Do Atheists have any reason to be moral?

Many religious people say that Atheists have no reason to be moral. Do you think that's true?

Religion has nothing to do with morality. If I was to follow THE BOOK id be stoning women and killing gay people now. Atheists are people and thus they have a moral code.rzepak

kids need to be told how to behave because they haven't developed empathy and social conscious. Religion is a great answer for "why should I?" but then again, so is, "because Santa won't bring you any presents".

Fortunately about the time they work out Santa is fake, they have the brain capacity to know hurting others isn't nice. And a few years after that is the crucial religious questioning, hence all these OT topics.

o_0

obviously.

/puzzled by question.

Obviously not, or athiests would all be in prison for various crimes.ithilgore2006

[QUOTE="ithilgore2006"]Obviously not, or athiests would all be in prison for various crimes.Thinker_reborn

I agree. Atheists have no reason to be moral, and yet, a surprising amount of them have morals. Go figure.Genetic_Code

[QUOTE="Genetic_Code"]I agree. Atheists have no reason to be moral, and yet, a surprising amount of them have morals. Go figure.II_Seraphim_II

No, that's not true at all. I take my morals from common sense. I don't need a book to tell me how I should act.Bourbons3

I'd like to ask them the same thing. Why be moral when all you gotta is pray for forgiveness. dracula_16

[QUOTE="Bourbons3"]No, that's not true at all. I take my morals from common sense. I don't need a book to tell me how I should act.Stumpt25

[QUOTE="Bourbons3"]No, that's not true at all. I take my morals from common sense. I don't need a book to tell me how I should act.Stumpt25

Obviously not, or athiests would all be in prison for various crimes.ithilgore2006

[QUOTE="Stumpt25"][QUOTE="Bourbons3"]No, that's not true at all. I take my morals from common sense. I don't need a book to tell me how I should act.jointed

Many religious people say that Atheists have no reason to be moral. Do you think that's true?

X4D

Hello there. :)

Atheists reason to be moral is that it feels good to do the right thing.

I think if there was a God, he would probably prefer the company of atheists, to those of religious faith, simply due to the atheists inner-driven desire to be good, in contrast to a person of faith, who most likely is only doing what they have been told to do, for the rewards they have been promised upon their physical demise. I think God would rather spend time with people that didn't need to be bribed into a compassionate lifestyle, as that seems to indicate emotional or "spirtual" weakness.

But since there is no God anyway, as everything is one, this doesn't really matter. My take on the subject is, that an atheist's reason to be moral is clearly superior to the reasons of religious people. It's an honorable person, who lives righteously by his own choosing, instead of being coerced with goodies and eternal pain-free parties at the end of the physical cycle.

Now, I'm not suggesting this is going to happen, because it won't, but, wouldn't it be funny if that was the test all along? If we all got to heaven one day and God tells the religious ones that they have failed due to the fact that they were so weak they needed to be bribed into righteousness, and he lets all the atheists in due to their unselfish dedication to living a respectable life, whether or not they were going to be rewarded? Of course this won't happen, but it's an amusing scenario nontheless. It's an ironic image that makes me laugh every time it pops into my mind. :lol:

yup obviously cuz u need to have read the bible to feel sorry, feel compasionate, feel remorse and all human emotions only infests itself into sum1 after readin the bible ............rs0101

[QUOTE="ithilgore2006"]Obviously not, or athiests would all be in prison for various crimes.Thinker_reborn

[QUOTE="dracula_16"]I'd like to ask them the same thing. Why be moral when all you gotta is pray for forgiveness. Stumpt25

[QUOTE="Thinker_reborn"][QUOTE="ithilgore2006"]Obviously not, or athiests would all be in prison for various crimes.ithilgore2006

[QUOTE="ithilgore2006"][QUOTE="Thinker_reborn"]But they obviously fear law.:?Stumpt25

[QUOTE="rs0101"]yup obviously cuz u need to have read the bible to feel sorry, feel compasionate, feel remorse and all human emotions only infests itself into sum1 after readin the bible ............Teenaged

Hello there. :)

You are on the right track. Compassion that comes from an individual's own motivation is genuine. Compassion that comes from indoctrination is about as flimsy as the pages of the book they got their "morals" from.

[QUOTE="Stumpt25"][QUOTE="dracula_16"]I'd like to ask them the same thing. Why be moral when all you gotta is pray for forgiveness. Teenaged

[QUOTE="Bourbons3"]No, that's not true at all. I take my morals from common sense. I don't need a book to tell me how I should act.Stumpt25

Despite what many people believe, religion didn't "invent" morality. What people think is "moral" is a simple biological instinct early man had that would ensure the survival of themselves and others around them. After all, if you killed all your tribesmen just for the heck of it, then who's going to help you hunt that Wooly Mammoth for food? Who are you going to reproduce with? Who's going to help protect you from Sabretooth Cats or other human tribes?

I'm not saying that the entirety of morality was based off the works of cavemen, but that what we see as "right" or "wrong" is based off of our own biological intelligence as to what would benefit you and the others around you more. The use of a caveman example is just a representation of humanity at it's most basic form. When society had evolved towards something greater, so had morality; the ideas of stealing, rape, etc being "wrong" by most societies was taken into consideration and now most people across the world find such actions to be wrong. Not all groups do, however, since morality is subjective.

Also, who cares if somebody has "a reason" to be moral or not? The fact that said people are acting moral (regardless of believing in a religion or not) shows that they have enough intelligence and willpower to overcome such a primitive mindset. I'd respect somebody more if they followed moral guidelines because they felt it was right rather than if they followed moral guidelines because they feared punishment if they didn't.

[QUOTE="Stumpt25"][QUOTE="Bourbons3"]No, that's not true at all. I take my morals from common sense. I don't need a book to tell me how I should act.Mr_sprinkles

[QUOTE="Teenaged"][QUOTE="Stumpt25"] Cause obviously, when you ask for forgiveness you have to actually mean it in your heart. If i don't ACTUALLY feel sorry for doing evil, it's not a real apology is it?Stumpt25