Atheism Myths: #4: Atheists Lack Objective Moral Standards

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This presentation dispels the extremely common misconception that atheists do not believe in any kind of absolute, objective moral standards. Believing in a god or gods is not necessary to arrive at morality, and there exist numerous well-developed secular approaches to ethics.
Essays referred to in the presentation: Morality Does Not Require Religion: http://rationalargumentator.com/issue87/moralityreligion.html Incentives for Moral Behavior: http://rationalargumentator.com/issue94/incentivesmoralbehavior.html

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Im atheist, I think ... ( 3 months ago by flubno)

Im atheist, I think this guy is kinda a douche, any way morality to me is just people being nice vs people being mean. We have this one life & then we are dead for ever, i dont believe in the after life.I want this one life to be a nice one. I dont want to live my life drowning in viloence.This world is custom made for viloence & will be happy to acomidate you. That is why im a nice person. For me there is nothing Godly or Mystical about it. Morality excisted long before Religion.

That's good reading ... ( 3 months ago by frankea)

That's good reading, John Locke's belief in god wasn't him being an atheist and cannibals are not atheists either.

Completely disagree ... ( 3 months ago by threehotdogs3)

Completely disagree. If atheists think that there is no after life, no reason to do the right thing, then what is the point? If there is no heaven and no hell, then why bother to tell the truth or be a good person?
Religiong creates moral standards and responsibility to do the right thing. Atheism creates violence and sin. So sorry to tell you this, but you're going to hell since your have no perception of sin and the right thing.

you sound scary ... ( 3 months ago by doritobound5)

you sound scary when you talk

Very interesting ... ( 3 months ago by scooterdooter)

Very interesting and well-researched, but not delivered in a manner I believe to be apropos to the video format. Much better as an audio-cast, or even a nicely-formatted web page. Yes, it's possible to be moral from an atheist position, and highly immoral from a theist one (ah, the Crusades, good times, good times...). Morality can be derived from a number of compassionately logical point of view. One thing you atheists miss is that you are viewed as being unemotional. Admit you care!

sorry to tell you ... ( 3 months ago by Dizigen)

sorry to tell you this, but you're a retard. Atheism morality derives from logic and reasoning. The very notion of doing good for the sake of doing good and not because God tells you to is alot less sinful then sucking up to God in order to go to Heaven. Intrinsic moral worth is completely inspired by Atheism, and if the only reason you don't kill people is that God says not to, then you're a brain dead moron and you've completely missed the point of God, logic and the point of humanity.

You should take the ... ( 3 months ago by AngusBull2112)

You should take the time to look into the camera more often (I only counted one time), you make it way too obvious you're reading from your computer screen. It probably wouldn't hurt to put in a few pictures, graphs, or animations that relate to the subject. That video almost put me to sleep...

I agree but goddamn ... ( 3 months ago by StigmatiX)

I agree but goddamn, look at the camera!!!!

Three - Some people ... ( 3 months ago by Lunarsight)

Three - Some people realize the benefit of doing good without needing a reward like heaven to get them to do it.
They realize that basic rules are needed to keep society functioning properly. The whole "do unto others" thing logically does make sense. If I don't want people to (intentionally) drive me down with their cars, then I shouldn't drive them down with my car. "For every action, there is an equa
l and opposite reaction."

Wait...so following ... ( 3 months ago by threehotdogs3)

Wait...so following the 10 commandments (which tell us to do good moral things) is sucking up? Wow...I'm glad you put that in perspective. So next time I don't lie and don't steal, I'll remember I'm just a stupid brown-noser. Thanks.
I don't kill people because it's wrong. And I wasn't born thinking that. No one was. It was God and religion that taught me killing, lying, stealing, and other immoral things are wrong. Are most serial killers very religious Christians? I hightly doubt it.

It's not about ... ( 3 months ago by threehotdogs3)

It's not about rewards. It's that atheists don't need to have moral actions if there is no consequence.
Atheists are sick.

Well, there are ... ( 3 months ago by Lunarsight)

Well, there are consequences - that's just it.
If I go and kill somebody dead, there are definitely consequences, hell or not. Even there were no imprisonment, retribution isn't exactly pleasant either. Of course, you know this - I take it the only reason you're trolling here is because the Hannah Montana fans got bored with your antics. =)

"even if there were ... ( 3 months ago by Lunarsight)

"even if there were no imprisonment.."

I'm "trolling" here ... ( 3 months ago by threehotdogs3)

I'm "trolling" here because I'm a very faithful catholic and atheists are disturbing people who for the most part don't have the morals that they should.
Even if you just lie, instead of murder, there is no consequence for you. The lie is told and thats it. But for Christians lying is a sin and is wrong. Ten commandments teach us that lying is wrong and immoral. Atheists would see nothing wrong in this. Religion creates morals. Atheism creates ser
ial killers and dictatorships.

Of course there's a ... ( 3 months ago by Lunarsight)

Of course there's a consequence for lying.
If you get caught too often, people stop believing you. Who needs hell when you have that?

Oh - and ... ( 3 months ago by Lunarsight)

Oh - and incidentally. Anybody who takes Three too seriously may want to have a look at his profile. =)

Name one atheist ... ( 3 months ago by Dizigen)

Name one atheist dictator. Last I checked all dictators were faith based. The pope is a dictator of the Catholic Church. I'm an atheist, I enjoy listening to music, I pay my taxes, I have a family and I enjoy life. I don't bleed black and my soul isn't a dark hiatus, and believe me, I've fucked less little boys than the next catholic priest. Please get your facts straight before insulting someone else's view because I'm tolerating the Nazi Youth you call pope way more than you're respecting me.

To be 100% truthful ... ( 2 months ago by ladyboyloadsdotcom)

To be 100% truthful if I believed in god fully and saw a homeless man in the gutter I would not bother to help him. I would think to myself god has a purpose for him being there and if he wants him saved he will.
As an atheist I want to help all those in need because I KNOW there is no god to save them. So the reality for me is as a believer I would behave far worse then as an atheist

You yourself ... ( 2 months ago by Cafeeine)

You yourself admitted that if there is not afterlife, you don't see a reason to be a good person. Therefore you think that people behave like good people because of the afterlife, and the only reason for it is to get to the 'good' afterlife. Its like the kid who behaves and studies hard because his dad promised him a pony.

"It's that atheists ... ( 2 months ago by Cafeeine)

"It's that atheists don't need to have moral actions if there is no consequence." And yet we do have morals, and that's something you just can't understand, can you?

I wouldn't go that ... ( 2 months ago by Cafeeine)

I wouldn't go that far. There are many moral people because of a religious upbringing. Most people do not delve into deep theological issues. A vague "there is a God, I believe in Him, and he told me to love and help my neighbour" is a basis of a good & moral life, even if he's wrong about the god thing. This isn't where the problem with religion lies.

Hi Threehotdogs, ... ( 1 month ago by jamesstephenbrown)

Hi Threehotdogs, One question. Why is it important to you that we have objective moral values? And why do you find it "disturbing" if someone seems to have none?

"Are most serial ... ( 1 month ago by jamesstephenbrown)

"Are most serial killers very religious Christians? I hightly doubt it." LOL, perhaps you should check with real stats before you go saying ridiculous statements like this. From what we see of high-school shootings at least extreme religious views seem to play a part, as they do with suicide bombers, the majority of prison inmates, and child abusers... But hey, I'm only talking facts, and you clearly have no consideration for those.

Just because you ... ( 5 days ago by dasquirrel715)

Just because you believe in a certain set of morals to be always true, or your certain set of morals work the best, doesn't mean that they are objective.

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