If you are atheist, how do you know what is moral and what isn't?

Question

I was just wondering....Ateists are, in my expierience, good people. But, how do they know what is moral?

I know killing is bad no matter what. Especially in atheism, since you only get one life.

I'm sorry of I insulted anyone, I really wasn't trying to. I avoid bashing at all costs.

The question only came into my head because I was reading the book Lord of the Flies for school and without rules, the boys' moralty just went down the drain.

Answer 1

Wow that is a very deep question, I mean there are whole ethic committees that sit around and ponder what is right and wrong and get paid very well for doing so. One of the major problems with atheism is that because they don't believe in Gods standard of what is right and wrong according to his word they basically make up there own ethics according to their own whims and understandings which in the case of men are quite limited. Even as a Christian I feel the issue of ethics can become very gray. So I could only imagine that the typical atheist really has no foundation of true ethics.Basically they can justify anything that they want to. I will admit that I am unable to live according to Gods standards but I am glad that I have at least a guideline in which I can strive for even if many of times my own failures in regards to his standards can discourage me. I am thankful that I have Jesus to deem me righteous even though I am definitely not. In conclusion atheists in my opinion have only their own consciousness to guide them which whether they know it or not comes from the very God that they deny.

Answer 2

Look, some atheists kill people. But the Third Reich embraced Catholicism and Hitler was a Catholic. Mulsim terrorists blow things up with the knowledge that what they are doing is moral. Same with Christians who kill abortion providers.

You'll have a hard time convincing me that moral relativism is the sole domain of the atheist. Surely Locke's Toleration, or any number of other secular philosophies amply demonstrate that a moral imperative towards what Christians would label "good" does not have to be informed by any specific religious doctrine.

Answer 3

Religions didn't invent morality, they just take credit for it.

* * *

Why Christians Must Steal From Secular Morality:
http://www.caseagainstfaith.com/submissions/steal_morality.htm
[Excerpt]

Christians must steal their moral rules from secular morality. They have no choice, as the Bible does not offer a moral system, it only offers a series of contradictory commands and a supposed threat of punishment in the "afterlife" for not following them - a punishment that is given equally to all violators - whatever the sin.

The Bible does nothing and can do nothing towards inculcating moral behavior on its own. Christians must steal from secular moral systems, and then merely graft their 'God threats' on top of this moral system. This is necessary. And the reason for this is simple: there is no morality in the Bible and there can be no morality in the Bible, because the Bible holds that 1) ALL 'sins' are equivalent (destroying any moral sense) AND 2) all moral behavior is immaterial, because works cannot save a person, AND finally all people are damned from birth.

In reality, Christians realize that some actions are more moral than others. They realize that moral actions exist in a hierarchy, and that rape is far worse than stealing a pencil. Yet the Bible holds that all 'sins' are equal, as all deserve the same punishment.

Christians also realize that humans can be moral agents... they expect moral behavior from others, and they view their own children as something to value. Yet the Bible holds that man is worthless, that he cannot be a moral agent, and that his sole salvation comes from grace. However, since Christians realize, implicitly, that all of these these points are obviously, prima facie false, they must steal from secular systems, that hold that 1) man obviously has a value 2) all 'sins' are obviously not equivalent and 3) a person cannot be held to be doing anything 'immoral' without intent.

* * *

Origins of the 10 commandments:
http://www.atheistalliance.org/outreach/news-2002_spring.php
http://www.rationalrevolution.net/articles/ten_commandments.htm

Morality Without God:
http://www.atheists.org/Atheism/cohen.html

Ethics Without Gods:
http://www.atheists.org/Atheism/ethics.html

Morals Without Gods:
http://www.secularhumanism.org/index.php?section=library&page=sharris_26_3

Evolution of Altruism:
http://endeavor.med.nyu.edu/~strone01/altruism.html

If It Feels Good to Be Good, It Might Be Only Natural:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/27/AR2007052701056.html?nav=rss_print/asection

The Subtle, Lethal Poison of Religion:
http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/guestvoices/2007/09/hitchens_1.html

How Can an Atheist Be Moral?
For Goodness Sake
http://www.ffrf.org/about/bybarker/goodness.php

Answer 4

If that is the case you can not have any basis for morality. It is all based on what you want and what is good for you at the time. If you don't believe in God or a supreme being then you become god and everything is based upon what your likes and dislikes are. Most people have standards that are based upon the way that they were raised. If you want true moral standards look at the Bible. Now you may say that old book. To many people believe that and I can't. Well if you say it is just a book then just read it. What can it hurt? Read it with a open mind. Don't ask anyone to interpret for you. Just read it and if something doesn't make sense read it again. and just in case there is a supreme being or God out there ask Him to help you understand it. The answers you are looking for are there. you have to look for them. There is not some supreme being that is going to start talking to you and answer all your questions. That supreme being already did answer all of your questions. Just read it.

Answer 5

Here's something shocking... we use our brain and think "would I want someone else to do that to me? No? Then I won't be stupid enough to do it to someone else".

Horrible, isn't it, that we actually use our brains for something more than thinking about a god.

Honestly, why do religious people ask such idiotic questions when there's a perfectly reasonable answer they can come up with themselves?

Edit: No, without CONSEQUENCES the boys morality went down. Children don't think the way adults do. They really have very few morals, if any at all, because they are not yet capable of thinking about tomorrow. They see things only in "I want this now". Morality is learned, its not inborn.

Why do you think kids are so cruel on the playground toward others? I have first hand experience of how cruel they are because I was one of their targets growing up. As an adult, we would never behave the way the children behave on the playground because we've learned its wrong to hurt others.

So the Lord of the Flies isn't a good example to base human morality on.

Answer 6

I get my morality from Ted Haggard.

He is the dispenser of good sense and morality!

Seriously though, religion does not equal morality. You're not acting morally if you need a religion and a book to tell you how to live, you're just obeying rules. Try and understand the difference. If you beleive that people will start killing each other without the "wisdom" of the bible then your ignorance to the basic facts of life is quite astounding.

Morality is far simpler than you think it is.

Answer 7

Without resorting to long long-winded sources, I'll break it down to the way I see it


Morals are the product of reasoning, wouldn't you say. Christianity doesn't exist everywhere especially throughout time. In societies around the world, men will gather to come up with laws to reflect the morals they have at that time.

Universally, it is common to brand things such as killing and stealing as wrong. It is based on altruistic living and reasoning. You don't need religion for that.

Answer 8

"If atheists are the unfastened thinkers they declare to be, then why do they take their morals and values from Christianity with a couple of exceptions?" A daring statement. Mind backing it up? My morality is headquartered on empathy, growing the natural well and private advantage whilst making an attempt to hold individual and institution damage minimized. I agree that a few of the ones concepts also are concepts Christians preserve, however they weren't invented by way of Christians nor their doctrine, nor are they precise to Christians nor their doctrine. Your statement, and hence your query, is demonstrably fake. "But then they take the leisure of the morals and values wholesale from their former faith." This assumes that every one homosexual atheists had been as soon as Christian, which isn't the case. It additionally assumes that the whole lot else that's regarded ethical within the Christian set could also be ethical for them. Unless you could have information to again up this declare (which I particularly doubt), I discover it not likely that the homosexual atheist considers it immoral blaspheme the holy spirit or to swear.' "The atheists I have spoken with approximately this wish me to suppose that they invented their possess morals after their atheist conversion and ...by way of natural accident... followed the identical morals in their former faith." So you are basing the point of view of all atheists on -one- private interview? Pathetic. "The Vikings notion it was once OK to kill humans with a view to thieve their stuff. The Vikings additionally captured humans and bought them as slaves." I bet you by no means learn the Old Testament. There are a couple of examples in which Yahweh instructions the loss of life of many humans and tells the Israelites what the plunder, what to not plunder however kill rather, and what to do with the plunder. "The Vikings additionally captured humans and bought them as slaves." Again, you ought to brush up for your Old Testament. God offers instructions, which might be aspect of the 613 components of the Law, which explicitly say who you'll enslave, how so much to promote your daughter for as a slave, how almost always and the way significantly you'll beat your slaves, and so forth. "In many Muslim nations females are pretty much a person's estate and not using a rights." I propose you investigate out the Bible for situations of sexism as good, adding: one million Corinthians 14:34 - 35, Ephesians five:22 - 25, and Leviticus 12:two-five.

Answer 9

My parents. Society. Books, movies, school.

I learn morality through hundreds of different facets.

I also get in less trouble than most Christians. I don't drink, smoke, do drugs, I won't have sex without being in a relationship first, I don't get in trouble with my teachers or with school, I participate in school activities, I'm rewarded for good service at my job, I've given to charities, never gotten a ticket or gotten into an accident...And I haven't read the Bible once. I guess my parents did a good job, being atheists themselves and all. :)

Answer 10

Morality is not something that is entirely based on religion. There are studies that show monkeys (let's NOT get into the evolution discussion here - that's not the point) have some forn of concience... and that the 'morality' of humans is inbred, not entirely learned. It's very interesting science - there's an overview on NPR's "Radio Lab" from WNYC available on iTunes for free download. It's the 'morality' episode if you're interested.

Answer 11

what does a christian call morality?..... they believe the lies the church preaches... they function on heaven as a reward or hell as a punishment... in the definitions of good and evil.. the church often practice deceit, and murder.. to preserve their religions... the human conscience evolved and through it the understanding of right and wrong.. measured against the churches good and evil we often found that they were often opposite... today the church is limited in it's practices because of laws established through the evolution of the human conscience... for if there we no laws against it, the church would still be murdering people for not following their religions.... morality is not a religious thing... it is part of nature's way.... these are truths... the earth is round, gravity is a law of nature... these the chruch condemned as falsehoods... but today undeniable... evolution is as much a law of nature as gravity.. and there is no life after death also a law of nature... a christian beleiving otherwise has never made one of these false. Morality is work of nature, not religion... christians are really going to have to come to terms about the lies they preach...