So... the religous often say the atheists must suffer from a lack of morals and ethics...?

Question

since they do not believe in eternal punishment or god. What this says about religous people scares me but that is another question all together.
An atheist comes to his moral and ethical code by thought, logic, trial and error. Since it is something we come up with on our own we know WHY we believe it which oft makes commitment to that belief easier. The knowledge that there is no force in the universe to catch me or my brother if we fall other than the fellow next to me makes this atheist kinder and a lil more understanding.

All that being said, why is it the religous make so bold as to assume they hold a monoploy on morality and ethics?
Furthermore, do you think youre more likely to follow a rule because someone told you to or because you understand the benefit to yourself and others?

Answer 1

Why are they so bold?
In a word, indoctrination.

All humans learn by imitation. The process of imitating your parents, family, social group etc. is called indoctrination. You learn what is acceptable behavior according to the memes and mores of your group.

Religious folks are not known for proper use of logic. To the extent that they seem to use it at all, they always start from a conclusion and develops arguments,
...rather than starting from observable facts to discover logical inferences.

Bible thumpers refuse to see how an individual can discover the simple rules of ethics on his own through logic. Religious people have been trained (indoctrinated) since birth to take opinion from authority instead of developing opinion based on fact. That is what religion is designed to do: to remove the critical-thinking capacity of people and replace it with blind acceptance of authority, regardless of how ludicrous that authority's doctrines might be.

Are we more likely to act ethically without religion?
Yes. Definitely.
Why?
Because when you learn something from real experience, you learn it truly and well. There is no substitute for seeing the cause and effect of your own actions. There is no way to imitate real life experience. No amount of frightening stories, no fictional hell, no imaginary man-in-the-sky can make you behave any better than your own real experience taught you.

This brings up the crucial facts that falsifies the religious argument for morality: Atheists cannot believe in supernatural forgiveness, so they MUST live with their own consciences. They do not imagine a last-minute forgiveness or "grace" can preclude their very real torment in this life.

Beware of any person who believes in salvation, because THAT is the person who believes he can do anything and get away with it.

You can always reason with a reasonable person. The atheist
will not act without good cause.

However!...
The cloak of piety is always a shroud for evil!

Beware! Beware!

Answer 2

I think the roots of these attitudes begin in the methods of child-rearing.
All Children are naturally spontaneous, and they frequently do things that terrify parents. It is a very easy thing to use bogeymen to instill fear, and therefore obedience in children.
A promise of toys versus coal at Christmas is not so very different from the rewards and punishments of an afterlife.
Other authority figures (teachers, politicians, etc.) use the same methods, not because they are the best, but because they are easy.
as we grow up, we find out (a bit too late) that our parents are not the universal authority (if there is one). They do whatever they imagine is effective to ensure the child's survival. But we have a hard time separating the practical lessons of survival with the emotionally charged threats.
Most people don't believe in the robes and white beard, but there is an emotional image that is very hard to ignore.

The next time someone tries to exert there "beliefs", try thinking of them as they were when they were helpless and terrified children, threatened and alienated by those they depended on. The poor souls that did this to them were not much better off in their youth as well.

My concern with any creed is whether or not is empowers a person with the determination to live life gloriously.
I would rather sin sincerely and beg forgiveness when I learn my lessons, than be a pious impostor who never knows who he is.

I also think that an atheist who has rejected the notion of the universe having an intellegent origin is just as ludicris as any other poorly thought out ideology

Answer 3

While I'll agree with most of your points, I have to strongly disagree with the premise. There are two types of morality--intrinsic and extrinsic. Both types can be possessed by religious people, and Atheists and Agnostics. So the foundation of your argument is sound. First, I'll define the terms. Intrinsic motivation for goodness is motivation that stems from the idea that doing good things is its own reward, and need no further reward for it. Extrinsic motivation for goodness comes from a perceived advantage gained by performing a good work.
Let's face it, most people fall into the latter category. In fact, it's very rare that somebody is truly altruistic enough to give so much of themselves for no reason at all. Nietzsche claimed it a sickness.
So since most people rely on external motivation to perform good works, religion is a tool to that effect--it gives you an eternal reward as a motivation to help others and be good rather than 'evil.'
This is the real argument here, and many are so black and white that they throw out the real argument in exchange for two straw men of two smart people's argument. Those straw men both irritate me.
Morality can exist and be purer in Atheism, because there is no way you actions can be tainted by the idea of sucking up to God to go to heaven, and a religious person's motives are always suspect.
On the other hand, though, an Atheist can simply find no reward good enough to waste his time, and may decide to be completely amoral insofar as the law allows simply because there's no reason not to.
So yes, I appreciate a moral Atheist more than a moral Christian, but not because it is harder for an Atheist to be moral--simply because the odds of it being generally for the sake of those being helped, rather than for the sake of the helper's future afterlife are greater.

Answer 4

I remember I asked an atheist once where our society gets our ideas of what is moral and "good" if not from the ancient book of the bible. He said that we got those morals and values due to our society expanding and growing; learning, like you said through trial and error with certain things just being ok or not ok. Many Christians grew up in that same society; alot of us not indoctrinated by our parents and still held values without religious thought. When I became a Christian, I didnt all of a sudden start having different values or became value woman on steroids; I learned alot of my most basic ethics and morals from the society I grew up in. Just another view from the other side :) Gods peace Jamus!

Answer 5

The biggest wars fought, most geonocides accured in the name of God and religion.

Slightest difference in belief in the same God has resulted in much bloodshed.

No Religious person can take a moral high ground,
Belief in God doesnt automatically give you morality anyway,

But Real peity and the practice of it, is what true religion teaches,

Being an athiest you can still be a great human,
Being a believer U can also be a Hitler or George W Bush Or Dick Cheney, Or Jack the ripper,

Morality is by Invidual action, Not the religious or Godly tag attached to you.

Answer 6

Some religious people say that atheists lack morals and ethics, but mature, educated religious people don't.

"All that being said, why is it the religous make so bold as to assum-e they hold a monoploy on morality and ethics?" You might add "intelligence" and "common sense" to that question and it would be just as valid. Again, educated religious people don't make such claims. They know that they are not true.

Answer 7

thank you!
some ppl cannot image life without indoctrination from thier god.

I have thought about this deeply. I need to read more about it. Everything I learned about being good not only came from my parents but from thier emphasis on following what jesus said. They are very religious.
Im 20 now and decided I cannot take religion anymore. I need a break from the indoctrination. I suppose being a college graduate has alot to do with it aswell. And since opening myslef up to diffrent viewpoints, I've heard all the arguments against atheists as immoral , willing to do anything because they have no God they answer to just themselves. It comes mostly from the idea that humans are natually evil, and without a god they will only do evil.

I have no answers. I wonder what I would be if I was never raised christian. I have the benefit of saying I'm atheist now, but was formerly christian. So my morals and ethics are tied to what I was taught when I was younger, and it was related to being a good child because Jesus love good children. Then I grew older and learned the practical reasons for not stealing, lying , cheating, kiling, etc.

When you are a child , you reason as a child. When you are an adult, childish things belong in the garbage bin.

Answer 8

Being a Christian doesn't make a person a moral person.

A cannibal is a moral person amongst cannibals, because morals are simply the accepted customs of a group of people.

Being a Christian means that a person knows that God came to earth in the form of a man, to redeem them from sin. If they truly believe in Jesus Christ then they will live godly lives, which some view as "moral."

Answer 9

Well, I don't kill because it's a felony punishable by death, and I personally don't want to give up my life because somebody pissed me off. They're not worth it, no matter how much I can't stand them. So, in that respect, I follow that rule because somebody tells me to.

The religous say that atheists have no morals because they believe their god is all benevolent and all good, and that morality is based on goodness. Now we all know how much a crock that is. God is no more benevolent than my dog is when he's angry.

Answer 10

First of all, I believe that every intelligent being knows the difference between right and wrong. They don't always care, however.

Secondly, the idea that only believers in GOD are morally upstanding is an unsettling one. It means that if GOD disappered tomorrow, these people would let all the evil and wanton rage forth, because they were only doing it out of fear, or the selfish desire of some eternal reward, not because they really believed in any of it.

To me, goodness done for its own sake is service to GOD. In the beginning of Abrahamic faith (Judaism), there WAS no afterlife. Or at least no heaven and hell. People followed GODs law because it was the right thing to do, not cos they would get spanked if they didn't.