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Many are yes. I was just asking for clarification on how because of this why would we have morals. Doesn't the idea of set morals come from religion?
No.
"Doesn't the idea of set morals come from religion?"
No, not at all. Human morality is determined by human reasoning, it reflects every aspect of our cultures, history, intellectual capacity and circumstances. Religions just make the same subjective claims for morality the non religious do, but without the rational thought process that justifies those morals.
That's why ostensibly decent people can justify moralitythat includes bigotry , prejudice and even hatred and violence, because they've been indoctrinated to believe this is how they should think. It's not unique to religions of course, all manner of ideologies use the same principle to convince decent people to behave cruelly or indifderently towards the suffering of others.
As an atheist I'm free to form a morality that isn't dictated to me and doesn't negate my desire to empathise with the suffering of other humans, and of course other conscious animals.
Reducing suffering as much as possible, and promoting well being re the basis of my morality. This would be negated by religions that teach their adherents to discriminate against and persecute others, because for instance they happened to be gay, or didn't share those beliefs.
@googs
"Could you please explain this further as to why you could not believe in the gods of major religions?"
Atheists lack a belief in a god, for most because of a lack of belief. We don't see any evidence any god exists.
Why should I believe in a creature that has as much proof in existing than Bugs Bunny?
Different religions have endorsed and practiced horrible things, such as slavery and human sacrifice. The religious authorities in each society did not oppose such practices, they actually encouraged and embraced them. One chilling example is that in 1933 the Vatican and emerging Nazi Germany signed the "Reichskonkordat", giving moral legitimacy to the Nazi regime.
How can I, someone who considers himself a caring and moral person, ever accept such practices and the organizations that "follow religion"? And this is not about the past, religions are still accepting and doing horrible things.
The Roman Catholic church opposed condoms in Africa during the terrible AIDS epidemic.
As a monotheist, I believe morals stem from belief in God
Is this the mass murdering genocidal Abrahamic deity, that endorses slavery and rapine, and makes bigoted condemnations of gay people? My morals can't encompass such pernicious behaviours or ideas. Luckily no one can deonstrate any objective evidence for such a deity.
Are your morals objective or subjective?
So if you had no belief in god, you'd have no reason to be moral?
edit: missed word
Quantu, you wrote, “As a monotheist, I believe morals stem from belief in God”
I have no gods, from where do I get my morals then? Or are you saying I have none?
@quantummechanist
"As a monotheist, I believe morals stem from belief in God".
OK, you have a belief. Beliefs are not a moral compass. Do you use the rules in your holy book as a guideline in applying moral decisions? And if so, do you follow every rule literally (fundamentalism), or do you pick and choose?
Then as a monotheist, you have no morals. You are merely following a set of dictates by an imaginary daddy figure that requires absolute submission, "Allah" and his mommy figure "The Mullah," whose only message to you is "follow the rules or just wait till daddy gets home. " There is no genuine moral behavior in any of this. As long as your moral behavior is done under a threat of hell or a reward of heaven, it is just following a dictate and not moral at all. A dog can follow orders and submit to the will of a master. Only a free man can be moral.
My morals come from treating people how I want to be treated.
@ My morals come from treating people how I want to be treated.
Ahhhh.... Made in the image of God I see! :)
If a person is a good investor (e.g. Warren Buffett), do they do more good by giving away most of their money now, or many years in the future at the time of their death when they have gained an even greater amount of wealth relative to the average person?
All things being equal, they would do more good giving away their wealth at the time of their death than now. But it could be the case that spending the money on worthwhile causes now will have a disproportionately greater effect than the benefit from postponing in order to get a greater sum of money.
@OP
Atheists are just like the rest of humanity, and like the rest of humanity (and all living creatures) they get their morals from their creator. Whether they choose to worship/accept that creator that is a completely different topic. Just like there are good and bad theists there are also good and bad atheists, being morally good or evil (almost) has nothing to do with belief, whether you believe in atheism (yes, it’s a belief system as well. Even described as such on this very website) or not, that does not make you moral or immoral.
That's true, our creators are our parents and most of us learn from our family elders.
Its far more logical then believing that you gain your morals from an invisible cosmic wizard.
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@ SfT
I will quote the one correct passage in your post "Just like there are good and bad theists there are also good and bad atheists, being morally good or evil (almost) has nothing to do with belief
The rest is utter drivel.
That's disingenuous considering you believe in a god that tortures people for not believing in it.
Re: SFT - "Atheists are just like the rest of humanity, and like the rest of humanity (and all living creatures) they get their morals from their creator."
Personally, I got my morals from my parents and family and the community in which I was raised. I dare say, however, that if I had followed the "morals" of your darling Allah/Mohammed or the "morals" of the god in the bible I would have been locked away in prison decades ago. Just sayin'....
@ I would have been locked away in prison decades ago. Just sayin'....
Or surgically altered and turned into a man of tin so you could do no harm.
@Cog Re: "Or surgically altered and turned into a man of tin so you could do no harm."
LMAO... Nice. However, I can actually do plenty of harm if necessary. I just happen to be very selective about where I cause it.... *chuckle*
@SFT
What evidence do you have that anyone other than your parents created you?
You see it's a philosophical question to say what is evil and what is good. If you worship a being (that has no proof of being real) and you hold his teaching, despite that you are placing him over reality. You can do some really fucked up shit. For example the muslim religion. They morality is women can be striken. Now ask yourself, are we learning morality from our parents our just behavior? The truth is no one really is completely taught morality, we can attempt to educate someone, but ultimately we make actions and thus become them.Our thoughts, what we say , what we choose to believe will decide if our actions will be evil or good.
And some people get their morals from home schooling where they are force fed information in a restrictive environment and convinced that that environment is real. This just confirms the social nature of morality.
As an atheist, I believe in and do my best to follow the principles associated with humanism of which empathy and ethics are core values. I also feel that Mutual Aid as historically researched and expanded upon by Peter Kropotkin, an anarcho-communist of a century ago, is directly associated with empathy as a way of living.
I have only one question that decides my morality:
Will this action, or its inaction, cause harm to another living thing?
Notice I do not say human. I include ALL living things.
rfmr
Why? People sacrifice animals in order not to starve or have something to eat. It's nature to at some point hurt a animal in order to survive.
Agreed. In certain cases.
Basically, by loving others, I benefit greatly from this. By being a loner and a recluse who his hateful to others, I do not benefit from this. Is there a time and a place to be hateful? I think so, but I think it's rare and in only serious cases. Most of the time, it is better to love those around you. Also, do what betters society. Cheating on your wife isn't going to cause you to go to hell, but you may go through hell on earth so to speak. I don't think you should, because imagine someone doing that to you. We don't know why exactly we all feel this way - to live morally. And while we find the common laws of human nature in most religions (except they mix in a bunch of garbage that goes against the laws of human nature), this is not proof that these religions are true, it only proves that they too recognized these common laws of nature and included them in their holy books.
How to choose morality -
Eeny, meena, mina, mo,
Catch a tiger by the toe;
If he hollers let him go,
Eena, meena, mina, mo
My God told me to choose the very best one/
and you are not it.
---------------
Repeat until only one objective moral is left.
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