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Originally Posted by excon

Hello:

I'm an atheist. I believe there is an absolute right and wrong.

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What if your children are very hungry, and you have absolutely no money. Is it okay to steal food to feed them? Can theft be a fuzzy concept?

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The notion that morals ONLY come from God, is just not so.

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I agree. There is something inside of each of us apart from religion that will scream, "That's wrong!" Now, where does THAT come from?

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Originally Posted by Wondergirl

What if your children are very hungry, and you have absolutely no money. Is it okay to steal food to feed them? Can theft be a fuzzy concept?

I agree. There is something inside of each of us apart from religion that will scream, "That's wrong!" Now, where does THAT come from?

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Hello WG:

Nope. I'm a rigid man. I won't steal. It's not fuzzy to me. Maybe that's because at one time it was. I haven't always been this wonderful.

Where does the voice inside your head come from? The civilization gene. It might be the same one dad talked about.

excon

Excon,

What if you're in a life raft with six other people, and it's sinking. Do you agree with the others to throw out the fat lady?

WG

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Originally Posted by Wondergirl

What if you're in a life raft with six other people, and it's sinking. Do you agree with the others to throw out the fat lady?

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Hello again, WG:

Nahhh. We're in it together..

excon

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Originally Posted by Wondergirl

What if you're in a life raft with six other people, and it's sinking. Do you agree with the others to throw out the fat lady?

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Don't know, what does the bible say about that situation?

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Originally Posted by NeedKarma

Dunno, what does the bible say about that situation?

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Do unto others as you would have them do unto you?

WG, great questions, but I fail to see what they have to do with God.

Morals don't come from God. Being good doesn't come from God. It comes from within, from the person.

I think the amount of wonderful people on this site that are Atheists should be proof enough of that.

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Originally Posted by Altenweg

Morals don't come from God. Being good doesn't come from God. It comes from within, from the person.

I think the amount of wonderful people on this site that are Atheists should be proof enough of that.

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Atheists learn it from somewhere. Morals just don't spring up unbidden from inside a person. Freud nailed with his id and superego theories.

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Originally Posted by Wondergirl

Do unto others as you would have them do unto you?

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Great, that's what I follow too. That advice transcend religion as pretty much every religion has a mention of that social rule.

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Originally Posted by Wondergirl

Atheists learn it from somewhere. Morals just don't spring up unbidden from inside a person.

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Agreed. They come from one's upbringing, usually their parents.

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Originally Posted by Wondergirl

Atheists learn it from somewhere. Morals just don't spring up unbidden from inside a person. Freud nailed with his id and superego theories.

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That may be true, but obviously they didn't learn morals from God. People can be moral without God. They can do the right thing without God.

How would they have learned morals from God when they don't believe? It's not like God plays a physical role in anyone's life. Believing in God is all about the bible, organized religion, being taught in church what you should believe. An atheist doesn't have access to those things, so won't learn morals from that source.

There are good people out there that aren't good because of any "God" influence. To suggest that only God can make you moral is simply not true.

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Originally Posted by Altenweg

That may be true, but obviously they didn't learn morals from God. People can be moral without God. They can do the right thing without God.

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Why are you beating that to death? I've already said earlier in this thread (to excon, I believe) that I agree that morals don't have to be from God.

But any of us, atheists included, have to LEARN morality from SOMEwhere. Being moral is not a given, is not automatic.

WG,
There are just as many immoral people who are religious as there are who aren't religious. Would you agree?

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Originally Posted by NeedKarma

WG,
There are just as many immoral people who are religious as there are who aren't religious. Would you agree?

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Define "religious."

Would say that they believe in a god.

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Originally Posted by Wondergirl

Why are you beating that to death? I've already said earlier in this thread (to excon, I believe) that I agree that morals don't have to be from God.

But any of us, atheists included, have to LEARN morality from SOMEwhere. Being moral is not a given, is not automatic.

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I didn't see the post were you said that the Exy. Can I ask why you keep posting scenarios where moral choices are involved? What are your questions leading to? Why ask them if you agree that you don't need God to have morals?

Your questions were what lead me to post what I did. That's why I was "beating it to death".

If it wasn't your intention to prove that God teaches morals, than I apologize. I guess this is what happens when I only get 3 hours of sleep. ;)

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Originally Posted by NeedKarma

Would say that they believe in a god.

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Well, that leaves it wide open! That god could be their paycheck or their children or an older brother.

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Originally Posted by Wondergirl

Well, that leaves it wide open! That god could be their paycheck or their children or an older brother.

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Ok, I can let you define the word religious. Go for it.

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Originally Posted by Altenweg

I didn't see the post were you said that the Exy. Can I ask why you keep posting scenarios where moral choices are involved? What are your questions leading to? Why ask them if you agree that you don't need God to have morals?

Your questions were what lead me to post what I did. That's why I was "beating it to death".

If it wasn't your intention to prove that God teaches morals, than I apologize. I guess this is what happens when I only get 3 hours of sleep. ;)

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I accept your apology. I have absolutely NO intention of proving God teaches morals. My question is, where do people learn about morals if not from God. Exy answered that quite nicely. Freud did too. The scenarios I posted were for Exy, and he responded to them very thoughtfully and aptly.

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Originally Posted by Wondergirl

My question is, where do people learn about morals if not from God. Exy answered that quite nicely. Freud did too.

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And I did too: https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/2639856-post30.html :)