Where do atheists get their morality?

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nofearfactor

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Morality (from the Latin moralitas "manner, character, proper behavior") is the differentiation of intentions, decisions, and actions between those that are good or right and those that are bad or wrong. Morality can be a body of standards or principles derived from a code of conduct from a particular philosophy, religion, or culture, or it can derive from a standard that a person believes should be universal. Morality may also be specifically synonymous with "goodness" or "rightness."

Moral philosophy includes moral ontology, or the origin of morals, as well as moral epistemology, or what is known about morals. Different systems of expressing morality have been proposed, including deontological ethical systems which adhere to a set of established rules, and normative ethical systems which consider the merits of actions themselves. An example of normative ethical philosophy is the Golden Rule which states that, "One should treat others as one would like others to treat oneself."

Immorality is the active opposition to morality (i.e. opposition to that which is good or right), while amorality is variously defined as an unawareness of, indifference toward, or disbelief in any set of moral standards or principles.
 

TwoForFlinching

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Morality is not exclusive to religion, though some people have never been taught different.

I don't think it's foolish to believe in magic and junk... Our founding fathers intended all to believe what they want.
 

Okie4570

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Personally whenever I can't tell the difference between right and wrong I just commit the confusing act and wait for a religious person to tell me if it was wrong.

Telling you that it was wrong, is what a religious hypocritical person would do..............not all Christians are like that.........
 

Lurker66

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I dont think Morals come from God, rather they've evolved and we've adapted.

Even the definition of murder has changed over time. The one constant I see is it's usually considered immoral to lie or be deceitful but even then there are times lying is acceptable.
 

Permanent37

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You don't have to live your life based on an ancient book to have morals. In fact, most people with twisted morals are religious. Muslims are taught to wage war against all non believers and most Christians pick and choose what parts of the bible they want to listen to. Most atheists just strive to not be assholes to each other and I guess it is working well for them. I don't think I've ever heard of a group of atheists shooting up a school, beheading anyone, or breeding hatred against any particular group of people. Most of the issues in this country and around the world are all rooted in religion. I assume that atheists are just sitting back and enjoying the show.


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cjjtulsa

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I get ya.

I dunno, I must run in the right circles. I know Muslims, Christians, etc etc... and we all just get along. Never see much of the nasty stuff that makes any particular one of them look bad. I know there are some pretty disgusting ones out there, but I've never had a problem with any of them.

Most folks I know of all religions (and no religions) are pretty decent. They just do the same stuff, but some like to pretend that it's OK, so long as they have a caveat.
 

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