I'm going to be changing my blog up so that it is more orderly. From now on I'm going to be numbering my blog posts (this being the first I'm numbering). By doing this I'm hoping to make it a little bit more pleasant to follow (APB = Atheist Perspective Blog). This first blog post is going to be about atheist-morality. Morality is one of those areas that are still open for debate (part of me believes in belief for some people, but that is not the subject of this blog post). I see a lot of Christians using fear, guilt, and reward to motivate people to behave "good" (a sociopathic-morality in my opinion).
Can Atheists Be Moral?
Many people believe that atheists cannot be moral because it is "impossible" to be moral without God. While I'm not going to sugarcoat it—many atheists are not all that moral (many are)—this doesn't mean that atheists are unable to be moral. I like to think of myself as being a moral person (as I suppose most people do). And I believe that atheism liberates people from the pseudo-morality that God provides. I say that morality that God provides (or rather from the belief in God) is 'pseudo' because it not genuine at heart. The "morality" provided by God is born out of fear—true morality is born out of love (being good to avoid going to hell =/= being moral in my book). Being "good" because God is "watching" is acting out of a fear of the consequences. For example, when I was in middle school, I found an envelope on the ground. It wasn't sealed, and I saw that there was a ton of money inside (probably around $300). School was getting done when I found this—I could have easily pocked the money—but the thought never crossed my mind. Instead, I immediately went to the office, explained what happened to the secretary, and left her the envelope. That is what moral behavior is...no God needed. I returned the envelope because I was concerned about the person that lost the money; my actions were motivated by empathy, not fear of the consequences.
Be good for the sake of being good, not for the sake of avoiding punishment or being praised. Christians (or any similar religion) have a tough time finding a true source of morality (at least in my opinion) because they are constantly distracted by behaving out of fear or reward—this is what they learn morality is, which is wrong. Atheists are not as distracted, perhaps because the stakes are not as high for them (avoiding eternal punishment vs. eternal reward). If you see an atheist doing a good deed, he/she is more likely to be doing it out of the goodness of their heart. It's hard to tell if a believer is just being good for browny points, or in spite of the fact that they are being "watched and judged".
Can Atheists Be Moral?
Many people believe that atheists cannot be moral because it is "impossible" to be moral without God. While I'm not going to sugarcoat it—many atheists are not all that moral (many are)—this doesn't mean that atheists are unable to be moral. I like to think of myself as being a moral person (as I suppose most people do). And I believe that atheism liberates people from the pseudo-morality that God provides. I say that morality that God provides (or rather from the belief in God) is 'pseudo' because it not genuine at heart. The "morality" provided by God is born out of fear—true morality is born out of love (being good to avoid going to hell =/= being moral in my book). Being "good" because God is "watching" is acting out of a fear of the consequences. For example, when I was in middle school, I found an envelope on the ground. It wasn't sealed, and I saw that there was a ton of money inside (probably around $300). School was getting done when I found this—I could have easily pocked the money—but the thought never crossed my mind. Instead, I immediately went to the office, explained what happened to the secretary, and left her the envelope. That is what moral behavior is...no God needed. I returned the envelope because I was concerned about the person that lost the money; my actions were motivated by empathy, not fear of the consequences.
Be good for the sake of being good, not for the sake of avoiding punishment or being praised. Christians (or any similar religion) have a tough time finding a true source of morality (at least in my opinion) because they are constantly distracted by behaving out of fear or reward—this is what they learn morality is, which is wrong. Atheists are not as distracted, perhaps because the stakes are not as high for them (avoiding eternal punishment vs. eternal reward). If you see an atheist doing a good deed, he/she is more likely to be doing it out of the goodness of their heart. It's hard to tell if a believer is just being good for browny points, or in spite of the fact that they are being "watched and judged".
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