Why Are Atheists Moral?
An interesting little essay you have there.
Anyway, It seems common amongst Atheists to assume that the "The Moral Argument" for the existence of God states that one is moral because they are believers in God, therefore if one does not believe in God one is amoral.
Of course, this is not the argument, indeed its a pitiful distortion, but none the less effective.
The Moral Argument states that as most people seem to have a basic understanding of right and wrong- and that understanding tends to be the same in most cultures- obviously with some exceptions- there must be a common source for morality.
Immanuel Kant argued that in this world the wicked prosper and good people suffer. So he said, why then do people strive to be good? He said people only do things for rewards, thus people act according to this perception of good for a reward- a reward in the afterlife.
Now, Hastings Randall said that all people are born "programed" with a moral code and understanding of right and wrong, he supposed that it must have been God who imprinted this moral code. He also believed that our very knowledge of a universal moral code existing was again evidence of God.
His Eminence Cardinal John Newman believed that our conscience was "the voice of God within us", he argued that God programed man with the moral values and that fear and guilt suggests there is someone to whom we are responsible, that person must be God.
Now, whether you agree or disagree with the moral argument is up to you...I personally don't really like it that much...however the argument does not state you must believe in God to be moral infact if that were the case, the argument would be weakened by the fact that it seemed moral values were not imprinted on you after all and that you choose them via your religion.
In fact, if anything a moral atheist lends credence to the argument because it proves that moral values are universal and not exclusive to religious people- thus we are all getting them from somewhere.
Originally posted by Grand_Moff_GavI think it is less atheist assuming that, but Religious people telling them that they can't be moral if they don't believe in God (or if there was no God, if they want to be less aggressive).
An interesting little essay you have there.Anyway, It seems common amongst Atheists to assume that the "The Moral Argument" for the existence of God states that one is moral because they are believers in God, therefore if one does not believe in God one is amoral.
Of course, this is not the argument, indeed its a pitiful distortion, but none the less effective.
The Moral Argument states that as most people seem to have a basic understanding of right and wrong- and that understanding tends to be the same in most cultures- obviously with some exceptions- there must be a common source for morality.
Immanuel Kant argued that in this world the wicked prosper and good people suffer. So he said, why then do people strive to be good? He said people only do things for rewards, thus people act according to this perception of good for a reward- a reward in the afterlife.
Now, Hastings Randall said that all people are born "programed" with a moral code and understanding of right and wrong, he supposed that it must have been God who imprinted this moral code. He also believed that our very knowledge of a universal moral code existing was again evidence of God.
His Eminence Cardinal John Newman believed that our conscience was "the voice of God within us", he argued that God programed man with the moral values and that fear and guilt suggests there is someone to whom we are responsible, that person must be God.
Now, whether you agree or disagree with the moral argument is up to you...I personally don't really like it that much...however the argument [b]does not state you must believe in God to be moral
infact if that were the case, the argument would be weakened by the fact that it seemed moral values were not imprinted on you after all and that you choose them via your religion.In fact, if anything a moral atheist lends credence to the argument because it proves that moral values are universal and not exclusive to religious people- thus we are all getting them from somewhere. [/B]
Originally posted by Bardock42
I think it is less atheist assuming that, but Religious people telling them that they can't be moral if they don't believe in God (or if there was no God, if they want to be less aggressive).
Lets not take what religious people say at face value, I would expect any atheist who wished to challenge the argument to actually find out what it was.
Re: Why Are Atheists Moral?
Originally posted by Grand_Moff_Gav
An interesting little essay you have there.Anyway, It seems common amongst Atheists to assume that the "The Moral Argument" for the existence of God states that one is moral because they are believers in God, therefore if one does not believe in God one is amoral.
Of course, this is not the argument, indeed its a pitiful distortion, but none the less effective.
The Moral Argument states that as most people seem to have a basic understanding of right and wrong- and that understanding tends to be the same in most cultures- obviously with some exceptions- there must be a common source for morality.
Immanuel Kant argued that in this world the wicked prosper and good people suffer. So he said, why then do people strive to be good? He said people only do things for rewards, thus people act according to this perception of good for a reward- a reward in the afterlife.
Now, Hastings Randall said that all people are born "programed" with a moral code and understanding of right and wrong, he supposed that it must have been God who imprinted this moral code. He also believed that our very knowledge of a universal moral code existing was again evidence of God.
His Eminence Cardinal John Newman believed that our conscience was "the voice of God within us", he argued that God programed man with the moral values and that fear and guilt suggests there is someone to whom we are responsible, that person must be God.
Now, whether you agree or disagree with the moral argument is up to you...I personally don't really like it that much...however the argument [b]does not state you must believe in God to be moral
infact if that were the case, the argument would be weakened by the fact that it seemed moral values were not imprinted on you after all and that you choose them via your religion.In fact, if anything a moral atheist lends credence to the argument because it proves that moral values are universal and not exclusive to religious people- thus we are all getting them from somewhere. [/B]
However, the Moral Argument makes a leap of faith that cannot be proved one way or the other. I agree, we are programed to know morals, however, to say it is a god that programed this ignores a simpler possibility. We maybe programed by evolution to have morals because morals help us survive and cooperate. These groups that did not have this programming may have died out because their social order did not give them any advantage, and may have been a disadvantage.
Re: Re: Why Are Atheists Moral?
Originally posted by Shakyamunison
However, the Moral Argument makes a leap of faith that cannot be proved one way or the other. I agree, we are programed to know morals, however, to say it is a god that programed this ignores a simpler possibility. We maybe programed by evolution to have morals because morals help us survive and cooperate. These groups that did not have this programming may have died out because their social order did not give them any advantage, and may have been a disadvantage.
I agree