You just need that ONE OMNICIENT OVERSEEING PRESENSE, whatever you call it to keep everybody in line. So back to the question how can an Atheist be moral without the constant threat of eternal damnation. It comes back to a question of the Natural State of Man. Hobbes and Locke both weighed in on this subject and forgive me I forget which side each respective political philosopher came down on, but one believed that man is by nature warlike and aggressive, the other believed mankind was by nature peaceful and docile. In my experience, they are both correct. However upon closer examination it seems that those that have dismissed the mythology of the day, tend to be more the latter, namely doclie and peaceful. The fervent subscribers to all the popular mythologies of the day by contrast seem to be the first to fight, start wars etc. So who is calling whom immoral? What makes us moral is a deep respect for our fellow living creatures and a disregard for divisive "club" mentalities fostered by those most critical of others. People committed to something, that deep inside, they know to be untrue, seek to reassure themselves, by disbelieving someone not equally deluded could possibly be "good", they've invested too much, it is safer to remain in denial. So were all immoral because we don't believe their fairy tales, and we all lived happily ever after. The End.
PostScript: We are moral because we all have a moral compass an inane sense of good and evil, some people's moral compass seems to get demagnetized by outside influences. While others remain clearly objectively moral, as nature intended.

Answer 9

Well, it's a bit hard to pillage small towns and do Y!A at the same time... I chose the computer at home. But a nice bowl of buffalo style babies to munch on might make up for it.

But really... a family can either raise you to be a good person or a bad one. Luckily most families still try to raise children to be good moral adults, even atheist families like mine.

Answer 10

It isnt hard to know what is right & wrong. You dont need an invisible man upstairs telling you what to know. Religion can fly in the face of important issues today eg stem cell research, gay & lesbian rights, sex before marriage etc, all of which should be done on its practical & beneficial merits, not becuase some 2000 year old doctrine is against it.

Answer 11

My name Self derives from the defenition found on merriam webster's dictionary. And for me, it is the key of all spiritual guideness, and I've notice that without order, there is chaos. So i follow the teachings of some phylosophers and agree with 95-100% of the teachings of buddha. Most seem that the key is Education and Nuturing one's own being and being aware of the things that surround us and understand it's substantial value and meaning. That everything is worth something, and in that value comes some sort of respect or admiration out of it and for that to happen, one must nurture and educate and be aware of the individual or SELF. One must get enlighten and and gain insight of your own being before you can trully have respect or affection for another. So education and enlightment of my own being has gave me a sense of morality and openess to the world. I believe in individuality, Living life as the individual sees fit. so it works for me, but it might not with you and I respect that