A
frequent comment thrown in the face of atheists, especially new
declared ones, by Christians* (most Muslims would behead an atheist)
is that “atheists are immoral,” that atheists cannot be moral or
good people without the moral guidance of the Bible and its
protagonist, God. One I have heard recently is that atheists (myself
included) are nihilistic.
*(I
reference Christians more because they are the largest theological
(and political) force in this country and the ones who wish to
establish a theocracy in the US)
Nihilism
refers to a “total rejection of established laws and institutions,”
as well as to “the total rejection of all religious and moral
principles,” and atheists definitely do not reject “established
laws & institutions” (unless said laws & institutions
promote a religion or god to the detriment of others, see the 1st
Amendment) nor deny moral principles.
As a
philosophy, nihilism refers to the “denial of all real existence,”
and “nothingness;” again, atheists do not deny existence.
Morality
is the set of principles concerning the distinction between right and
wrong or good and bad.
Is
slavery moral? What about child molestation? Murder? In both the
Bible and the Qur'an, all are allowed, justified, and even endorsed
(God freed the Israelites from slavery under the Egyptians then
instructed them on keeping slaves).
In
the past 2000 years through to today, much of our morality is
dictated by religions, like Christianity. Religious morality, into
which many of us are born, serves only the purpose the particular
deity, and offers obedience as a major virtue and vice in
disobedience (former helps to get one to heaven and the latter to
Hell). In Richard Dawkin's book, “The God Delusion,” he mentions
the Zeitgeist, the spirit of the times. In our modern times, our
Zeitgeist has morals that include racial and gender equality;
however,
just 100 years ago, the Zeitgeist had no such equality for ethnic
peoples or women. The changes in these morals happened over time
through the efforts of human beings who fought, and died, to make it
happen; no god came from Heaven to help make those changes.
Today,
however, atheists are standing up and saying, “We are moral, too.
In fact, we are more moral than either God or Allah.” How do we
get to make those claims? Because in the Torah, the New Testament of
the Bible, and the Qur'an, God/Allah show a staggering array of
immorality, from murdering millions of people in a Flood to endorsing
slavery, rape, torture, and genocide. And today, we have seen just
as many atrocities committed by religious people – child
molestation by church leaders, beheadings & whippings of people –
while neither God nor Allah bother to stop anything. Why? Do they
not care? Can they help yet are unable or unwilling? Then why are
they called god?
In
his book, “Moral Minds,” Mark D. Hauser states “Based on
studies of moral judgments in a wide range of cultures, atheists and
agnostics are perfectly capable of distinguishing between morally
permissible and forbidden actions.”
Phil
Zuckerman, of Pitzer College, writing in the December 2009 issue of
“Sociology Compass,” (Vol. 3, Issue 6) presented several
studies showing that atheists were “less prejudiced, anti-semtitic,
racist, dogmatic, ethnocentric, close-minded and authoritarian.”
Those same studies as well as similar ones showed that “non-religious
people were more altruistic and supportive of gender equality and gay
rights;” ‘only 2% of prisoners in U.S. jails are atheists;” and
“murder and violent crime rates are higher in highly
religious countries than in more secular countries,” (ex. Pakistan
versus Iceland), whereas “murder and violent crime rates are higher
in highly religious U.S. states than in less religious U.S. states”
(ex. Mississippi versus Vermont).
Many
Christians, especially ones who consider themselves conservative,
ask, and sometimes demand, atheists be quiet, keep their
“beliefs” (atheism is NOT a belief; it’s the lack of belief in
any god) to themselves. To that, we atheists say, “NO, we will
not.”
As
Penn Jillette, a self-described hard-care atheist, states in his
book, “God, NO!” just as Christians and other theists feel
'morally obligated to say what they think, so “Atheists are also
morally obligated to tell the truth as we see it.”
All
told, why should anyone outsource their morals from a 2,000 year old
book that contains a god who bans shellfish instead of slavery and
murders children?
As a
world famous theoretical physicist named Albert Einstein once said,
“I am convinced that a consciousness of the primary importance of
moral principles for the betterment and ennoblement of life does not
need the idea of a law-giver who works on the basis of reward and
punishment.”
You
do not need religion to have morals. If you can't determine right
from wrong, then you lack empathy, not religion.
