For believers and nonbelievers, where do you think morals that you have originate from?

Answer 1

There are a couple questions being answered here. One is where did YOU get YOUR morals, that is, how does each one of us establish a set of morals; and where do morals come from?

The former is what most of these people are answering: "Parents", "grandparents", "society", etc. That's like saying that 2 + 2 = 4 because Miss Mitchell taught that to me in first grade. Miss Mitchell didn't invent math, nor the abstract concepts embodied in this simple equation; she just passed along to me her knowledge of math.

The latter is the more interesting question. The Bible tells us that we all have God-given conscience so that we know to do by nature what is right and avoid what is wrong. Atheists mistake conscience for some kind of evolved idea of what is best for society, or what is best for the individual, when in fact it comes from God.

True morality has to have a basis. Absolute truth isn't a matter of someone's opinion. If you say you believe murder is wrong because that's what you believe, or because that's what your mom taught you, and that's your only basis, then I can come along and say that I don't believe what you believe, and your mom didn't teach me crap, and I want your job, so I'm going to kill you. I'd be just as morally right as you because all you and I have to base our morality on is our own opinions.

Theists depend on God as the source of Truth and therefore have an absolute authority that is not dependent on the opinion of anyone. Truth is Truth whether we believe it or not, and morality is morality whether we follow it or not. The theist can say that because he or she has a foundation for the belief. The atheist has only his or her opinion.

If we sit down to play a card game we need to agree in advance on the rules. It may be a simple game where we both share our understanding of the rules and determine we were both taught the same thing. In that case we don't have to explore the source of the rules any further -- we can just play the game. We could mistakenly conclude that we're playing the game by those rules because they came from society or our family. But then what happens when we have a disagreement? We might turn to Hoyle's or we might look inside the lid of the box the game came in. That is, we consult the authority. Ultimately it is that authoritative statement that determines what the rules is, regardless of what we've been taught.

It's the same with Truth and morality. We're all taught some idea of right and wrong, but if it doesn't have some authority behind it that's better than just your opinion or just my opinion, then it doesn't mean anything.

Answer 2

My conscience tells me when I've done something wrong.

My moral values are based on my conscience.

My conscience is God's Law written on the heart of every man, woman and child.

You don't need to be told that it's wrong to steal - just wait till somebody tries to steal from YOU, and no matter HOW you were raised, you'll decide that it was wrong!

The same is true with lying, deceiving, and every other moral "no-no" you can think of.

A good book that explains this in such a way that ANY body can understand is "Mere Christianity" by C.S. Lewis; at LEAST the first chapter. I HIGHLY recommend it.

Basically, it goes about establishing that "right" and "wrong" is not something WE decide on, but something we instinctively "know". (Otherwise, how could you tell someone that it's wrong to take the last apple when it was set aside for you, if there wasn't some kind of universally agreed upon set of rules. The other person doesn't say "That's hogwash!" They give a reason why that rule doesn't apply in THIS case. It's the same as when people are playing soccer. There could be no foul if there were no agreed upon rules.) Read the book, or at least the first chapter to get the full explanation here.

Answer 3

There is no basis for morals if a deity does not exist. I will add 3 points. Your upbringing may have contained moral concepts which cause you to believe in and act on them. Your survival instinct informs you to fear retaliation and not to take more than you need. Your phych may come pre programed with guilt as a mechanism if you act unmoraly, if the message of a deity existing is true. A note on upbringings: Morals have been passed down from generation to generation because of the 3 (2 being possibilities) points that i have made but mainly because of a believe in a deity or deities
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believe in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Answer 4

Genetics.
That really is the answer to this question.
There is some nurturing of moral ideas but the truth is that people that are not in line with normal moral behaviour do not reproduce as well generally and are only ever a minor part of the population.
It gets a bit deeper if you read behavioural sciences but it is still just basic genetics.

Answer 5

Society, cultural norms. Religions are based largely on this. All I have done is cut out the middle man.
All societies have rules that allow society to run smoothly. It's obvious why we can't have people running around stealing, murdering, and raping. It causes friction in society.
I bet you could go through the Bible and take every sort of rule there is from dietary laws to the Commandments and find some sort of common sense reasoning for it to be there.
Example- An eye for an eye. In tribal societies in the middle east it was not uncommon for many people in a village to be killed over the slight of someone from another village. A remedy? have a swift justice ready for the one who committed the crime, so that innocents might not be harmed in the act of vengeance.

Answer 6

I think they are part a product of natural selection and part ad hoc ideas of various cultures. Empathy is the instinct that dictates the Golden Rule. Without empathy, a social species can't cohere, and without social coherence, humans would have died out long ago. We're not that quick, we're not that strong, we're prey for the large predators. It's our brains and our self-sacrifice for the good of the group that have helped us survive. Aside from empathy, most behaviors labeled "moral" are really just propriety; no more natural than the arrangement of forks at a nice restaurant.

Answer 7

For the most part, I believe the originate with society at large. Religions simply codify those morals as laws, to be enforced by the community.

Answer 8

Any society can decide what is moral, but I believe that nothing good in this world originated except from God. Its called inherited goodness. Like you may not want anything to do with religion but may try to help people and not steal and try to do the right thing..well you got that from somebody, and that person got it from somebody..and at some point someone got it from having a close relationship with God

Answer 9

the fact that we are pack animals.

(for all the people saying your parents, he's talking about the ROOT of morals, like the 1st morals).

Any animals that live in packs exhibit similar behavior to ours:
caring for young of others
allowing food for the injured
killing babies of other males
pair bonding
etc...

animals that are solitary exhibit far fewer of these behaviors.

It's pretty obvious that since some cultures think it's obligatory to kill your daughter if she has pre-marital sex and other cultures try to save their children's live no matter what, that morals did not derive from some metaphysical being in the sky.

Answer 10

Our earliest beginnings. The more of you there are, the better you chances of for survival. At one time, there were several humanoids living on Earth. Home Sapiens won the battle by in part by our morals.