Serious question for all atheist, and all else for that matter.?

Question

On many occasions I have been informed that there is no connection between a belief and acceptance of a higher power and ones morals. That atheist are just as moral as anyone else is. Ok I can accept that. My question is this. What do you base your code of morals on? At what point do you say that you are crossing the line from what you say is moral and pushing your beliefs onto someone else? An example would be this. Many of you, not all but many of you are tend to lean on the side of pro abortion. We dealt with a young women who was told over and over and over that it was not a child. That what ever she wanted to do with the ‘mass’ in her was her ‘choice’. This by the councilors at school, (16) by her friends and her teachers. The issue came about when she delivered the ‘mass’ and decided to dispose of ‘it’ in the dumpster. She could not understand why the day before it was nothing more than a choice, but today they are saying it is a life. When the only thing that changed was the location from within her to out side of her. Where would your moral code fit in, in this situation? As a Christian I accept and believe that it is a child from the start. I realize you do not. I really would like to know how you decide what is moral and what is not.

Answer 1

Unfortunately, people sometimes base what is moral on what they feel is moral for that particular moment but the truth is that the Bible is standard for truth. People change all the time but the Word of God does not change. It is truth and exposes sin.

Answer 2

The reason that girl was unable to dispose of the fetus in the dumpster is because doing so would have been a biohazard. It has nothing to do with whether or not the fetus was "life" or not.

Additionally, most people who are pro-choice do not assert that a fetus is not "alive." Rather, we assert that the fetus's level of sentience is significantly lower than that of a baby (even a newborn). This is important because it helps to determine the level of suffering the fetus undergoes during an abortion. In that sense, a fetus is similar to an animal (based on its level of awareness and sentience). (I'm not saying they're the same; I'm saying that a fetus that dies does not suffer the same as a baby who dies.)

A moral act in any situation can be defined as the act which minimizes suffering, while maximizing happiness (or whatever else you'd like to call the opposite of suffering). (This is essentially a rephrasing of the utilitarian principle of morality.) In some cases, the act that maximizes happiness is an abortion. In those cases, an abortion is morally justified.

Answer 3

Choices also come with the responsibility of your actions.
I'm no atheist, but I can say that atheists just as well as most people derive their moral code from what society has deemed to be moral and decent. Certain things are accepted at large by what the majority has decided,voted upon and passed into law.
Abortion is legal. Although I don't condone abortion except under certain circumstances, a woman still has the right to make that choice for herself. It's HER body.
Once the child is actually born however, it then becomes a "citizen" of whatever country/state it is born into and therefore protected and subject to the laws and conditions of that particular area.

Answer 4

Thank you for an honest question. I, as an atheist, base my moral codes (and values for that matter) on several things: Logic, reasoning, critical thinking and philosophy. Reading the works of Plato and Socrates, understanding them and exercising your thought process with logic will guide you through life with ample morals and values.
No, I do not believe that 'its a child from the start' at all. In fact, its called a zygote, nothing but a mass collection of cells...no brain, no heart, no organs, no spinal column. Well, your skin is nothing but a mass collection of cells either, but nobody calls me a murderer when I exfoliate.

But beyond that, I have a real problem when OTHER people presume to put THEIR religion into SOMEONE ELSE'S body. That persons body does not belong to you in any way, shape, form or fashion. What would be next...banning surgery because you are interfering with gods plan for you to get cancer and 'go home' to him?

Having said that, I DO think there should be a cutoff time for abortion. You have 60 days from conception, or no abortion.

Answer 5

As a Pagan, i am astounded at the double standards that are in play.. the Christians would have the woman(girl) carry to term regardless of the consequences to the life already here, and once the child is born condemn the mother because they live in poverty..etc and so forth. and pretty much forget that the child was NOT a virgin birth..someone else helped make that baby and they hold no responsibility.
then there is the difference between those with money and those without.

my personal experience is that the soul doesn't enter the childs body till 3 days before birth. until then that soul is sheltered in the the mothers soul until it's near time to be born. but thats just my experience.

let me ask you, why is it ok for soldiers to go take lives multiple times over, but a woman who gets an abortion is a killer? hmm?

Answer 6

I'm not religious (more spiritual than anything), because all have their pros and cons. I think it's bs that so much negativity is derived because of religion; if you don't like someone, let it be for a better reason than they believe different than you. I have read various texts from various religions, but it was essentially me sitting down and mentally marking what's morally right and morally wrong.

For example, to me, fornication isn't morally reprehensible. But hating/disliking someone because of their skin/hair/eye color is morally wrong and ignorant. I've based mine on what I've read, learned, and experienced in my life. Not what someone else wants me to believe.

I believe in God, but yet, the Bible was written by MAN, not God. Men are fallible and God is, assumingly, infallible. But, what would the fun and purpose in having a brain be, if it wasn't used to question and wonder and grow. As long as someone doesn't go overboard trying to get me to convert to their belief structure, no matter the subject, then I'll listen and let a person go on and believe what they choose.

However, if someone's actions infinge on the unalienable rights of another, then all bets are off. Once a person is robbed of these, then the robber has no rights whatsoever and do not deserve to have them back, in my very honest opinion.

Hope this helps and made sense!!

Answer 7

A somewhat arbitrary distinction has to be drawn somewhere. You merely draw it somewhere different (at conception?). Before that, the same collection of chemicals is, to you, not really a life, but suddenly it becomes one. This is a philosophical issue, not an ethical issue.

No atheists (except those with extremely disturbed minds, and extremely disturbed minds occur in people of all religious or non-religious demographics) consider murder to be okay, so you're trying to cheat away from the actual moral question.

It would be relatively easy for me to come up with examples of stuff Christians do that *I* consider immoral, by the way.

Also, further reasoning for *not* telling the poor kid over and over that abortion is not an option and that it is supposedly murder is that, occasionaly (and more often than you think) abortion is necessary, and it would be terrible to inflict extra guilt on someone who is already conflicted.

Answer 8

People will collect their moral values from other humans. It's running with the pack, herd, tribe, ect...sort of thing.
Even among the church it still tends to apply. This explains why slavery though not promoted in the bible was accepted at the time it was written only because slaves already existed. But, as time wore on and people grew to understand God's word and will better, the church stood up against it.
Christianity first and foremost calls people to come to God through the shed blood of Jesus Christ. Morals are then taught according to man's interpretation of God's word.

Answer 9

I couldn't care less what religion or society thinks is moral. In most cases, the desires of the many outweigh the desires of the few, but the bottom line is, might makes right. Morality is relative, and will always take a back seat to survival.

That is the ONLY moral truth on planet Earth, and if you think otherwise, you're kidding yourself.

The moral human is one traffic accident, one crude remark, one shot of whiskey, one base desire, ONE HEARTBEAT away from abandoning the patina of civilization, and reverting back to a wild animal. Entire cultures have betrayed "morality" when convinced of their position. Look at what Japan did to China in the years leading up to WWII.

We can think to ourselves that there are black & whites, that there are "moral truths", given to us by this god or that authority, but again, we are just kidding ourselves. There is the ideal human which we imagine in our minds, and there is reality. The fact that we are so bad at living up to the ideal human is why men created "divine" laws, but history has proven that we are no more compelled to obey the rules of our imaginary gods, then we are to obey our own rules. We feel ashamed, but honestly, the shame is undeserved. We are simply products of nature, and we do EXACTLY what nature intended us to do - we survive, by whatever means necessary.

Answer 10

I use empathy. I try to put myself in the position of other people and determine how I would feel. I also try to think about what is better for mankind. These characteristics naturally exist in all of our minds. As for your example, I think abortion is a bad thing. However, I do think that it in certain situations, it is the best decision; i.e. when a woman is raped or when a woman is too young or to unintelligent to care for the child and the father leaves town…. But do I think abortion should be legal? Yes.