In this video, an atheist attempts to answer the questions “where do atheists get their morality”.
I’m curious about how you would respond to his answer.
Where do atheists get their morality
In this video, an atheist attempts to answer the questions “where do atheists get their morality”.
I’m curious about how you would respond to his answer.
I may have to post on this video, as my comment would be too long to be polite. Fascinating stuff.
In the meantime, Merry Christmas to you and yours.
Cheers.
I’m not an atheist but I have been labelled as agnostic. I’m not 100% sure of where I get my morals. My parents weren’t church goers so I never was brought up with a religious background. But, I do respect people. My parents brought me up to respect people and be nice to people and I have tried my best to do that. I try to respect other peoples views as much as I can. I work with many people from other countries and I have grown to respect their cultures and religious beliefs, even if they are different than what I am used to. And they respect me for that too. There may or may not be a religious take on my thinking from my past, but a person doesn’t have to be religious to be a good person.
I am a Christian, and I agree with what he says. I think for the basic morals he speaks of, this is true. I believe there are other morals that those who have different religious beliefs get from their religion or God. For instance, those that follow the commandments not related to treating people fairly, like worshipping God only or keeping the Sabbath Day holy. There are morals about keeping ourselves pure, our body as a temple, that also come from God. Ultimately, we could argue that all morals came from God because he created everything, but for those who do not believe in God, this is not a viable point. I would say, that even our children learn the morals as the atheist, in that when they are 2 and hit another child or bite, we don’t say, “Don’t do that, God says it is wrong”, but instead we say, “Don’t do that, it hurts and you wouldn’t like to be hurt like that”. We teach our children from young, about God’s love and his expectation, but in the situation, we revert to ‘the agreement’ this atheist speaks of. People don’t have to know God to be good, but the Bible does say, to be saved they have to have a relationship with God. So, the question is, is their good deeds wasted or in doing good deeds are they used by God anyway, to save those would wish to be saved. Now I have opened a whole new can of worms.
Dawn and Sirdar, I think you bring up a good point about how both Christians and Atheists can be moral, which is why I have a problem with churches that simply teach about morality. I think churches that do this give reason for the Atheist (or anyone) to say “Well I’m a moral person, so therefore I don’t need to become a Christian.”
I also think that churches that simply teach morality end up diminishing Christ finish work on the cross, and to me that is where Christians and Atheists (or any non-Christian) really differ when it comes to the issue of morality. As I understand it, Atheists believe that this world is all that there is, and so they will feed off the mindset of society that says “It’s all about being a good person, and if you’re a good person that’s all that matter.” Whereas Christianity says “No, Christ is good, and whatever goodness we do have, it is because we have been clothed with Christ’s righteousness.”
Yes, it is true that both Christians and non-Christians were created by God, and because of this both are capable of being moral. But one will simply be moral by his or her own efforts, while the other will be moral in response to what Christ has already done.
I probably haven’t explain things very well, but I thought I would add some worms of my own. Anyway, aren’t worms suppose to be good for the soil?
I was raised Catholic, but my moral background came from being raised with Korean influences as well as Christian sensibilities.
My mother was not raised with a religious background, was raised with respect in family and others, and raised us with a kind mixture of both.
A wise friend told me once that, “You’re endured by the words you speak, and the actions you make.” It kind of fits here too.
I know a missionary who has such gentle words and actions that people surprisingly find themselves converted and don’t mind. He helps for the sake of helping, too.
Morals may come from varied sources, but as long as one treats others how they wish to be treated, who really cares, ne?
Just wanted to stop by and wish you all a very Merry Christmas! I hope your first one with the wee one is terrific and you have lots of great memories!!