Morality and Atheism

Being moral relates to the principles of right and wrong, while encouraging one's ethical judgment (Merriam-Webster, 2013). While one's beliefs in a higher power can play an essential role in one's moral belief, this is not the same for everyone. There are many people that do not conform to faith/religion or believe in any type of higher power, or deity. If there is a God, one that controls what happens in the universe, why is there a multitude of terrible things happening in everyday life? Why are there earthquakes, wildfires, tornados and all other natural disasters that take the lives of the innocent? Why would someone that controls life place murders and rapists into society, what it the "need" for such monsters? If one does not believe in a God or higher power, then it's easy for those individuals to see that one does not need to believe in God yet they can still hold moral beliefs. God does not "bring" one onto earth already knowing right from wrong, the principles of right and wrong are taught and learned throughout one's childhood and impacted by those that one surrounds him/herself with during the course of their life. Therefore, there are people that do not believe in God while holding moral beliefs as being moral is essentially just knowing right from wrong, which can be taught rather than being embedded in one by God or another higher power. There is a long history of religions, moral education pertaining to religion and those that do not practice religion, as well as ethics. Nevertheless, there are many that disagree with these beliefs; many say that those that do not conform to religion are immoral and the representation of evil. C.S. Lewis is one of many people that argued, and continue to argue, that morals need God. He believed that one could not have morals without a godly foundation for said morals; it's hard to manage morals without a belief in God. The Catholic Church is firm in its beliefs that morality is protected by the natural law but religion holds more of a dependable support. There are people all over the world who believe that being atheist and having morals is justified; all people need is the belief in him or herself, strong ethics and the knowledge to determine what is right and what is wrong. One can be moral and not believe in God.

Morality is not specific to religion. There are other aspects of philosophy that relates to morality outside of religion, such as secular morality. A part of secular morality from ancient philosophy is skepticism; "man is the measure of all things" which means that ultimately, man is responsible for his decisions (Omoregbe, 2007). There are many that believe that there is a greater concern with human integrity without giving the credit to deities. Other philosophers have varying ideas on how right and wrong is determined, such as Immanuel Kant and his categorical imperative. "The Categorical Imperative is devised by Kant to provide a formulation by which we can apply our human reason to determine the right, the rational thing to do -- that is our duty" (Pecorino, 2002). Actions are only deemed as moral if they could be duplicated by man. Morality is learned from a young age throughout one's lifetime. Children believe and act how they do because of their upbringing. Punishing young children when wrong is done does not teach them what is right and what is wrong but teaches them to handle situations with force instead of taking situations as a learning experience. As toddlers, we imitate what adults do in situations we are unfamiliar with. If someone is hurt and an adult is sympathetic and nurturing, children pick up on that. If adults are rude and hurtful, children pick up on that too. Morality starts at a young age and only truly sets in if taught by those around what is right and wrong and how to handle every situation appropriately.

There has always been a tie between religion and morality; religious views and morals have been taught to go hand-in-hand. Religions outlines right from wrong through holy books, traditions and leaders of various religions. Some of these outlines included are the Canon Law, Halacha and the Eightfold Path (Epstein, 2009). However, some religions do differentiate between morality and religion instead of grouping them together as one. The Westminster Dictionary of Christian Ethics (1986) says:

For many religious people, morality and religion are the same or inseparable; for them either morality is part of religion or their religion is their morality. For others, especially for nonreligious people, morality and religion are distinct and separable; religion may be immoral or non-moral, and morality may or should be non-religious. Even for some religious people the two are different and separable; they may hold that religion should be moral and morality should be, but they agree that they may not be.

Catholicism beliefs state that morality is established through natural law, a body of unchanging moral principles regarded as a basis for all human conduct (Merriam-Webster), but religion gives a more reliable foundation. There was discrimination against atheists testifying in court because they were seen as immoral, with no reason to be truthful. Natural law is the foundation for people to build a moral guide specified to themselves, their life and their choices, although there is not cohesive "rules" of morality like there is when one takes the morality of their religion. Religious morality does not suit each individual in society, however; many people live their lives in their way which would require their moral beliefs to be altered to their beliefs. Atheists are capable of behaving morally and living their lives in a moral fashion without being told what is "necessary" according to God.

Religion is a choice. Everyone has a choice to be religious in which they choose what religion to conform to or to be an atheist, a person that does not believe in a God or higher power. Many atheists fail to see evidence that there is in fact a God. There is no evidence of God, no concrete evidence that God ever existed. If He created the universe and everything is a creation of something, how was God himself created? Many jump to the conclusion of God because that's what they're taught to do and because there is no true explanation of the creation of the world, just many theories that differ from God to what's known as The Big Bang Theory. With all the inconsistencies referring to God, his origin and his work between many different religions, what is the real truth about God? To some, science outweighs beliefs. There is an abundance of tragic things that happen in day to day life that puts the doubts in the minds of so many such as poverty, abuse, murder, rape and natural disasters that take the lives of the innocent.

Morality is natural