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How do you answer when "believers" claim that if you are an Athiest, then you have no foundation for moral behavior. They have the Bible, Torah, Koran, etc., and say that if we do not believe in Something, then we CANNOT have moral guidelines for behavior. This makes us immoral in their way of looking at it.
I was raised to act humane, and courteous. I was taught this as a societial norm. I don't need a book to tell me how to behave, I just watch good examples of my fellow human beings, and them incorporate their good examples into my behavior.
Why do theists think this way? As far as I can see, history has proven time and again that more death, destruction, and all around barbaric behavior has been done to mankind by Theists, that ever were done by Athiest. Just WHAT is this "morality" they speak of. Surely it is NOT a concept which Theists have mastered, as yet.
Looks as though you've answered your own question.
But again we live by the golden rule, which should be common knowledge and not something that you will only find in a holy book.
Which is more moral: helping others out of the goodness of your own heart or because you want to score points with invisible men for when after you die?
"With or without religion, you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion." Steven Weinberg
I'm willing to bet that "morals" always existed...and that religion just kind of organized them and then imposed them on the nearest susceptible population by threatening punishment for disobedience.
That being said, I do believe in god, but I don't think you need religion to make you a good person. Seems to make a lot of bad people, too...
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Some "morality" is cultural...it's okay in some cultures to sleep with your brother's wife or kill the guy in the other tribe because he stole your goat. But basic "morality" comes from our own consciences and really has nothing to do with religion. People who follow their own moral code will know inside if they are doing "right" or "wrong", if they are causing harm to someone else. Religion simply puts limits and rules on morality: "You must think and act this way or that way because our God says so".
Morality comes from a basic human emotion: Empathy. Empathy allows us to see and understand what our fellow humans are experiencing.
Rough example: As children we learn that if we hurt, we cry. Later on, we tell Cindy on the playground that she is fat and she cries. We don't like to cry and we feel bad when we see Cindy cry. We don't tell Cindy she is fat anymore and may even apolgize for telling Cindy she is fat in the first place. It gets way more complicated than that, but that's the basis of human morality, we don't need some spirit in the sky telling us what is wrong and what is not.
Morality comes from a basic human emotion: Empathy. Empathy allows us to see and understand what our fellow humans are experiencing.
Rough example: As children we learn that if we hurt, we cry. Later on, we tell Cindy on the playground that she is fat and she cries. We don't like to cry and we feel bad when we see Cindy cry. We don't tell Cindy she is fat anymore and may even apolgize for telling Cindy she is fat in the first place. It gets way more complicated than that, but that's the basis of human morality, we don't need some spirit in the sky telling us what is wrong and what is not.
Very well put. I can put myself in my neighbor's shoes, and by that alone I know how to act toward others. That's the basis of the Golden Rule, which every religion has professed in some fashion -- and Confucius said it long before Jesus did.
I've heard lots of people saying that because I don't believe in their God, I have no morals, no limits on my own behavior. There's nothing stopping me from going on a killing spree, or raping my neighbor, or eating babies, or whatever. Actually, I think this says a lot more about the moral grounding of the religious people ... the ones who say stuff like this obviously think that without some external, all-powerful force telling THEM how to behave, they fear what THEY might do. They just don't understand that some of us don't need the threat of punishment or promise of reward to be a good person. We're good because we know we should be. It's good for us and good for society. End of story.
Christianity has long been a violent blood-sport. They have forced their beliefs upon others since they first began that horrible religion. They have killed in the name of their god and have hated others for not believing as they do, wiping out entire tribes and villages. They have kidnapped children, stolen them from their parents in order to indoctrinate them into their absurd belief system. Religion has actually convinced people that there's an invisible man -- living in the sky -- who watches everything you do, every minute of every day. And the invisible man has a special list of ten things he does not want you to do.. And if you do any of these ten things, he has a special place, full of fire and smoke and burning and torture and anguish, where he will send you to live and suffer and burn and choke and scream and cry forever and ever 'til the end of time! ..But He loves you! No really!!! He loves you!! - George Carlin
When was the last time you EVER heard of an Atheist bombing an abortion clinic???
How do you answer when "believers" claim that if you are an Athiest, then you have no foundation for moral behavior. They have the Bible, Torah, Koran, etc., and say that if we do not believe in Something, then we CANNOT have moral guidelines for behavior.
I don't really believe that the religious derive moral principles from their religious texts. Look at the texts. What principle do you live by? The Talion principle--an eye for an eye? Or, how about turn the other cheek passivity? There are obvious contradictions. Which do you choose? And how many Christians lately have taken the new testament path of poverty? Check out the corporate mega-churches. No, I think what they mean is they can't imagine having some motivation to behave in a moral way without the threat of eternal damnation. And as Kohlberg has shown us, this is a less than developed moral sensibility. When the religious make this charge against non believers, I think it says something about their own impulses, what they would wish to do if it weren't for the threat of ultimate punishment.
For me, a moral sensibility is something that has evolved in us, like everything else, and I agree with what has been said by others-- that sensibility shows itself in our capacity for empathy primarily, which is the basis, afterall, of the golden rule. We live in groups, our survival depends upon groups and the awareness, always, that we are not the only ones on the planet.
Morality is just as plausible for Atheist as it is for Christians. As an Atheist, Agnostic, or Humanist the adjustment to the secular society is no different than for the theist. We all live by the same laws regardless of religious or non religious status, thus have the same reason to be moral.
History points our periods when religion used it teachings to divert from a moral path and due to its control over a secular society was allowed to continue these immoralities for thousands of years. This is the reason our founding fathers wisely added a separation between Church and State into our laws, and why we need to maintain that separation.
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Christianity vs Atheism
