Jesus, the founder of Christianity was not Christian. No he was not atheist and although he was Jewish and got some of his inspiration there, his teachings came from inside of him and his heart therefore proving people CAN come up with good values without religion. If religion determines completely if one has morals values and no one can think them up on their own, then wouldn't every Jewish person at that time be a great as Jesus was? Also, Judaism came from people who also thought up their own morals from what they thought was right.
2007-11-15 13:48:29 · 44 answers · asked by Lindsey G 5 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
i don't think morality and religion are necessarily joined together. i mean if you think about it, a lot of the world isn't christian and i don't think they are all immoral, a good example would be Gandhi, not a christian, but a very moral person. not to mention think of some of the immoral things that some christians have done for example the spanish inquisition or the catholic churches priest molestation scandal. i think they are separate things. you can be both, you can be one or the other, and maybe even neither, but i don't think christianity has the exclusive rights to being moral.
2007-11-15 13:55:31 · answer #1 · answered by surferboy 2 · 3⤊ 0⤋
I believe a person can be moral without being a Christian however I don't think they know or have a basis for that morality. People may refuse to do bad behaviours because they make them feel uncomfortable but that is no basis for saying something is good or bad. I may not feel comfortable about working in a slaughter house but that doesn't mean it is evil it just means I am uncomfortable. So feeling badly about something doesn't necessarily make it good or bad. Someone may say I won't steal because it is against the law. But we all know that laws can change and they vary from country to country. At one time slavery was legal does that make it good? Another may say it goes against common sense. Yet we find other countries that practise other beliefs that is the prevailing common sense of those people. Example the Nazi's common sense allowed them to say Jews were inferior and deserving of death. So if we disagree we have a conflict of different groups common sense. So then who is to say which groups common sense is correct and who's isn't. The theist on the other hand can say it is wrong because God said it is wrong and it is against is nature. The non-theist can only say how he feels but has no authoritative voice to say this is how others should behave.
2016-05-23 08:36:08 · answer #2 · answered by marceline 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
An Atheist can be a moral person and some people that claim to be Christians are some of the most immoral. Jesus was not Jewish because he held to no religion, it was the Romans who called him the King of the Jews. Jesus was an Israelite.
2007-11-15 13:57:01 · answer #3 · answered by Scorpian S 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Although I belive a lot of christians think you may have to be christian to have good morals, I don't think its true. If you are Jewish or Muslim, both religions that teach good morals, will show that. Just because a person is atheist does not mean they are evil. Morals lye inside the person. Any christian that judges you and tells you are wrong is wrong themselves. Anyone on here who says that Muslims are not moral are idiots and have never spent time to learn about their religion, or even talked to a muslim for that matter. Christians are not the end all be all of everything good and righteous and need to stop judging.
2007-11-15 13:54:32 · answer #4 · answered by sully5408 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Actually, the Father was the source of Jesus' values. Jesus wrote the Bible. Therefore morals come from Jesus and the Father. Second of all, an atheist has just as much a chance as I do at being a "moral person", but both of us deserve hell, and we both need the free gift of eternal life offered through Jesus Christ if we want to be spared from this penalty for the sin that is in us.
2007-11-15 14:51:36 · answer #5 · answered by Matthew P (SL) 4 · 0⤊ 2⤋
I don't. I'm not Christian nor do I consider myself any kind of religion. And in my experience, most people who are not religious have an easier time living by their morals, probably due to the fact that they are moral people not because they are trying to please their "god", but because they know that it's the right way to live.
We wouldn't be here today if our morals weren't naturally ingrained into our souls. Morals came before religion, and morals will still be around after organized religion crumbles.
2007-11-15 13:56:09 · answer #6 · answered by mudstew 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Christians preach (and most try to live with) good morals, but Christians don't OWN morals. You can be a very moral person and not be a Christian.
Just think about it. For example...we all know that stealing is wrong. Why? Because taking something that isn't yours, isn't fair to the person you take it from. Any Christian who would claim the ONLY reason they don't steal because God thinks it's wrong, is either fooling themselves, or is an immoral person to begin with. What they're saying is that if God didn't exist...they'd be stealing people blind! As if it would be OKAY to steal if God wasn't keeping tabs.
People who are 'moral', ARE so because they know right from wrong. Not because they fear retribution from a higher power. If fear is your only motivation to be a decent human being...you have bigger issues than religion or athiesm.
2007-11-15 13:51:54 · answer #7 · answered by Lisa E 6 · 3⤊ 1⤋
While I believe that Religions in general do often set the tone for Morality in societies (and ironically, this is where Religions clash) I don't think that it's necessary to believe in a Religion to be Moral.
In fact, I have a great deal of respect for Athiests who do have high moral standards based simply on personal views of right and wrong, integrity and personal character, without the need for fear of 'eternal damnation' to control thier behavior.
2007-11-15 14:01:28 · answer #8 · answered by lapis 4 · 3⤊ 0⤋
I believe that religion isn't all of one's beliefs. Although atheism is literally, a lack of a god, they still have what philosophy, which is the way you look at the world. I know a lot of atheists are [words I cannot say on Answers] about religion, but a good number are just good people with morals. I'd say it's about 50/50, with one half being either anti-christian or angry at god, and the others just having that belief.
and btw person 2 above me, although i agree with you, i would say that youre wrong about hitler. he was brought up christian, but soon became an anti-semetic narcissist with a godcomplex. he was his own god. i'm sorry. i just like the facts to be straight, even when they're for or against my argument. but i do agree with you.
2007-11-15 13:53:01 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
No that would defy facts . there are statistics of the greater charitable endeavers by atheists in some years of the 20th century . Plenty of atheist have a very well tuned sense of morality which is to mankinds benefit not gods.
and you should note that the laws of our present justice system come from a secular english source that predates the church of of england.
2007-11-15 13:53:22 · answer #10 · answered by dogpatch USA 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋