1. Home
  2. Religion & Spirituality
  3. Agnosticism / Atheism
photo of Austin Cline

Austin's Atheism Blog

By Austin Cline, About.com Guide to Atheism since 1998

Morality Without Religion

Sunday April 24, 2005
Many theists argue that without belief in their god, it isn't possible for someone to be moral. Why is the simple experience of being human and living with other human beings insufficient? Why would someone only act right if they are ordered to do so?

According to Errorlevel:

Without life, I have nothing.

Since I do not know whether an afterlife exists, everything that I do, or will be able to do can only be expected to occur during my lifetime. Any pain, pleasure, joy, sadness or glee I feel will be in this life. However, just as I must deal with the repercussions of those that have come before me (my “predecessors”) I also should expect that those that my successors shall live with the repercussions of my actions. It would be immoral for me to harm or hinder the abilities of my successors to enjoy their lives to the fullest of their potential since life is all I know they will have.

I think that EL is making some very good points here, but I doubt that many religious theists would find the above convincing — or even relevant. This points to an incredible gulf between atheists and many theists in how they live their lives. Theists' inability to conceive of how atheists can behave morally is an impediment to their ability to treat atheists with respect and dignity.

Read More:

Comments

No comments yet. Leave a Comment

Leave a Comment

Line and paragraph breaks are automatic. Some HTML allowed: <a href="" title="">, <b>, <i>, <strike>

Explore Agnosticism / Atheism

More from About.com

  1. Home
  2. Religion & Spirituality
  3. Agnosticism / Atheism

©2008 About.com, a part of The New York Times Company.

All rights reserved.