41 Responses to “Is atheism an excuse to invent your own morality?”

1. By anonymous_me on Sep 23, 2007 | Reply

   OoOOoO

   better question…Is religion an excuse to have something to lean on in times of trouble?
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2. By Heathen on Sep 23, 2007 | Reply

   Atheism is nothing more than a lack in a belief in deities. I no more have a lack of this belief than I do in a lack of a belief in Peter Pan. This does not mean I'm looking for an excuse to grow up.
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3. By Paul S on Sep 23, 2007 | Reply

   If it is, it's not nearly as good an excuse as religion is for that.

   In fact no matter how much the believers claim that religion, "God", and/or the Bible give them their moral codes, they do no such thing.

   Believers act on their own conceptions of morality, and then try to justify those decisions by picking out interpretations of various verses from their favorite scriptures, or by claiming that "God" tells them what is right and wrong.

   I see exactly zero evidence that anyone really gets a moral code from religion, "God", or any scripture.
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4. By 'Dr Green' on Sep 23, 2007 | Reply

   You mean like 'Honour Killings'?
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5. By Catholic Crusader on Sep 23, 2007 | Reply

   The idea that there is no God is mathematically impossible. Basic probability tells you that the odds of a blob of primordial ooze morphing into a man, regardless of how much time has passed, are so remote that mathematicians regard it as impossible. Emile Borel and Fred Hoyle are just two mathematicians who reject evolution on statistical grounds. The idea is a "Statistcal Immposibility". For example, it is theoretically possible that you could blow up a junk yard and all the flying pieces would land and form themselves into a Cadillac – that is possible. But the odds against it are so high that it constitutes a "Statistcal Immposibility". Same goes for evolution. That only leaves one possibility: God. There's your proof, mathematically arrived at.
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6. By khard on Sep 23, 2007 | Reply

   No.. nobody creates their own morality. It is caused by societal pressures.
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7. By squirt on Sep 23, 2007 | Reply

   Morality is as morality does. God did not invent morality. In fact, he could take a lesson from morality.
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8. By GI on Sep 23, 2007 | Reply

   It's an opportunity to reason-out your own morality.

   Those who are *given* a moral code don't have to struggle with the logic behind it, and may be less able to deal with situations that aren't spelled-out for them.
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9. By oozɐƃ ʇɐǝɹƃ ǝɥʇ on Sep 23, 2007 | Reply

   Nope. It's a logical conclusion. There is no emotion tied up in it at all.
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10. By Clear on Sep 23, 2007 | Reply

    No. Our morality is posted on a secret website.
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11. By Cassie T on Sep 23, 2007 | Reply

    Nope. I still don't kill, steal, commit adultery, rape, etc, just like it says in the Commandmants. Know why? Because those things are wrong! Simple as that.

    But being an atheist DOES allow me to free myself from the manipulating delusions that religion is filled with.
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12. By larissa on Sep 23, 2007 | Reply

    most atheist I know have good morals that they follow. And the best part is that those rules are in their character, and they don't just follow them cause they are afraide of god's punishment.

    I know believers with very bad morals, preaching other people about jesus….
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13. By gjmb1960 on Sep 23, 2007 | Reply

    why do one need to find exuses to rethink morality ?
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14. By maxi on Sep 23, 2007 | Reply

    Athiests do what they want.

    Christians do what they want.

    Both have no regard for divine law.

    .
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15. By chieko on Sep 23, 2007 | Reply

    atheism is a bitterness at the unfairness and pain of being alive and human. bad things happen, people die, we don't get to see rainbows and angels flying around, so in bitterness, we say God doesn't exist…

    ever hear aesop's fable about the fox and the grapes?…atheism follows that pattern…
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16. By Dreamstuff Entity on Sep 23, 2007 | Reply

    Morality:

    hurting others = bad
    helping others = good

    And I didn't need any gods to tell me that.

    It's the old "all morals come from a god, and specifically my god".

    If you found out tomorrow that no gods have every existed, would you start killing, raping and stealing? Is your belief the only thing preventing you from doing that right now?

    If so, are you really a moral person?

    If theists believe they are rewarded for doing good, it's only atheists who only do good because they are good, not because they believe they will be rewarded.

    And let me point out that your god is not somebody I'd consider moral – sending bears to kill kids for making fun of a bald guy, murdering babies, drowning kittens…

    For a more detailed explanation: http://www.abarnett.demon.co.uk/atheism/morals.html
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17. By Jack on Sep 23, 2007 | Reply

    excuse? – who the heck do you think decided right from wrong? A murderous God? Wrong again.

    Score:
    Atheists – 1,000,000,000,000,003
    Believers – 0
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18. By panglosswasright on Sep 23, 2007 | Reply

    Yes- we are free to do the right thing simply because it is the right thing. We are free to be kind to others for the sake of being kind and not for the selfish hope of some future reward. The downside is we can't start wars or kill people in the name of our god.
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19. By t_rex_is_mad on Sep 23, 2007 | Reply

    No. It is simply the nonbelief in the existence of any gods.

    Does your brother honestly believe that no one could be moral without a book to look it up in?
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20. By cwstuffff on Sep 23, 2007 | Reply

    I have become an atheist over the past few years. My morality has not changed at all. I'm still very concerned with the differences between right and wrong – and the Golden Rule ("Do unto others as you would have them do unto you") is my basic moral code.
    Morality and religion are not mutually dependant.
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21. By Happykid on Sep 23, 2007 | Reply

    No, it is not.

    Society has it's own morals, which differ a little based on the region, but encompasses people of all religions within those regions.

    For instance, in the US, we believe it is wrong to murder, rape, steal, cheat, or swindle. I'd say most people would follow those rules willingly, but for big wrongs such as these, which exist in most countries, we have laws to make sure they are followed. And people that break these laws come from all faiths and backgrounds.

    Atheists agree that religion shouldn't be the slightest bit necessary for morality.
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22. By david b on Sep 23, 2007 | Reply

    thers no such thing as atheism just people who have got the intelligence to not need a god. everyone knows whats right and wrong you dont need to invent it. some people might use their religion or lack of it, to justify doing things they know is wrong.
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23. By Ray J on Sep 23, 2007 | Reply

    Why didn't I think of that? Immorality here I come. Where the babies at?
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24. By tennisaurus on Sep 23, 2007 | Reply

    atheism is not an excuse, just like theism is not an excuse. it's just a different set of beliefs.
    and we all invent our own morality at every decision we make that requires a moral perspective. we do this because morality is not absolute. so, we have our own versions of what we consider moral/immoral behavior. as humans, since we're so competitive and naturally inclined to destroy our competition to ensure our own survival, we would actually prefer to be completely immoral; the last things we want is to be restricted based on moral grounds. so, we would actually try to avoid morality, instead of inventing it. but, this is socially impractical. so, we have some guidelines.

    theism vs atheism is usually a debate that centers on god vs no god, not on morality.
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25. By brainlady on Sep 23, 2007 | Reply

    It means you do not believe in the existence of God, but you could be quite happy to follow secular rules in society(you could argue these rules are often based on religion) but also that it is humanity that has come up with rules- after all, most religious texts are written by man- so nobody can actually prove if there is a God- they just have faith. I'm an agnostic- i can't disprove that god exists, just as nobody else can prove it- however, due to the floods, earthquakes and general state of the world- i wouldn't worship a creator of this mess. I prefer to abide by logic.
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26. By CC on Sep 23, 2007 | Reply

    No. Morality exists without religion. No new invention required, and no gods required.

    Personally, I think it is a pity that some think they need some god to dictate what is right and what is wrong to people, as if people were unthinking sheep.
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    An atheist perspective

27. By neil s on Sep 23, 2007 | Reply

    At least we have discovered that the Crusader is, like many who use such statistics, mathematically illiterate. The math implies that things are not random, but this in no way suggests a personality behind a "creation".

    Atheism is not an excuse, it is a product of somewhat clear reasoning, or a rebellion. I was an Atheist, but found reason lead me to Agnostic/irrelevantism.
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28. By Ricky H on Sep 23, 2007 | Reply

    No it is not, as people we all know right from wrong.
    Christians can be immoral just as much as people with no beliefs. Jimmy Swaggert for one, priest that molest children another example.
    I also think it is immoral for a preacher to be one of the wealthiest members in the community, living in a million dollar home. There are good hearted preachers and reverends out there that are sincere in what they do, but the ones that have turned religion into big business leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
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29. By andrew w on Sep 23, 2007 | Reply

    yes it will be a better morality than the ones the relgions invented all thay has done is start wars for 2000yrs the men who invented religion got it wrong thats why this planet is in a mess
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30. By Lukusmcain// on Sep 23, 2007 | Reply

    Is religion the tool by which one person can rule over many peoples minds?
    He won't tell you his reasoning because he knows it's a stupid question.
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31. By hippoterry2005 on Sep 23, 2007 | Reply

    If people refuse to accept God as revealed in Jesus Christ then God himself allows them the freedom to believe whatever they choose:

    For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.
    2 Thess 2:11,12

    Without a belief in the true God then a person constructs their own morality based on human whim and preference (often selfish).

    Your brother asked a sensible question!
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32. By Zarena F on Sep 23, 2007 | Reply

    I don't think it's an excuse to 'invent' your own morality; it's more a case of an opportunity to 'define' your morality, based on you and you alone, and not having someone else decide it for you.
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33. By Kelly C on Sep 23, 2007 | Reply

    Better yet is religion an excuse to blame your immoral actions on? I cannot tell you how many people I have come across in this forum and in life that say it is God/religion who keeps them in line and without that influence they would straight up be doing horrible things.. of course they believe that it is "satan's influence" that causes them to do those things or think about doing those things.. according to them anyway. Now atheism is not an excuse.. you want to know what atheism is? its morality without any excuse at all.. if you do something good its because you want to, if you do something bad its your own fault.. Most Atheists quite simply hold the idea that you do good because it's the right thing to do not because somebody told you that you would be punished..

    "People don't need to know my name if I hurt someone, I'm to blame. If I help someone, then I've helped me and thats the way that it should be." Excerpt from On my Honour

    Religion says.. If I hurt someone I will be punished so I better not do it, I am told to help people or I won't get my reward so I better do it.
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    Agnostic

34. By Edward J on Sep 23, 2007 | Reply

    This is probably the most honest quote I have seen posted by an atheist and I thank them fof it. Written by Aldous Huxley grandson of Thomas Henry Huxley (Darwin's Bulldog). "I had motives for not wanting the world to have meaning; consequently I assumed that it had none, and was able witht any difficulty to find satisfying reasons for this assumption. Most ignorance is invisible ignorance.We don't know because we don't want to know". Huxlley also noted "the philosopher who finds no meaning in the world is ot concerned exclusively with a problem in pure metaphysics; he is also concerned to prove that there is no valid reason why he personally should not do as he wants to, or why his friends should not seize political power and govern in the way they find most advantageous to themselves…l For myself, as no doubt, for most of my contemporaries, the philosophy of meaninglessness was essentially an instrument of liberation. Huxley proceeds to identify tis liberation as political, economic and sexual.
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    Aldous Huxley Ends and means pp 270 & 273

35. By purple_kathryn on Sep 23, 2007 | Reply

    morals are relative – point me to the bit in the bible that condems slavery or says women should be treated as equals

    but if it were the case you'd find an abnormal amount of atheists in jail

    You don't – xians are in fact over represented
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36. By numbnuts222 on Sep 23, 2007 | Reply

    I think we all do to a small extent, because morality is down ultimately to the individual whether religious or not. But we all live in society and mostly abide by that society's laws and customs. Religious people have extra customs to abide by if they are strict adherents to their faith, plus the laws the rest of us have to live by.
    The main difference between religious morality and atheist morality is that the religious morals have more to with how not to offend god, while atheists only have to think of how to live with their fellow man.
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37. By country gal on Sep 23, 2007 | Reply

    morality is not a solely religious concept. you can have the one without the other. In the same way, atheists do not live entirely by their own rules. There are those concepts which both atheism and religion endorse, just as there are those which the one abhors, whilst the other supports. Atheists are human, and must conform not only to society's laws, but to the confines of their conscience, just as the followers of a religion are bound by belief to obey God's commandments. The difference is that whilst atheists are not wholely free to 'invent' their own morality, but must abide by the regulations set in place by members of all cultures within their country, they have a certain independence of thought. Believers are restricted by a fear of eternal damnation upon their departure from the mortal coil. One might go so far as to wonder if perhaps the more moral-minded of the two cultures are those who call judgement from within upon themsleves, and so live their lives in a respectable manner out of natural goodness and a desire to act with decency than that which lives in fear of the judgement of another, and so is grudgingly honourable.
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38. By Andy on Sep 23, 2007 | Reply

    This is called a rhetorical question isn't it ?
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39. By EnglishBob on Sep 23, 2007 | Reply

    Certainly not. if anythng, religious beliefs give people the "right" to make up morality to suit their tastes, leanings, background and personal and social bias. Religion is filth.
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40. By alan h on Sep 23, 2007 | Reply

    For some, yes. For some, a cop out. Some genuinely so believe.
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41. By truth seeker on Sep 23, 2007 | Reply

    I will tell you this! That after months of reading answers from both atheists, and chriatians? I would much rather have an atheist at my back, than a christian, any day of the week! Atheist have an ethic, or a logical way of looking at issues! chritians use a morality that they can preach about on Sunday, and the moment they hit the door, what the learned, and what they believe stays at the church!
    I have also noticed that they carry this into their political views as well! it seems that many times, many christians are republican, and that stance, is for number one, and everyone else can be left on the side of the road! Especially neo rep's! Their only concern is how they can keep their money! The poor and needy are casualties of the war they are fighting to gain supremacy in the government!
    Social programs are denounced as created by Liberal bleeding hearts, and as such, propaganda!
    ALCU is seen as a tool of the devil, as it usually rights for the rights of people like Gays, or other members of society that have fallen through the cracks!
    So the accusation that atheists have no morals, is a joke! They have more than any number of most mainline Christians! There are, of course the exception to any rule, and those individuals are not included in my statement about the selfish people above?
    This has been my observation, and these are my opinions,based on what I have seen and heard and read in the news,and on t.v.! and of course, right here in R&S!
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    life