{"id":256,"date":"2009-12-12T15:15:46","date_gmt":"2009-12-12T15:15:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/everydayethics\/2009\/12\/can-there-be-morals-without-religion.html"},"modified":"2009-12-12T15:15:46","modified_gmt":"2009-12-12T15:15:46","slug":"can-there-be-morals-without-religion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/everydayethics\/2009\/12\/can-there-be-morals-without-religion.html","title":{"rendered":"Can There Be Morals Without Religion?"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

One of our regular
\ncommenters, Steve Allen, recently wrote the following in response to Paddy’s post about buying the gender of your child<\/a>:<\/span><\/p>\n

To my way of thinking, we are EITHER
\naccidental accumulations of atoms, and our actions and experiences are without
\nmoral weight, OR “faith” as you put it, (ie that we were created by
\nGod) has a place, and our actions and experiences do matter.<\/span><\/p>\n

I cannot see the logic of the person who
\nasserts both that we evolved from the primordial soup and that we have any
\nmoral obligations to anyone at all.<\/span><\/p>\n

Personally, I am of the latter view –
\nthat we are ultimately accountable to the god who created us – and that means I
\nwould always let him choose the gender of my children, and that I’m pro-life.
\nThat’s because I believe he knows better than I do.<\/span><\/p>\n

I just had to respond, as I think this is one of the biggest and best questions this blog can address. First, Steve, I thank
\nyou for your thoughtful and ongoing contributions. Second, I heartily disagree.
\nI’ll explain my reasoning below, but first I’d like to encourage other readers
\nof this blog to weigh in, since this is such a central issue in the theory of ethics. I would
\nreally like to hear some other thoughts on the topic.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

For myself, I see
\nethics as easily separable from religion. Steve argues, if I’m understanding him aright, that we are accountable
\nultimately to God, and that that is the only true source of our morality and moral
\nobligations. Without a supreme being, our actions are meaningless: ‘without moral weight’. If we are accidental, we have no need to concern ourselves with ethics.<\/span><\/p>\n

I would argue, on the contrary, that our accountability to our fellow humans quite
\nsuffices to encourage our desire to behave in ways that ensure society functions
\nproperly. But more than that, I believe it’s in our nature as humans to want to
\ndo good (as well as bad). <\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n

I’m cynical enough to believe ‘good’ is a human construct, not an absolute, but I’m also hopeful enough about humanity to rest assured we all have something in us that responds to fairness, kindness, and a desire to treat others as we’d like to be treated. I believe right and wrong don’t have to be handed down from on high to have a place in our conduct.<\/span><\/p>\n

Without bringing thousands of years of philosophy into play (heck, we all know we could start with Plato’s Republic<\/a> and go on from there), I’ll just say that, for me, I choose to do what’s ‘right’ out of love for my fellow man, not because I fear being judged after death, and not for any particularly spiritual reason. I just respect and cooperate with others with whom I share space on this precious planet from an instinctive and yet carefully cultivated place in my consciousness that responds to my sense of what’s honorable and just. Whether it’s more universal than that – whether an absolute justice exists – doesn’t really matter to me.<\/p>\n

How about you? What forms the central font of your moral code?<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For myself, I see ethics as easily separable from religion. Steve argues, if I’m understanding him aright, that we are accountable ultimately to God, and that that is the only true source of our morality and moral obligations. Without a supreme being, our actions are meaningless: ‘without moral weight’. If we are accidental, we have…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":197,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,7,18,14,8,12,43],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-256","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-by-hillary-fields","category-ethics-morality","category-ethics-religious","category-ethics-theory","category-human-ethics","category-moral-ethics","category-religion"],"yoast_head":"\nCan There Be Morals Without Religion? - Everyday Ethics<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/everydayethics\/2009\/12\/can-there-be-morals-without-religion.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Can There Be Morals Without Religion? - Everyday Ethics\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"For myself, I see ethics as easily separable from religion. 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She attended St. John's College in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where she studied classics and philosophy, and then respectfully declined to spend the rest of her life in an ivory tower. Instead, she turned to the life of a writer and editor, penning three romance novels published by St. Martin's Press and contributing features to such periodicals as Cosmopolitan magazine. Her fascination with the moral dilemmas that crop up in everyday life--and the many intriguing ways people handle them--has always colored her writings. Now, that interest is leading her to take the discussion online; where, hopefully, the addition of reader feedback will bring these quotidian quandaries--and their potential solutions--vibrantly to life. When she's not plumbing the ethical mysteries of humanity, her passions include cooking (especially baking), origami, kittens, reading, watching really bad television and playing online scrabble. 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