Who is atheist and also a very moral person?

Question

My mother wants me more than anything to become a follower of Jesus and her big complaint was that if I didn't become a religious person, that I would be an immoral son and my whole moral views on life would be extremely skewed and wrong.

So she told me to give her an example of an atheist person who is morally sound.

I can think of a few good ones but I'd like to add to the list.

Share your thoughts

Answer 1

A person tends to become moral at the age when he/she develops empathy and realizes that all living things have the same basic desire in life. To be left unharmed.

If your "morality" is imposed on you by threats of eternal punishment, you cannot be trusted since you might change your mind at any time.

Morality is how you behave when no one, not even some God, is looking.

Answer 2

Uhm, I'm super atheist yet every person I meet loves me and I love life and everything about it. I don't know where people got this ****** up idea that atheists are immoral. Basically every mom loves me too. I love living by morals, because then people view you as a good example and your life is better for it. Viva la vida.

Answer 3

I am in a similar situation, where every single one of my friends that i grew up with are religious (including my family). I studied Ayn Rand's philosophy of Objectivism. Ayn Rand is an Atheist and puts forth a full system of ethics. I can talk morals with any religious person now, and explain my thoughts on every subject. When i describe my position on a subject, and why i think that way, they may think it is different, but in most cases they find me a moral person.

My suggestion would be to study a moral system for yourself. Justify your actions, study philosophy. I would suggest Ayn Rand, but i would think there are other atheist philosophies to choose from, if you already have base beliefs. It will help you out in the future, and you may be able to talk morals with your mom, although losing faith in a family is a very hard thing to do. But you could talk about your similar moral beliefs, and you can justify it in a different way, while still agreeing. For example: Thou shall not kill.

I grew up in a catholic family, and by studying philosophy and trying to avoid talking about faith to my elders' I am a happy atheist.

Answer 4

This is a very swallow thinking. Being athiest has nothing to do with moral. I believe a very large population of criminal in jail has religion, does that mean anything? nope. the same applies elsewhere

Answer 5

What does "moral person" mean?

What is a moral person?

If you're going by the morals of christians to define an athiest as a moral person or not you're making a mistake.

I'm not an atheist btw.

Answer 6

Being moral is not derived from being religious.  It is just the opposite.  Religions are derived from attempts to create a moral rubric or set of rules for good behavior.

Along the way enticements, like heaven and h**l, were added to spice up the reasons to follow particular bizarre religious beliefs.

It might not be possible to satisfy your mother because it seems that by her definition if a person is not religious they are not moral.

But you can tell her that morals are based on fairness.  And that a sense of fairness can be demonstrated in infants as young as five months old.  Clearly they are not religious yet as they have not been indoctrinated into any religion.  Makes no difference if the infant is being raised in an atheist, Islam, Christian, Buddhist, or Jewish home.

You need to be compassionate with your mother but also firm that she has done a good job of raising you and that you will not disappoint her by being immoral.  She just should not expect you to express exactly the same catechism or cant that she is used to.

Answer 7

There are good and bad people. The good decide who's who.

Answer 8

Morality refers to universal law which we all ought to obey.  That implies a universal law giver and that can only  be our Creator.  The word "moral" loses all meaning if we reject the idea of our Creator.  Without God, we just do what we feel like doing and whatever that is, we call moral.  

In other words, without God, the driving principle behind the murderer and the "really nice person" is the same, i.e. they did what they felt like doing.  There is  no idea of being responsible to a higher authority.

Answer 9

I don't like the whole concept of morals. But that's just me.

And I do partially agree with happy hiram, it's tough to be a happy atheist. It must be so much easier being a Christian. Though one thing that is true about Atheists, they don't go to jail as much. In fact, it seems that in some cases, people who believe in God seem to sin more.

I really just wish people had more open minds, such as yourself perhaps.

Answer 10

Einstein, Twain, Hitchens, Rand. Google this and I am sure you can find more.

Some moral questions to ask back to Mom:

Is the morality good because God says it is or is it good because it is good? (Thank Plato for this one)

All the jews who were killed by n***s didn't have a relationship with Christ --did they go to h**l?

If a moral Atheist is murdered by someone who latter commits their life to Christ is the murderer forgiven by God before the Atheist?

All scientific evidence points to the truth of evolution and the Big Bang --is it moral to deny the truth of reason? And if it is moral why is lying immoral?

Here's a view of morality I wrote to another question about God and morality:

To think of evil as only the absence of God is to commit a horrible injustice on all those who have been moral that don't believe in a God. Evil is not a metaphysical thing but an action. It is the action of using force and/or fraud to attain the actions one wishes. To compel another against their will to do something that is evil. To fool another for the purposes of gain is also evil. Force and fraud are tied together as the twins of evil because they both reject the search for the truth or demand that one understanding of world be accepted as the truth. Both deny the right of another person to use their mind. Morality ends were the gun begins, were force of some overrule the thinking of some or one.

Answer 11

I believe your mother has a point.

Don't get me wrong - I know some extremely intelligent, nice, loving, wonderful atheists - who would never dream of breaking the law or doing wrong to someone.

However, I haven't met one yet who is against all things Christ was - such as homosexuality or abortion rights.

Atheists may be "moral" to an extent but they can never comprehend what is TRULY right and wrong on much deeper levels. That kind of understanding comes from God.  

Following Christ isn't a religion - it's a relationship since He is real and very much alive in spirit.

Answer 12

Atheists never fly airplanes into buildings, and are not responsible for any of the 100 million people who have been killed in the name of God.

Answer 13

What makes one moral? Not doing evil for fear of supernatural reprisal, fear of not going to heaven? Is it moral to treat others as you would wish to be treated only to avoid punishment? To do the right thing because it will benefit you?

To me one who is truly moral treats others as they wish to be treated as an act of faith in humanity and as a personal act morality without the need for any reward.  

Answer 14

Proud Atheist here.

I love my neighbour.

I do not steal or cheat.

I treat all people equally.

I have found love without any religion,

It does exist if you look deep enough.

We are all humans.

Answer 15

Bertrand Russel was perhaps one of the world's most famous athiests (his book "Why I Am Not A Christian" is a must-read). There is no doubt that he was a very moral and "good" person.

Answer 16

How about Albert Einstein. Great man with a great mind, great atheist. I would add myself but I'm not a true atheist. I believe in God but not the bible so I am not a Christian.

Good for you for thinking for your self. Morality is relative to the part of the country or world that you live in.

Answer 17

Christopher Hitchens is a writer and atheist of some renown. Head on over to YouTube and type in his name to check out some of his speaking engagements and interviews. His book "God is NOT Great" is an excellent resource for someone like yourself who is searching for ways to argue effectively.

Answer 18

  well it's good that you want to be a moral person,which means respect all people and creatures,that is so nice,so what about showing some respect to God who created us,there are so many proofs to prove that God exists,BUT forget it all,there is a sound inside you telling you about him,just listen to that voice,and yeah I agree with you that what so called christianity won't fullfill you,sepecially with the god who was born then died,so why do not you try judaism and Islam?

I know that I did not answer your question quz no athiest was moral since they did not respect thier creator.    

Answer 19

Perhaps the examples of priests who have been convicted of immoral acts is an example that religion does not guarantee morality.

Do not think that I am of the opinion that Catholics are the only ones with religious leaders who have had moral failures.  All groups of people have members who fail to conduct them selves in a moral manner.  I only mention the leaders because they are trusted individuals and their transgressions are least expected and so most news worthy.

Answer 20

Mark Twain comes to mind. But most atheist I know are angry, unsettled and are moral relativists (meaning they have no morals, but justify this as a philosophy.)

I honestly thought you had asked if we knew any moral Satanists, and yes every Satanist I have met cared more about their fellow man than most Christians I know. But that wasn't your question.

I personally think that atheism is a tough position to hang in and not become bitter and vindictive. But to each his own.

Answer 21

Abraham Lincoln

"The Bible is not my book nor Christianity my profession. I could never give assent to the long, complicated statements of Christian dogma."

- Abraham Lincoln, American president (1809-1865).

Albert Einstein

"I do not believe in a personal God and I have never denied this but have expressed it clearly. If something is in me which can be called religion than it is the unbounded admiration for the structure of the world so far as our science can reveal it."

"I cannot imagine a God who rewards and punishes the objects of his creation, whose purposes are modeled after our own -- a God, in short, who is but a reflection of human frailty. Neither can I believe that the individual survives the death of his body, although feeble souls harbor such thoughts through fear or ridiculous egotism."

"I do not believe in the immortality of the individual, and I consider ethics to be an exclusively human concern with no superhuman authority behind it."

"If people are good only because they fear punishment, and hope for a reward, then we are a sorry lot indeed."

-Albert Einstein, German-born American physicist

Andrew Carnegie

"I don’t believe in God. My god is patriotism. Teach a man to be a good citizen and you have solved the problem of life."

- Andrew Carnegie, Scottish-born American industrialist and philanthropist

Aldous Huxley

"You never see animals going through the absurd and often horrible fooleries of magic and religion. Only man behaves with such gratuitous folly. It is the price he has to pay for being intelligent but not, as yet, intelligent enough."

-Aldous Huxley, author "Roots"

Ernest Hemingway

"All thinking men are atheists."

On page 144 of Paul Johnson's book Intellectuals, it states that despite being raised in a strict Congregationalist household, Ernest "did not only not believe in God but regarded organized religion as a menace to human happiness", "seems to have been devoid of the religious spirit", and "ceased to practise religion at the earliest possible moment."

Other's have pointed out that Hemingway used the non-existence of God as a theme in his books.

- Ernest Hemingway, American author (1899-1961).

Arthur C. Clarke

"It may be that our role on this planet is not to worship God, but to create him."

"Religion is a byproduct of fear. For much of human history, it may have been a necessary evil, but why was it more evil than necessary? Isn't killing people in the name of God a pretty good definition of insanity?"

Arthur C. Clarke, author

Benjamin Franklin

"I have found Christian dogma unintelligible. Early in life, I absenteed myself from Christian assemblies."

"Lighthouses are more helpful then churches."

-Benjamin Franklin, American Founding Father, author, and inventor

Gene Roddenberry

"I condemn false prophets, I condemn the effort to take away the power of rational decision, to drain people of their free will--and a h**l of a lot of money in the bargain. Religions vary in their degree of idiocy, but I reject them all. For most people, religion is nothing more than a substitute for a malfunctioning brain."

"We must question the story logic of having an all-knowing all-powerful God, who creates faulty Humans, and then blames them for his own mistakes."

-Gene Roddenberry, Creator of Star Trek (1921-1991).

James Madison, American president and political theorist (1751-1836).

"During almost fifteen centuries has the legal establishment of Christianity been on trial. What has been its fruits? More or less, in all places, pride and indolence in the clergy; ignorance and servility in the laity; in both, Famous Atheist & Quotessuperstition, bigotry, and persecution."

"In no instance have . . . the churches been guardians of the liberties of the people."

"Religious bondage shackles and debilitates the mind and unfits it for every noble enterprise."

"What influence in fact have Christian ecclesiastical establishments had on civil society? In many instances they have been upholding the thrones of political tyranny. In no instance have they been seen as the guardians of the liberties of the people. Rulers who wished to subvert the public liberty have found in the clergy convenient auxiliaries. A just government, instituted to secure and perpetuate liberty, does not need the clergy."

During almost fifteen centuries has the legal establishment of Christianity been on trial. What has been its fruits? More or less, in all places, pride and indolence in the clergy; ignorance and servility in the laity; in both, superstition, bigotry, and persecution."

-John Adams, U.S. President, Founding Father of the United States

"Where do we find a precept in the Bible for Creeds, Confessions, Doctrines and Oaths, and whole carloads of other trumpery that we find religion encumbered with in these days?"

"The divinity of Jesus is made a convenient cover for absurdity."

"This would be the best of all possible worlds, if there were no religion in it.

Answer 22

I find it hard to believe that just because you are an atheist that automatically makes you a bad person.  As long as you know right from wrong and practice that -- treat all those around you with respect (whether they deserve it or not) -- that is what counts.  

If you are determined to remain an atheist, maybe you can convince your mother that there are morally sound atheist people out there -- and you are one of them.

Believing or not believing is your decision.  There are many things that will happen in your life that could confirm or deny your current belief system.  

Good luck!