Timothy DeChenne, Ph.D. “If God does not exist, everything is permitted”. This quote from “The Grand Inquisitor” section of The Brothers Karamazov is frequently invoked by those who believe in a supernatural god. Without faith in such a god, their argument goes, we are lost in moral nihilism. We cannot truly know right from wrong. A common argument, perhaps, but one that ignores much of world history. In truth everything has never been permitted, and this applies both to those who believe in a supernatural god and to those who don't. Two huge examples are sufficient to establish this point. Chinese society was anchored around the ethics of Confucianism, a philosophy that denied the need for a god. Similarly, Buddhism flourished in virtually all of Asia at one time or another, and it too rejected the notion of a deity. Both of these major systems have moral codes. The codes that developed in them are not flimsy or anemic; they are robust, extensive, and detailed. Nor are these codes just a matter of theory rather than action. Their practical impact has been enormous, guiding the actions of millions upon millions of people for some 2500 years. But here in America this kind of historical fact carries little weight. Rather, the belief here tends to be “no God, no morality”. National surveys have reported that in the opinion of a majority of Americans, there is a direct link between a lack of belief in God and a lack of personal morals. For many, a moral nonbeliever is just a contradiction in terms. After all, where else could morality come from, if not from religious faith? Let’s look briefly at these two issues. First, the possible origins of morality, and second, the documented consequences of nonbelief. From an anthropological and evolutionary psychology point of view, there is a case to be made for moral codes having developed as a matter of survival. Consider the small Paleolithic band of hunter/gatherers, the social structure in which homo sapiens evolved. What could have contributed to the survival of such a group? Lying to, stealing from, or murdering other members? Not so much. These kinds of events occurred, of course. But a modicum of cooperation and empathy were more likely the anchors on which the survival of these tiny groups depended. Tendencies toward these traits probably underwent genetic selection. The tendencies were subsequently augmented and sustained by countless varieties of tradition, small and large, religious and secular. And these traditions themselves continued a cultural evolution, with some practices expanding, others dropping out. For example, in the not so distant past, slavery was not only widespread, it was heartily endorsed as an ethical practice, even by religious adherents. But today, of course, it is a nearly universal abomination. So as to the origin of morality, the short answer is: both biological and cultural evolution. What about the consequences of nonbelief? Aren’t nonbelievers evil? If they are, we can’t seem to find any evidence to that effect. The sociologist Phil Zuckerman, in his book entitled Living the Secular Life, has done an excellent job of summarizing the research literature. First, regarding individuals. Today about 11% of American children are raised in homes without any religious influence. “Are children raised in such secular homes disproportionately criminal or malevolent? Absolutely not. No study exists that even suggests that kids raised in secular homes are disproportionately immoral, unethical, or violent”. In fact there is some indication that “having no religious affiliation is the best predictor of law-abiding behavior.” What about states within the United States? “As expected, when it comes to nearly all standard measures of societal health, such as homicide rates, violent crime rates, poverty rates, domestic abuse rates, obesity rates, educational attainment, funding for schools and hospitals, teen pregnancy rates, rates of sexually transmitted diseases, unemployment rates, domestic violence, the correlation is robust: the least theistic states in America tend to fare much, much better than the most theistic.” And what about different countries in the world? At this point you can probably anticipate the data. By just about whatever measure of societal health you choose, the least theistic countries fare better than the most God believing. Now let me hasten to add, especially for any non-scientists reading this, that correlation does not establish cause. It is not necessarily the case that secularity causes societal well-being; for example, it might be just the reverse. In fact I suspect it is largely the reverse. Whether comparing states within the U.S. or countries across the world, the more prosperous, democratic, educated, egalitarian, and peaceful a society becomes, the more it moves away from theism. For those who are waiting with the “how about Stalin” question, let me point out, as Zuckerman also does, that the real issue there is totalitarianism, not secularity. There have been many horrendous religious totalitarian regimes as well, and again, the issue with them is not necessarily the religion, but the totalitarianism. So returning to the primary issue, has the concept of “no god, no morality” survived scrutiny? It has not. The concept is grossly inconsistent both with world history and with contemporary research. It drastically underestimates the formidable capacity of human beings for developing codes to help order their own social existence.
TLDR: Yes indeed, morality can exist without the threats of a sky-man shooting thunderbolts up your tush each time you masturbate.
Sorry...hit the wrong button on my ******. I think of morality as being a framework or code of conduct for human interaction in a civilized society. The BASIS for these rules of behavior may be religion, philosophy or merely a social compact. So yes, morality may exist without God. If we remove religion, philosophy and social compact from the equation, however, we are left with animal instinct...to survive and reproduce. One could then argue that instinct becomes a sort of morality in itself. If we remove instinct from the equation, we will not long survive. So, I guess one could argue that SOME form of morality is necessary if we are to survive, grow and develop as a society.
I think that most people know the difference between right and wrong independent of any religious authority. Most people in society behave themselves in a civilized fashion independent of any kind of religious authority, and for that I am eternally grateful, A bit of a play on words there.
Yes morality exists regardless of what you chose to believe and and disbelieve. It's just a matter of what is right and what is wrong, and I hope any sane person knows the difference.
You don't need God to have morals, morality stems from being a good human and not harming others and doing what is deemed right in society. As society develops these morals can change and new ones added. For example reading the messages on someones cellphone is not moral, but isn't related to God. God and the Bible set out a guideline of principles and people refer back to that as an authority. Take into account the law, those are legal morals that are created to protect society against the immoral.
I would argue that those who don't believe in God, in general, are much more acceptable of others and in general make better decisions when it comes to right vs wrong. Look at ISIS, not really up to today's standards when it comes to morality... yet religion and God is a big part of their thing. Christians burned people alive because they were witches, locked scientists in prisons because their theories went against what the bible said and did a million other atrocities in the name of religion. I have yet to see atheists start wars and cause genocides in order to rid the world of those who don't see things their way.
Morality predates organized religion. Long before religious laws came to be, there seems to have been a moral code which when broken resulted in the offender being penalized in some way and since people back then were more savage the penalties had to be as harsh. Murderers got the death sentence, people who were unable to pay their debts were sold off as slaves. So yes, some form of morality can exist without God.
No God,No morality. This is not only in US.It happens everywhere. It's common thing. Followers of any religion bring shame to that religion. they believe in god or not doesn't matters. they have morals or not that's important. without morals every religion is curse. don't matter that religion believe in God or not.
