Where do atheists' morals come from?

by dorayakii 94 Replies latest watchtower bible

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  dorayakii

  Many theists believe that atheists have no morality at all. They argue that because atheists dont believe in the laws, limitations and boundaries that God has set up for us, there's nothing stopping them from becoming violent, lying thieving sociopaths. There have been many stories of people who have "found God" and changed their life, giving up drugs, repenting for past crimes

  Yet, without the guidence of God, would Christians really lose their ethics? It is a positively frightening thought that all that's stopping moral Chistians from becoming serial killing psychopaths is a believe in God, but of course the paradox is, as Richard Dawkins argues in his book "The God Delusion", that we don't in fact get our morals from any of our so-called "Holy Books". If we did get our morals from say, the Bible, we'd still be carrying out capital punishmenton sorcerers, those who are rude to their parents and those who don't keep the sabbath.

  So this begs the question, if the Bible is not the direct sourse of morality, yet it does inspire moral behaviour, what is the real source of human ethics ? Why are we humans moral creatures?

  Dorayakii... of the "relatively absolute" class
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  What-A-Coincidence

  behavior/ethics is based on the pain/pleasure principle
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  WTWizard

  Many theists believe in belittling one's life for the higher cause of a God. That makes them more likely to also belittle others' lives and kill and harass people so they will serve their God. Atheists, on the other hand, often realize that life has a value. They are not willing to sacrifice for a higher cause like God. They believe that people have the inherent right to enjoy to the full life, and will extend that right to other people. In fact, they often adhere to the most basic of morals, which adds no problems where none needed to exist. These absolute morals are simple to understand. Any volitional act that is good for self or society is moral. Any volitional act that is bad for self or society is immoral. Any involitional act, or any act that is neutral for self or society is amoral (as are all emotions). If everyone followed that basic moral code, which does not involve God, there would be no wars, crime, strife, oppression, or a Washtowel Slaveholdery.
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  nvrgnbk

  behavior/ethics is based on the pain/pleasure principle

  Atheism is not a worldview. It doesn't carry any obligation to any kind of political or moral system. In that sense, it is amoral. Note that it is amoral, not immoral. Immorality is flouting the conventions of one's own morality; amorality is being without morality.

  http://www.mwillett.org/atheism/moralsource.htm
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  Terry

  Nothing mysterious about morals.

  Morals are the most practical behavior possible.

  Morals stem from the fact we cannot succeed for long in society if we harm others or lie to them.

  It is disadvantageous in the long run to kill, lie, cheat and otherwise harm your friends, family, social contacts and "shit where you eat."

  The Ten Commandments do not contain anything of value when they go beyond basic, common sense, practical behavior toward our fellow man. All the rest is mumbo-jumbo.

  Incidentally, if you disobeyed your parents very often in Ancient Israel, they'd stone you to death. That is why the first commandment with a promise was "Honor your mother and father that your days may be long." In other words, "Honor your mother and father OR ELSE they'll kill your ass!"

  Ahh, divine wisdom!
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  hamsterbait

  Where do the morals of Taoists, Buddhists, Hindus, Shinto, Eskimos come from?

  Just like any kind of true spirituality, it comes from within the human being. So too with atheists.

  Morality has enabled human society to survive, instead of imploding in a frenzy of killing stealing raping vandalizing. belief in a deity has been shown to enhance survival when a situation seems hopeless and futile. All these benefits have been bred into us by natural selection, as amoral societies tend not to value human life, so they undermine and destroy themselves.

  I like the point that every other advanced idol worshipping civilization of antiquity managed to work out right and wrong, except the Jews. Their god was the last of all to hand down the laws of righteousness.

  HB
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  Homerovah the Almighty

  Maybe its because most strong atheists are also strong humanists as well.

  Point being you don't have be involved with any spiritual ideologies to be a good compassionate individual

  and it doesn't hurt the intellect either.
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  digderidoo

  Very good question. When i first saw the thread i thought, "here we go".

  Maybe it's instinct to have morals, i don't know. But the religious are not the only ones who are entitled to call themselves good.

  Paul
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  Rapunzel

  Immanuel Kant demonstrated quite clearly that either morals are autonomous or they do not exist it all. If I refrain from murder; rape; arson; theft; ect. out of fear of divine retribution, my behavior is directed not by moral values but by caution, fear of the "Holy Policeman," egoism. On the other hand, if I do good solely with an eye to salvation, I am not really doing good at all (since my behavior is now dictated by self-interest, rather than by duty or love) and will thus not be saved. A good deed is good not because God commanded me to do it (in which case it would have been good for Abraham to have slit his son's throat); on the contrary, it is because an action is good that it is possible to believe that God would have commanded it. Rather than religion being the basis of morals, morals are the basis of religion. It is not the case that morals are derived from religion; but, rather, religion derives from morals. Morals precede religion. To have a religion is to acknowledge all of one's duties [i.e. the "commandments" that we impose upon ourselves] as commandments. The word ethics simply means knowing that we are spirit and thus have certain obligations, for noblesse oblige, that is to say that our nobility obliges us to acknowledge and carry out our duties.
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  Deputy Dog

  Dorayakii

  Many theists believe that atheists have no morality at all.

  Really? As a theist I don't believe this, I can only speak for myself but, I don't think that athiests need Holy Books to act moraly (as Richard Dawkins says). I believe their morality comes from God through nature as even the bible teaches. See Romans 1

  I would like to know where morals come from, in the athiests universe (world view) when survival of the fittest seems to go counter to morality.