Can Atheists be ethical?

Question

The answer to this question is a definite, "Yes." Atheists are people who, whether they like it or not, have the law of God written on their hearts (Rom. 2:15). On the other hand Atheists' morals are not absolute. They do not have a set of moral laws from an absolute God by which right and wrong are judged. But, they do live in societies that have legal systems with a codified set of laws. This would be the closest thing to moral absolutes for atheists. However, since the legal system changes the morals in a society can still change and their morals along with it. At best, these codified morals are "temporary absolutes." In one century abortion is wrong. In another, it is right. So, if we ask if it is or isn't it right, the atheist can only tell us his opinion.

So ..Thoughts ? Opinions ? Responses ? Please be nice

Answer 1

ATHeists who arrive at their conclusion after rigorous thought are usually the most ethical people. The ultimate ethical people.

because one has to understand the entire spectrum of reality

Answer 2

>>On the other hand Atheists' morals are not absolute.

Ever hear of Ayn Rand and Objectivism?  Nope, didn't think so.

>>However, since the legal system changes the morals in a

>>society can still change and their morals along with it.

Is Christianity's idea of "morality" the same as it was in medieval Europe?  17th century Salem Massachusetts?  No.  So much for the idea that your ethics code is "absolute".

Answer 3

yes they can be...but they are more influenced by society as to what morals are than other people...

Answer 4

I'd like to think we are some of the most ethical people in society.

With all do respect, Christians in general comprise the majority of prison population percentages.  No offense meant.

Women, back in the day, were getting abortions in conditions that at best would be called septic.  Point being, they were getting abortions anyway.  Some paid with their lives and others made sterile because of a terrible mishap during procedure.

Granted, the topic can inflame passions, but it appears that it is a social "ugliness" that many do not want to look at.

Abortion has been around for quite a while, and homosexuality is a component of nature.  Ugly as some may seem to think these topics are, the fact is they are a part of our society.

Answer 5

God worshippers morals are not absolute.  

It is unlikely that I will live to the next century so I don't have to worry about my morals changing.

Religious people are the ones that are hateful, as an atheist I don't have to hate g**s/lesbians, women who have had abortions, the doctors that perform them, people who eat shellfish, and everybody who is not of my faith.  I can like everyone if I want to.

Morals don't come from a book.  They come from your parents, your society, your education, your life experiences.

Atheists don't blame everything on God, atheists don't sit around waiting to be 'shown the way', they find their OWN way.  Atheists don't have to worship something that may or may not exist in fear of going to another place that may or may not exist(h**l).

I choose to be moral.  I know many, many Christians who have chosen not to be moral, yet they get respect ONLY because they believe in God.  They wear crosses on their sleeves so all can see that THEY are good Christians.

Don't question our morals, until you have questioned your own.

Answer 6

no person's morals are absolute.  if given the choice of an atheist or a Christian in a moral dilemma, i would take the atheist every time.

Answer 7

Oh, I don't know. Can Atheists be human? Yes? Well then, there's the answer to your question.

Answer 8

My guess is that most atheists are just a tad more ethical than the Christions who tortured thousands of people to death during 600 years of Inquisitions. What do you think?

Answer 9

Ditto for the law written in your Bible or my Pali Canon or any other Holy Book.  The problem is when you codify them to the point that you believe they are right at all times, places, and circumstances for all people.  

Is God's law written on people's heart?  Okay.  Let's grant that for discussion.  Are you not living in conflict with that law by not stoning homosexuals, adulteresses, and disobedient sons?  Why do people work on the Sabbath?  These are questions that your post raises, and they demand serious thought and answer.  

If you say that those are laws of the Old Covenant, and they are no longer applicable because of Christ's sacrifice, then I am left wondering what law is supposedly written on the hearts of atheists?  Either you are in violation, or the law doesn't apply.  You don't get to hold us to a moral standard and then exempt yourself by claiming grace: "For all have sinned," the text says.

My thought is this: you are trying to say that atheists are bound by the same revelatory proclamations that Christians are in order to justify that they have ethics.  It's not enough that atheists have ethics because they learned from their parents, peers, and teachers, or that they know how to weigh the consequences of their actions.  There has to be some sort of ingrained, instinctual set of rules that has no basis or substantiation from behavioral science.

I'm left with this question: why can't you just accept that some people do the right thing without the fear of h**l hanging over them?

Answer 10

I think that many atheist are ethical but, because they do not believe the teachings of the bible, their ethics are not necessarily the same as those of a Christian.

So much has changed in recent years regarding what 'man' says is right or wrong.  Atheists would be ethical by following the laws of the land in which they live. Christians believe that we should follow mans laws 'providing they do not contradict God's laws' therefore a Christian will say that something is wrong when an atheist will say that it is right, both being absolutely convinced that they are correct in saying that.

Answer 11

Well that's... interesting.  You can't insist that atheists are all immoral scum, so you decide that morality is implanted by God at conception.  Or maybe when the heart develops.

I'm still trying to figure out why Christians don't stone disobedient children to death like they're supposed to.  It can't be because of codified morals, can it?  I mean, God's law supersedes man's law, right?  

Was the law wrong to imprison Andrea Yates?  After all, God told her to kill her children.  What business did secular law have telling her she was wrong?

There was a case in Plymouth Colony of a teenage boy caught engaging in bestiality.  He was sentenced to death, of course, because the colonists believed in Blblical law.  The official who was to carry out the sentence had to get royally drunk in order to do it.  His conscience was telling him that it was wrong to kill a frightened kid for bad judgment.  Where do you think his conscience came from?  Certainly not God, who, according to the court, demanded that the child be executed.  Did God set forth conflicting laws, one set for his book and another installed in humans?

Answer 12

Morals are defined by society. What is moral and proper in one is immoral or taboo in another. I don't know why you feel you must have absolute morals.

Regarding when human life begins (which is the heart of the abortion question), the concept of human life beginning at conception is fairly new. Before modern science began to study pregnancy and gestation a woman wasn't even considered pregnant until she announced she was. This announcement was typically done at the point of "quickening" when the 1st kick was felt. Before that time she was free to use all kinds of herbal potions and abortifacients. This was done regularly and no one ever considered it immoral.

Answer 13

"have the law of God written on their hearts"

What a load of ...

"They do not have a set of moral laws from an absolute God by which right and wrong are judged."

According to your Decalogue there is NOTHING written against Slavery, Rape or Child Molestation.

Therefore according your simple premise it's cool to do Slavery, Rape and Child Molestation.

Isn't it weird that as a 4th generation atheist I am against Slavery, Rape and Child Molestation.

"moral absolutes"

Moral standards, like Truth and Beauty, are in the eyes of the beholder.

~

Answer 14

yes

Answer 15

I see it as you do.  This is also why some of us feel it is incumbent to fight for pro-family legislation.

I am also concerned about this adherence to science as the ultimate authority.  Without ethical road-blocks, science is capable of doing things that should not be done.

Answer 16

Sorry, but I personally see atheists as more ethical and moral than MOST religious followers.

There are exceptions, of course.  

Answer 17

Ethics as in supernatural or ethics as in respect for mankind without boundaries or restrictions?  Everything evolves - it is a fact.  The problem starts when the faithful try to ignore it. [ Rom 2:15?  The word 'atheist' was not coined until around 1900 AD.]

Romans 2:15 'Which shew the work of the law written in their

hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the

mean while accusing or else excusing one another;' KJV

Answer 18

Of course we can be moral, and we typically are.  I must say, however, that I find it highly amusing when some people claim their "objective morality" is so superior when it's based on the morals of ancient nomads who raped, pillaged and committed infanticide and genocide at the whim of their "god".  How can you begin to apply the notions of morality for their day and time to the situations and people of today?  Furthermore followers don't  take into account the vast amount we've come to know about the world and ourselves in the meantime, which is why application of such "objective moralities" tends to result in bigotry, inequality, dissent, violence and the like.

Answer 19

yes. no magical explanation needed(didn't come from god).

Answer 20

I agree.

Morals change. They're self-constructs that are supported by the beliefs of a society. They change and vary.

Much the same way the laws of Christianity and what is right and wrong have changed through time. Sacrificing animals, stoning people, etc., no good anymore. (Or at least I hope).

Change is good.

Answer 21

Can religious folks be logical?

Answer 22

Wasn't the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil the thing that gave all people the ability to know Good from Evil? Kind of kicked your own theology in the head there.

I don't necessarily think the law is morally correct. If I were completely convinced a law was wrong, I would disobey it. And then go to jail because I accept society as a set of rules I agree to live by, but still.