Why Atheism and Morality Are Incompatible.
@Chiang_Mai_boy (3882)
Thailand
October 16, 2007 10:31pm CST
The title of, this is a commonly expressed sentiment. There is no truth to it. An atheist, by definition does not believe in God. Does this make him immoral? This begs the question, is God, the source of morality? If God is the source of morality, what God or whose God? The two most militant groups of believers at this time are those who believe in Islam, and those who believe in the Judeo-Christian God. Even these two groups cannot come up with a common definition of morality. For their definition the Muslims turn to the Koran and the Christians turn to the Bible. A literal interpretation of either of these books can lead to a great deal of mischief. Fortunately, there is no society that I know of that uses a literal translation of the Bible to establish its moral code. Sadly the same thing can not be said for the world of Islam. There are countries today governed by strict Islamic law. We are all too familiar with the horror stories that result. The barbaric treatment of women and non-Muslims is a direct result of treating the Koran as a source of the law. If any country were to use the Bible as a source of its moral code the results would be frighteningly similar. The Old Testament God of Bible bears a striking resemblance to the God of the Koran.
The Anglo European moral code that most of us adhere to is purely secular. Its origins are not the result of a belief in any God. It stems from the evolution of societal groups. Those things that we deem as moral and good are those things that make it possible for us to live in a cooperative society. It is not God that drives us; it is the survival of our species that is at the heart of our morality. Our moral code is not divine, it is Darwinian. Atheism is not at odds with morality. It lies very close to the source of morality.
1 person likes this
5 responses
@luzamper (1357)
• Philippines
20 Oct 07
God created man and after creation, God saw everything very good and therefore man was created very good. But from youth they contrive many devices and stay away from God that they become evil. God is always good. All the things that man consider good are in the Holy Bible and likewise those bad. We must remember also that God breathe His spirit into the image that He molded and so the spirit of God is in every man, but not the Holy Spirit.
@urbandekay (18278)
•
20 Oct 07
That is not what she said nor is it implied by what she said
all the best urban
@woodlin (158)
• United States
19 Oct 07
There is no morality is religion. There are no true values in religion. As you stated all books claim to be loving yet also state you must enforce action upon those who do not follow.
I do not follow and I have VERY high morals and values. Because I gave these morals and values to myself and was not pressured into them I actually act upon them. Many claim to act yet also will kill in the name of.
In short you do not have to have god in your life to be moral. Saying you do is just like saying you have to tell the 100% truth to be a politician.
@urbandekay (18278)
•
20 Oct 07
The immoral may use religion as an excuse to pursue war but without religion they would use some other excuse to pursue war and believe me it would be far more bloody.
all the best urban
@Sirknight71 (19)
• United States
20 Oct 07
100% agree with the above.
Morals and GOD do not go together. Just look back in history and view the amount of people killed in the name of GOD.
It's all hogwash!! :)
@redyellowblackdog (10629)
• United States
17 Oct 07
I certainly agree with your position in this thread. The source of morality is mankind and its attempts to live in an organized civil society.God is not required for mankind to behave in a humane manner.
The thing I'd like to add is a hypothesis of how it was that God came into it.
I suspect that a very long time ago there were some leaders who recognized the need for ethics and morality. As these leaders attempted to convince their contempories of the wisdom of this, they discovered that a significant portion of humanity lacked the intelligence to understand. What to do?
I really believe these early leaders created the concept of God, heaven, and hell merely as a way to cause people too stupid to understand, the necessity of having morals and ethics. Even today, there are many who just do not get it that morals and ehtics benefit everyone and that those who ignore these principles should be shunned.
To put it in simpler terms. The concepts of morals, ethics, heaven, hell, and God(s) are exactly the same as telling a small child he must go to bed after dark or the "boogey man" will get him. As it is true the child needs his sleep, the lie serves a good purpose. The parent is lying to the child,"In his own best interests.". There really is no "boogey man". The child just is incapable of understanding the neurology, chemistry, psychology, and physical requirements of the brain and body for sleep. So, the parent makes something up.
The early human leaders who created morals, ethics, heaven, hell, and God(s) were just like the parents who create "boogey men".
@redyellowblackdog (10629)
• United States
19 Oct 07
In early pre-history when this occurred, I'd done the exact same thing.
The point is, it is not necessary now. We can advance our civilization even further by facing and dealing with truth and reality.
@urbandekay (18278)
•
19 Oct 07
"The Anglo European moral code that most of us adhere to is purely secular." That's a strong claim which you would need to argue for, most of it has it's roots in religion but more importantly the moral code rests on the concepts of good and evil and these originate in religion. Those atheists that practice morality are just sniffing around the bones of a God they killed, to misquote Nietzsche and this makes them inauthentic and bogus.
all the best urban
@urbandekay (18278)
•
20 Oct 07
No that doesn't follow at all, burning witches is but a minor, and possibly deviant part of Christianity. What is your basis for assuming a social contract?
A contract by definition is one all parties enter into willingly; I never had the opportunity to negotiate my interaction with society and never made such agreement. This terminology come not from Ethics but from the philosophy of politics, you would need to produce an argument to show how it relates to Ethics. Far from having nothing to do with God it borrows heavily form religion.
So, you think that atheistic morality is not concerned with good, in which case, in what way can it be said to be Ethical?
all the best urban
@spiderlizard22 (3444)
• United States
17 Oct 07
You don't need to believe in a deity to have morals. I say morals are in means of surival. I say without morals the chances of survial decreases dramatically.
