Atheism and ethics
Regarding atheism and morality, atheism generally does not adhere to morality, with ethics ultimately being an extension of morality.Atheism, Ethics, and Immorality At least one atheist, Joel Marks, freely acknowledged that morality doesn't exist precisely because he believes God doesn't exist, and in that sense, agreed with Christianity that if God doesn't exist, morality doesn't exist.The amorality of atheim Even arch-atheist philosopher Friedrich Nietzche ultimately acknowledged that without God, no one can truly know morality.Nietzsche slaps down Dawkins on the illusion of atheist morality by Dr. Joel McDurmon Any attempts at making morality through human lenses would also come across as subjective ultimately, despite what atheists argue.[1] Although atheism claims that they can be as moral as a religious person, their tendency to demand radical social change as well as promoting euthanasia and genocide proves otherwise.Does being an atheist interfere with being moral?
The bioethics chair Peter Singer once stated that human babies have no more a right to life than pigs and chimpanzees. Owing to this, atheists generally have little problem with either eugenics or using aborted embryos as fuel for heating hospitals.Would human life be sacred in an atheist world? As such, a large part of their beliefs in these actions, and their amorality, is due to their belief in determinism.Does Atheism (Determinism) Negatively Impact Morality?
In addition, atheists compared to evangelicals are statistically more likely to engage in various sins such as viewing pornography, profanity in public, gossiping, drunkenness, with only gambling, sexual intercourse with a non-spouse, retaliation, and lying's statistics being unclear.Atheism Doesn't Lead to Immoral Behavior - Or Does It?
In addition, while atheist claim they have better ethics because it isn't for a reward, there's debate whether being motivated by evolutionary determinism is a good reason to do good.Being Good “For Nothing” — Does That Make Atheist Ethics Better Than Christian? There's also evidence that their ethics rely on "ends justify the means", the opposite of what God decrees as ethics.Questions on Atheism, Ethics, and Marital Conflict
While atheists make ephismestal arguments for morality, they do not provide an ontological premise for ethics.Atheism and ethics
In fact, the closest they have to morality and ethics is via Darwinism and utilitarianism,Secular Morality and tend to argue that religion is responsible for the evils of the world.The Moral Evaluation of Religion Atheists tend to confuse order of knowing for order of being regarding ethics and morality, and as such, Darwinism and evolution are not good substitutes for morality.God, Naturalism, and the Foundations of Morality In addition, while atheists generally agree that moral relativism is never a good way to determine morality, various attempts at creating objective morality apart from God such as Richard Dawkin's The Selfish Gene as well as Walter-Sinnot Armstrong's position that objective morality simply "is", and Michael Ruse and Edward Wilson's position that it is an evolutionary illusion also proved to have disastrous implicationsAtheists and the Quest for Objective Morality. Similarly, the atheists tend to mistake survival rules for morality.[2]
Sources
Secular sources:
Additional sources:
- God, Naturalism, and the Foundations of Morality by Paul Copan
- Atheists and the Quest for Objective Morality by Chad Meister
- The amorality of atheim by Rob Smith
- Can we be good without God? by William Lane Craig]
- Atheism and ethics and morality by Ken Ammi
- Atheist explanations of morality and common sense
- Does being an atheist interfere with being moral? by Lydia McGrew
- Nietzsche slaps down Dawkins on the illusion of atheist morality by Dr. Joel McDurmon