Atheism and Morality
Published by Allison May 21st, 2006 in Spirituality & Religion, CultureI’ve recently had conversations with several people about the nature of morality, and whether believing in God is a requirement for one to lead a moral life. Of the Christians in these conversations, most were unable to fathom how an atheist could *possibly* be moral — because there’s no *reason* for it.
Pharyngula critiqued (okay, shredded) a post that lambasted a commentary about the “virtues of atheism.” Although I believe in God, I find the notion that atheists are amoral to be intellectually lazy. A commenter on PZ’s post summed up my thoughts beautifully. (House of mirrors anyone? Now I comment on someone else’s comment about PZ’s comment about another person’s thoughts about someone else’s…)
The fact is that believers have no more basis for choosing to follow their god’s mandate than non-believers have for their moral convictions. Does the believer follow god’s rules to earn paradise or avoid hell? Then he is merely acting hedonistically, seeking his own interest. Does he do so because his god is powerful? Then the believer is worshipping power. Does the believer obey because he believes god is his creator? Then his morality is simply to follow whatever created him. Anyone who thinks that is the height of moral sense should consider how it plays out when we create artificial intelligence. Or does the believer do what he thinks is right, not because his god orders it, but because he believes it is right? Well, then, he is acting just like an atheist.
The assumption that there is a god does not alter the issue of moral grounding one bit.
Nicely said, and I agree completely. Honestly, I find my faith to be stronger when it’s not coming from a place of “I’d better behave or my (heavenly) Father will spank me when He gets home.” The fear of punishment attitude makes Faith feel like a requirement, not like something I choose.
Your thoughts?
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Alli: For this response, I will leave aside the question of whether atheists have a “reasonable” foundation for a moral consensus. I also don’t believe they have one, but I also believe many atheists are moral. However, their morals are simply personal choice and cannot be reasonably passed on to society in general.
The question is, “How does a theist posit a moral position, and why?” Your commentator posts some reasons why Theists would follow God’s laws, but they are hardly the most powerful reasons. That makes their argument a typical “Straw Man” rhetoric. Easy to knock over.
Here are my three reasons for following God’s laws in the way I live my moral life.
1. It is a healthier way to live. I assume that the God who made me understands how my body, soul, and spirit work in tandem with each other. An atheist is a Naturalist, believing only in body functions. Since I believe in tripartite man, everything I do is much more complicated than a biological function. If I am only a sack of chemicals, then having sex is no more meaningful than peeing. They both use the same equipment. But seeing morality as a combination of my body, my soul and my spirit, I know that I need help in understanding what would be healthy for all three.
2. Appeal to a Higher Authority: There can never be a moral consensus without appealing to an authority higher than us. If atheists are correct, then the only two consistent philosophies are Hedonism (every man does what is right in his own eyes, for his own benefits) or Fabian Socialism (all of society changes as the whims of the ruling party change). In either case, those who are weak, disenfranchised or sick will get short shrift. Only when I believe that there is an absolute source of morality can I appeal to others for a consistent law based upon a higher law.
3. The Laws make more sense: It makes sense to have laws that are based upon “Love the Lord your God and Love your neighbor as yourself”. Those don’t sound petty and hedonistic. I get nothing directly out of loving another person with the intensity I protect myself. But I do it because I have a relationship with the One who created everything. Religion without relationship with God is phony. I agree that religion is very much about getting what you want out of the afterlife. Relationship is enjoying God now.
Those are my reasons for following a theistic morality. To me, they are much more appealing than the Straw Man presented above.