Question for atheists: What governs how you live your life?
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Anonymous
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I had an interesting conversation that sparked a question that I have regarding atheism. Hopefully those who are atheists will be willing to indulge me:
-What (or who) governs how you live your life? -What standards do you uphold (as it relates to how you live and your actions)? |
Anonymous
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What governs how I live my life? I don't need any external governance ... I have an internal understanding of right and wrong. Almost everybody does.
What standards do I uphold? The standards of humanity. The same reason people don't walk the streets abusing/hurting eachother. Just normal, moral, values that allow humans to live together. Even animals have them. My question is - why do people feel they need an external body to dictate how to live their lives? Why are they missing that ability internally? |
Anonymous
| I don't know--I try to live by the Golden Rule and I guess it just seems like it makes for a good society if everyone would. Are you driven solely by a desire to get into some type of heaven after you die? I don't think that alone would do it for me even if I did believe. |
Anonymous
| Um, morals govern my life. Doing what is right. Being good to others and treating all others how I would want to be treated. Having empathy for others. Working to help improve other peoples lives and doing good works. |
Anonymous
New poster. Not being snarky- where do you think that internal understanding comes from? I am far, far, far from the conservative Christian Right. But I have come to believe that we were provided this moral compass by a creator. It is when we act outside this internal sence of conscience that conflict occurs. |
Anonymous
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My morality is internally driven but derives from my rationality as conditioned by the current norms of society, the socialization I received during my childhood etc.
I try to live with integrity, compassion, and humor. |
Anonymous
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The golden rule and the categorical imperative work pretty well for me.
I think that you should strive to be a person of compassion and integrity, to be a good steward of the world, and to make life a little nicer for the people around you. You should work for justice, try to live on the right side of history, and live your life in such a way that you can face yourself in the mirror at the end of the day. |
Anonymous
Why have you come to believe that? I have come to believe that our moral compass derives from our nature as social beings. Tell me one thing - was the Aztec's feeling that mass human sacrifice was the right moral thing to do provided by your creator? |
Anonymous
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OP here. Thanks for the responses. They actually speak to how the conversation went.
Some folks said that atheists lived recklessly. I said that this was not necessarily true and that many were compassionate and lived good moral lives. And that's when the questions came in that I couldn't quite understand. Moral life, morals, right/wrong. If there is a such thing as morals, where did it come from? If there is right/wrong, where did the concept come from? These are genuine questions, so I'm hoping folks will be willing to answer them honestly. |
Anonymous
Not the poster you are quoting but even supposing for argument's sake that that is true, it has nothing to do with the question. OP's question seems to presuppose you need to believe (not that there needs to be a God, but that you need to believe in it) to have any sense of morality. |
Anonymous
Not true. I was just wondering what "code" atheists live by. Most Christians live by a moral code and doing what is right/wrong, so just wondering how that differed from atheists who don't believe in the belief system that governs how Christians live. In essence, where did "morality" come from? |
Anonymous
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Being nice makes me feel good.
Being mean makes me feel bad. I know the difference between good and evil like I know the difference between chocolate and vanilla. I don't need the threat of hell to make me be good. Hell is being bad and then hating yourself for it. "Harm none, and do what you will". |
Anonymous
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I borrow from some spiritual sources.
Do unto others as you would have them do to you Lots of the "good" Christians I know don't follow this rule. so it seems anyone, religious or not, picks their own path. |
Anonymous
This is clearly not correct. Religion can and has justify many different behaviors, and there is no universal moral compass to be derived from belief in a sky-god or whatever. Some societies can decide it is OK to enslave or kill others who are different, for example. Christianity co-existed happily with slavery for almost two thousand years. It is the enlightenment, the prioritizing of reason over faith, the turning away from religion as the sole guiding force, that can lead to truly international and cross-cultural standards, laws, and morals such as can allow different groups to co-exist happily. |
Anonymous
PP here, I was taught morality by my Catholic upbringing, which I now reject. I am teaching my children my morality but leaving the religion part out of it. No threat of hell. No original sin. No virgin births or crucified children. My kids know the difference between right and wrong. They know being mean makes them feel bad. Usually I say, "How would YOU feel if someone did that to YOU?" And that is enough. Both are very emotionally sensative and don't seem to need much more prompting than that. It's empathy. It's innate. As a parent my job is to get them to have an internal dialog with their own growing conscience, and to guide that growth. |