Atheist Morality

Do atheists have morals?

A lot of christians tend to ask this question. In their mind, an atheist couldn't possibly have morals if they don't believe in the one who, by His very existence, defines morality.

This is wrong thinking though. Atheists, just like every other ungodly sinner, do have morals.

They're just not grounded in the living God, but in a variety of other things.

Some christians believe that because atheists don't have their morality grounded in the unchanging law giver, that there is nothing stopping them from say... murdering people.

This though, is only partially true.

You see, it all depends on where they ground their morals. And because atheism has no creed or set of beliefs that defines its "adherents" apart from believing there is no God, you'd have to speak to every self-identifying atheist to find out what morals they have and what they're grounded in.

The atheist the average christian thinks of is a person who lives with absolutely no restraint. They think of a person who has no regard for anyone and anything. A person who does whatever they want at any given time.

Although the logic behind this description of an atheist is sound, it only defines someone who takes atheism to its final conclusion.

You will be extremely hard pressed to actually find an atheist who fits that description.

The reason for that is because most self-proclaimed atheists are not serious about their non-faith.

As a matter of fact, a great majority of them are "theological atheists" but "social christians".

In other words, even though they reject the foundation of the christian faith, namely the God of creation, they affirm societal affects that take place when people obey they christian God.

Of course they don't agree with everything, but for the most part, they are in agreement.

Not only that, but it's only under christianity where the various forms of atheism would be allowed to thrive.

Even under a truly atheist regime, Richard Dawkins could be killed for no reason at all, especially if he disagreed on some point held by the atheist leader.

While under christianity, a person would have to disobey the commands of God to murder someone, and the penalty would be that they inturn would be killed by the government.

Sometimes atheists clearly see this. Richard Dawkins has gone on record as saying he is glad he lives in societies where "christian morality" is the foundation, as all other belief and non-belief systems would never allow him to promote his views.

"But how can an atheist have morals?"

The answer is quite simple. Their morals come from themselves as well as governmental/societal "norms".

A "true" atheist can not say that something is inherently evil or good. And because of that, any moral judgement they make can only be grounded in their perception. In other words, it's only bad to them. They can't say that someone should feel bad for doing something as there is no objective standard. So another individual can see the exact same thing as being right and the atheist can't balk at their judgement.

Some atheists realise this and so what they do is attempt to wrap their moral opinion up with government laws and societal norms.

Although this bolsters their opinion a bit, it's still shaky ground. Atheists often disagree with the government and societal norms change.

What it boils down to is that someone who professes to be an atheist has to be completely inconsistent with their atheism in order to live.

It is impossible to live without absolute moral values.

An atheist will say it is ok to lie, but they don't want people to lie to them or about them to other people.

With every moral opinion and every moral expectation they place on others, their hypocrisy increases.

Yet they continue to maintain this position as they don't want to have God above them. However, their very inconsistency shows that there is an absolute morality and therefore an absolute being from which that morality comes from.

This is also a clear indication of a biblical truth. There are no atheists. There is no one who really believes that there is no God, no matter how much they make the claim.

The proof is found in how they live. They live by a moral standard that is not based on how they feel. They also expect people to not violate this moral standard when people deal with them.

Again, they expect people to not lie to them or about them to other people. And when this moral standard is broken, they are offended and hurt.

Yet at the same time they claim that that moral standard doesn't exist. If they truly believed this, they wouldn't be offended and hurt.

The bible tells us that everyone knows that there is a God.

Romans 1:18-23
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them.

For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:
Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.

We see that the issue is not that there may or may not be a God, but that there is a God, they know there is a God, and they seek to hide the truth in unrighteousness.

The bible calls this foolish.

Psalms 14:1
The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.

Not only that, but because they disregard the most obvious truth in the universe, their character is worse off as they don't want Godly instruction or care about Godly righteousness.

Proverbs 1:7
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

So, does an atheist have morals?

A true atheist does not. But as there are no true atheists, they do.