If we did a good act merely from love of God and a belief that it is pleasing to Him, whence arises the morality of the Atheist? …Their virtue, then, must have had some other foundation than the love of God.

-Thomas Jefferson, letter to Thomas Law, June 13, 1814

Where do atheists get their ethics and morals? First off, that is the wrong question. As I have already pointed out, atheist only tells you what someone is not. So for the question to have meaning, it must refer to a positive position, not a negative one. Most atheists are humanists, myself included, so that is the group we will be discussing, aka secular humanists.

In Sam Harris’ video that I shared a few weeks ago, he suggested that morality is or should be based on promoting human and animal wellbeing. I think this is ultimately where most humanists base their morality. It really is just an extension of the Golden Rule that has permeated human civilization for millennia. So let’s look at a few examples of how this relates to the real world:

We should help our neighbors. If your neighbor is trying to unload a heavy couch by himself, offer a hand.

We should give people fair and equal treatment, regardless of any distinction that may divide people, such as national origin, race, age, sexual orientation, gender, religion, disability, or any other difference you can find. Obviously this applies to jobs and government services, but this should extend to all rights and privileges afforded to citizens and residents of this great nation, yes, even marriage. It wasn’t all that long ago that people of different races couldn’t marry in much of the nation, and it wasn’t guaranteed until 1967. Yet it seems that in most of the US there is still one differentiation here that is discriminated against in this arena.

We should reduce suffering and promote healthy successful lives through medical advances, education, and charity. Scientific research is what has brought about the medicines we have today, this must continue. Comprehensive education is essential to give people a fair chance at success. And charity is a great way to give people that helping hand they need to start pulling themselves out of the squaller.

We should treat our planet responsibly so as to allow future generations the same privileges that we enjoy. Christianity has promoted an idea that the earth is ours to subdue, a view that is often distorted into thinking its ours to abuse. The belief in Christ’s second coming or the rapture or any other divine intervention in the coming years and decades has promoted a short sightedness about conservation. We need to focus on renewable resources, curb population growth, and reduce our impact on the environment if we want our great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandchildren to have a place to live.

In short, we should treat others how we would like to be treated, whether they live across the street, across the planet, or even across the eons.

There is a lot more, but I think you get the hint. Humanists have arrived at their moral positions through a reasoned analysis of observed consequences of actions. If you really want to simplify it, I want to be treated with dignity and respect and helped out when I need it, so I should pass that on to others.

It should not be surprising that most Christians are also humanists, whether they know it or not. So when it comes down to it, our morals are not that different. However, since atheist don’t have an afterlife, there is a greater impetus to make the here and now as good as it can be. We are simply good for goodness sake.

Here’s the upcoming post schedule:
Wednesday – A little more of my story, “Out of the Fog”
Friday – Some satire of my own composition.
Sunday – Is there such a thing as objective morality?