Atheism and Morality

Can a person be moral if they have no religion guiding their behavior? The answer is a very clear yes.

Surely we can't deny that religion and spirituality have a relationship with morality. However, there is a big difference between the relationship of God and morality and morality being impossible without God. My religious beliefs help my shape my morality, and I am reasonably sure it works that way for many other people practicing a variety of different religions. Our beliefs and religious frameworks help to shape our beliefs about the world around us, about life, and about how we should treat ourselves and others. Our religious traditions guide us in matters of honesty, sexuality, and even the way we eat or dress depending on the individual tradition.

How morality or immorality is defined is a key factor here. Miriam Webster's online dictionary defines moral as, among other things, "of or relating to principles of right and wrong in behavior" and "capable of right and wrong action". It lists immoral as "conflicting with generally or traditionally held moral principles". Individual people do not always define right and wrong the same way on a personal level. For example, I feel it is wrong to gossip or to talk to discuss very private issues with someone other than the person or people involved. For others this is clearly an acceptable activity. You only have to turn on the television, pick up a magazine, or read an internet blog to see the proof of that on a large scale, and on a smaller scale it happens frequently in different social groups like high schools, offices, and even churches.

I would say it is immoral to gossip, and others will say that it is not. As a Buddhist and a Pagan my traditions caution me to pay attention to my speech and my intentions, but if my Christian neighbor sees no harm in a little gossip which one of us is behaving morally? Or what about an atheist who feels that gossip is wrong, not because he is commanded to by any God but because it's hurtful to people and not conducive to healthy relationships. Is he acting immorally? Even within groups of believers there is a difference of opinion. Some Christians will say that a Muslim or even Christians of another denomination aren't really worshipping the right God because it isn't the same one or the same way they'd worship so how could they possibly have any sense of right or wrong?

Another element involved in this issue is culture. American culture today overall says that public nudity is inappropriate. With the exception of specific places such as nude beaches or nudist colonies, we do not go into public without clothing on. You are not likely to see your bank teller topless or your child's teacher greeting children in her birthday suit because the culture in our society says that, in general, nudity equals privacy. Other cultures, such as tribal ones, may not be at all concerned with public nudity and would have no personal concept of nudity being considered wrong. The culture of a place no doubt shapes the individual's definition or moral behavior with or without God or religion.

To say that God or religion is absolutely necessary for morality is to say that all atheists are immoral. I have friends who ID as atheists, and while their personal morality may not always be the same as mine, I would never say they are incapable of kindness, honesty, or respect because they do not believe in a God. I think we would all do very well to base our behavior on the understanding that we all share this human life and the feelings that go with it. Whether we are atheist or a believer of whatever kind it we can all remember to do unto others as we'd have done to us.