Is religious belief NECESSARY for ethical decisions and/or behavior? Are Atheists as ethical as Christians? Why or why not?
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- dsm
- Biostatistician, Biology and Philosophy Faculty, Lacrosse Addict
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15 comments:
Liz Stern
I believe that human nature is to do what feels right and if what feels right is actually ethically wrong then that may prevent some people from doing it. I truly believe that religious belief does give people their ethics and control their behavior, but I do not believe it is necessary. For something to be necessary it must be some form of life suport, meaning humans can not live without it and I believe that humans do not need religion but moreso that they want it. People are going to do what they want to do, but religious belief gives them guidance as to what they "should" or "should not" do. So many people base their entire life around what they were told in church, they do what the church tells them is right but I don't think that it is necessary because not everyone believes in or follows organized religion.
This being said I think that a belief in a "God" is necessary because I feel that if people did not have a reason to obey the rules set forth on earth they would continue to disobey them. For the people who do not know about "God" and do not believe in an afterlife, life is meaningless and it doesn't matter if they mess up because when they die, they die and thats it. But for those who believe in an afterlife, it gives them a reason to obey the rules and live a strong obedient life. Its like telling a child to clean their room; if they know that nothing will happen if they don't clean they wont do it till they want to. But if they know there will be punishment for not cleaning, they will clean it when they are told. Humans as a whole do things for the greater reward. They wouldn't further their education if society didn't require a degree. They would murder, cheat, and steel if there wasn't some form of punishment.
I do not believe that athiests are as ethical as christians because they do not follow the same set of rules and obligations. I belive that they follow the rules put forth by the state and federal governements which only touch the basics of what God has commanded for his followers. Christians and Athiests are not comparable; one bases their life decisions on the idea that there is a "God" who put forth all these rules and regulations and one bases their life on the idea that the rules of the state and government are the only rules that should be followed whether they choose to or not. Athiests may have their own morals and values but they are not comparable to the standards of living that the Christian lives.
Ryan Keene
Religion is ethics for some people. It gives them guidance which is what ethics are. This does not mean that you have to have religion to have good ethics. There are many ways and methods to making good decisions and plenty of people make good decisions that are not influenced by God or the bible. There are plenty of good ethical decisions that are incorporated into both religion and non-religion. Atheists do not believe in God, however, that does not mean that they think that one should kill anybody which is one of the ten commandments. It is not religion that defines a person's ethical beliefs. To me, it is more how the person was brought up, specifically their environment. There are a lot of things that a specific person believes to be right, and a lot of things that a person believes to be wrong. Ethics is in the eye of the beholder and this will cause disagreements. This is why religion is such a popular role-model for making good ethical decisions for a lot of people, however, to me it is the easy way out. God to me gives people the choice, and this contradicts a lot of what is said to be ethical, and boils down to what was said earlier that the ultimate right or wrong in any ethical decision is based on what the person believes it to be. That being said, it is inaccurate to say that an Atheist would not be an ethical person simply because they do not follow God or the bible. They might however choose to follow the same guidelines and just call it something else.
In regards to how someone might live their life, or what kind of motivation they have for a possible afterlife, religious people have a tendency to live in fear of what they do in hopes that if they follow the bible, they will go to heaven, or paradise, or whatever euphoric place they believe in. For people that do not believe in such things, some believe that no matter where you go, or what you become when you die is not proper motivation for trying to live a good life. You should be a good person in your own right becasue you want to. There should not be an ultimatum attached to the end of the deal. It is better in my own opinion to live a good life with the motivation of knowing that you did lead a good life, and that you did it because you want to and not to please anyone but yourself.
I do not believe that that ethics derive from religion. There are plenty of religious unethical people. I believe that ethics stems from our surroundings. Even though there is people that only do the right thing because society wants them to, but there are others who do the right thing because its what they feel is right no matter the influence. Religious belief may drive some peoples ethical decision, but do those people make the decision because they want to or because they feel they are committed to the decision that god would make? I myself, do not believe in god, yet i believe doing the right thing is what makes society function. If i see someone that needs help, im going to help them but not for my personal reasons but because they need help. I do not believe religion really matters, athiest or christian, a person is a person. If you believe something is right you are going to do it no matter your religion. We are all human and granted human nature forces bad decisions upon us, religion still does not matter in an ethical issue.
Not necessarily, some people are raised and taught by family what is right and wrong without knowing they actually are. I would say morality plays a major role.
However, to say that you need religion in order to be ethical is not true. Atheist could have been taught right and have other ways of knowing, simply by common sense.
Also, religion doesn't necessarily guarantee ethical behavior. Although some may argue that that is the purpose of religion, nowadays many people embrace a religion they were brought up in and don't completely apply it as moral values or to ethical behavior.
TO be ethical is a personal choice many make in doing the right thing. That again is a personal view. To what is right and why its right may vary by different reality of things.
I would say the virtue of happiness which we can all experience keeps us doing the right thing. Because at the same time if we were to do something against our intentions and regret what we did after the fact, we would be turning away from that harmony and happiness.
ZZabrina Ybarra
No, I do not believe that religious beliefs are necessary to have ethical beliefs. The ethics that you believe in come from many different aspects of you life such as; your parents, your older siblings, your grandparents, teachers in school, your boss, and you can go on and on about who has taught you your ethics. Some other influences on your ethics can come from you religion, from your cultural background, and you can also learn your ethical views from famous people that you look up to. It all comes down to the fact that you get to decide what you believe is right and wrong and you get to make your own decisions on a daily basis to do what you think is the right decision.
In the question do I believe that Atheist are as ethical as Christians? Yes I believe that Atheists can be just as ethical as Christians, for a persons religious belief are not the only influences on a person life. Just because some does not believe that God exists doesn't mean that they are a bad person and they are evil. It just means that they believe the world was created and came about in a different way. It doesn't always affect how they treat others or how they behave.
So I believe that religion may have some influence on your ethics but it is not the only influence.
S.Q.Hall
I believe that to an extent religion is necessary to be a well-rounded ethical person. I think that humans in general tend to not do things, which they feel would benefit them, if there are consequences that they don’t want to have to suffer. I think that an atheist can follow rules and laws of society because of the consequences that come from breaking them. However, in their personal life and relationships what motivation do they have for treating someone the way they want to be treated and sacrificing for others? There are really no consequences for treating a perfect stranger with any compassion as long as they feel that nothing is in it for them. It seems difficult in this nation to find an atheist from birth to have a point of reference. Most of the atheists that I know were raised religious and then turned to atheism in their adult lives. I feel that the ethics that were installed within them from childhood still remain in some form. I do however, know someone that was raised with no religion and studied several before coming to the conclusion that he was an atheist. He is a point of reference for me. I’ve observed him being very selfish and unwilling to compromise with people that he loves. And completely rude and uncompassionate to those he doesn’t know. He very much has the attitude of “I’m going to do what I want,” regardless of whom he hurts. I wouldn’t be surprised if one day he was diagnosed as a sociopath. If nothing else, religion is a good moral/value structure that can help you to live your life compassionately and socially. I believe that religion is the weight scale of right and wrong and without it, it's easier to tip toward wrong.
I believe that religious belief really is not necessary for making ethical decisions. Some people may think so, maybe a very religious person. I feel that are ethics or behavior comes from many different sources, for instance what has been portraded as right and wrong, the teachings of our families, and also our authority figures. We do look to others to help us out when we make an ethical chose. Alot of us would think about it this way, we we like somebody to do that for me or too me; we put our self's in somebody else shoes. Know wether or not atheists are as ethical as christians it could go both ways. I mean atheists don't believe in the the so called god so they have a different of ideas of what is ethical, is it less ethical then a christian I don't believe so, because they go off of what there government as has appointed right and wrong. Christians on the other hand go off the word of god, so both groups look to another for guidence.
Last comment posted by Jessica Southland
Jessica Meza
I don’t think religious belief is necessary in order to make ethical decisions or possess what is considered to be ethical behavior. For instance, a brand new human being to this world is not born with religious preference. That is because it is not essential for a new born to come equipped with religion in their body mechanics to live and survive on this earth. Religion is something that is learned throughout a course of someone’s life. However, it is highly influenced upon us as children along with our families’ culture, language and general way of life. So for the most part until a person is 18 years of age we are to believe what our parents or legal guardians tell us to believe and otherwise may end in consequence. In some cases even when we become grown adults we are judged for straying from your family’s religion and it remains a life long issue that some can never learn to accept.
Now, as for Atheists being as ethical as Christians I am not so sure. In my personal opinion based on what I have seen and experienced in my life not so much. People who live life asking themselves what Jesus would do tend to take time and think more before they make an ethical decision. Where as those who think we are all in the same boat no matter what typically tend to live some what of a worry free life style because they don’t concern themselves with how God will punish them after every poor action or that their souls will be eternally damned to hell without religion.
Ultimately, it comes down to the individual interpretations of what the words ethical and religion mean and that it very well varies from every imperfect being to another. Also the fact that humanity has never come to a unified agreement on anything much less religion and all that is unknown to us. Therefore with the absence of knowledge and certainty I can not clearly see the situation in black or white, besides what ethical decisions would a Christian make that an Atheist wouldn’t?
I think religious beliefs are necessary depending on how one is brought up. Like if a person is raised with relgious beliefs and the case was a person being sick than I think ethical decisions and behavior would be necessary. Atheists are not as ethical as christians because well first of all atheist don't believe in anything. Unlike christians they practice religious stuff. I don't know what an atheist person would do if one got sick but a christian would start praying and have faith that a person would get healed.
Stephanie S
Susan McCliment
Is religious belief necessary for ethical decisions and/or behavior? Absolutely not. Ethics are not, no matter how much we want them to be, bound to religion. They are a set of rules and behaviors dictated by society, not religion. When society agrees to something as a value, it becomes "ethical", regardless of religious beliefs; if this were not the case, our set of ethical values would be much different than it is today.
This can be demonstrated by examining the changes in what is considered ethical in the comparatively short history of the United States. In the 1700's and 1800's, it was considered ethical to force Native Americans off their land in pursuit of our Manifest Destiny; today, we hold these acts to be unethical. Slavery, voting rights, spousal abuse, corporal and capital punishment and any number of other major and minor unethical behaviors have been considered fair, just and ethical at one point in our nation's history. Nothing has changed in the Bible -- no new books have been added. While the interpretation has changed, the basic tenants have remained the same. Societal, not religious pressure caused a change in how we view these actions.
There are some behaviors that even the various deviations of Christianity cannot agree on. Divorce, birth control and homosexuality are viewed differently depending on which branch of Christianity one believes in. The difference between the atheist and the Christian is that the atheist does not have a codified, documented and preached theology to use as justification for his actions -- he is relying on society's rules as the basis for ethical behavior, just as everybody else is. He is as ethical, and perhaps more honest with himself about the reasons for being so, as the Christian.
NABILAH KEYS
I do believe religion is necessary for ethical decisions. One can say that their an athiest but isnt that also a religion? Either way we all take a stance when it comes to religion wheter or not we agree with other religions does not mean one is more worthy of the next. Ethical decisions can be based on family, culture, neighborhood but ultimately they too believe in something or have their own version of whats going on. Therefore atheists are as ethical as christians each has their way of deciding whats right and whats wrong.
Peter Ngor
In my own personal believe i thinks people always confuse ethic with religion for the most part, but i do believe that a person can be good ethically without religion knoweledge at some points. i am not saying that i religions can not be one that things that can make person a better ethically as well. i do this religions of different background can help to make people do certain things that they should have not know if they there was no religions. however a human being can do good things without a religions, beacuse human being is natural moral being. nevertheless, i am not ruling out the religions as far as the ethic goes. Regardless of that i said do brelieve that believing in God is neccessary to the best of ethic a person can be in the society.
Several of you brought up good points about societal expectations and the roles these expectations play in behavior and what we as a whole consider to be ethical or not. Some of you also made good points about how, although the Bible has not changed for example, much of what is viewed as ethical has changed over the past several centuries. A few of you suggested atheists may follow the laws/rules of society because of negative consequences if they don't, however: many people, both atheists and the religious, follow laws they know they can get away with breaking (no one around to see, catch them, etc) because they believe it is the right thing to do.
A few of you gave examples but many of you did not provide specific examples, which always help when trying to persuade others that your position is a strong one.
As you consider other scenarios and formulate your opinions, please make sure you consider multiple sides of an issue and use examples and/or analogies to make your point.
Nicole Hahlen
All of us as human beings know what is right and what is wrong, therefore that should reflect how your ethics relate to your religion, such as if you were a Christian that you would have a certain set of right and wrongs and ethics to follow, on the other hand if you did not have a religion that you followed that you would still have a set of ethics that you went by of you may even not have any which means that to you every thing is good or bad in its own way ethics and rules gives people guidance and a set of "commandments"to follow each and every day which keeps them on the right track in my opinion God is necessary in every aspect to go on day and day and have those proper set of rules and ethics, thats where good and bad play a part also because what is good to you may not be good to me if God is not the center of those decisions the same for that other person if i have God as the center of my decision making than my decisions might be bad to that other person so its all a matter of your own personal ethics and beliefs as to the reasons why you do things you do. While i relate my ethics to the commandments some people relate them to human nature as to what is good and what is bad or what is right and what is wrong. i believe the world has came to some understanding of ethics because that is why there is punishment if you do not abide by the rules that is set which is called the law. so in my opinion ethics relates to everybody's own personal beliefs and standards of living.
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