To You Atheists, If No God Exists To Be Obeyed, How Do You Expect Us To Be Obligated To Be Good?

If good is good, then why must people feel obligated to do it. By definition, you should do good because it is good. When people say that atheism will lead to rampant immorality, it is clear that they do not really believe that good is good.

To many, "doing good" is painful and boring, so if there is no God promising heaven and hell, then you might as well "sin" because "sin" is fun. I get the feeling that many "religious" people do not really believe in the morals that they claim to profess. hubpages.com/hub/Creation-Evolution-Debate.

Myself, I don't listen to any authorities - I just do what has worked in the past and brought me the best results.

The question shows as if all those who believe GOD are like school kids who behave good only in the presence of their teacher, the GOD. Believing GOD is like having a walking stick, to support us when we need and no one around to help us. A moral support.

Otherwise, humanity is the one that keeps the human race going. By the way, I am not an atheists and very much have belief on GOD. But, that is not the reason for me being Good.It is my self conscious that keeps me good.

Because I am not an atheist, I hesitated answering this question. I suppose my answer is more directed to the wisdom of asking this question in the first place. If, by asking an atheist a question about proof of God's existence, the intent is to try and somehow persuade them to believe in God with a persuasive argument, it is unlikely going to happen.

If the question is asked in order to make a believer in God seem superior to an atheist, we miss the heart of the God we claim exists. If the question is asked to try and pull someone who is on the fence about God's existence, over to the side that believes in God...a question such as this will not likely have that result. As a believer in God, I would hope all would find the freedom that is offered in Jesus (apart from religious strongholds both of the past and present) by being free of the brokenness that comes from living in a fallen world.It is what Jesus died for, because he loved us while we were still 'sinners'.

If an atheist holds to "being good" apart from God, we should be glad. He or she will be civil, refrain from attack and harm of others, and allow us to leave in peace as any good person would do.In fact, I would encourage ALL of us to live the "good life"as Jesus described in Luke 6:27-36:"But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also.

If someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic. Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you.

If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you?

Even 'sinners' do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' lend to 'sinners,' expecting to be repaid in full.

But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

A final thought-1 Corinthians 2:4- My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power.

Wow, its hard to believe that some people would just innately be bad. The answer is, you should be good because being good is good. Like, you should help sick people, because they are sick.In general, you should do what you would want others to do to you.

It is a peculiar morality which bases its ethical force on the existence of a supernatural being approving of the actions. If your moral code has any meaning for you, then that should suffice in justifying your actions because the morality explicitly informs you of right and wrong. If, without the presence of a supernatural being, you cannot tell whether or not your morality supports good and right actions, it isn't any form of morality, but only a set of beliefs that you follow.

Morality isn't based on a set of beliefs but on moral reasoning. Things are good or bad, right or wrong, because of some reason. For example, you would feel it was wrong to steal not because some supernatural being said so, but because you can empathise with someone who has had something stolen and feel the way they would.

That gives you a shared understanding of the consequence of your actions and that is what gives you your moral values. Morality based in common understanding and shared experience is reliable, resilient, and explicit in its reasons. A behaviour code based on belief in a supernatural being can't be explicit and has to be dogmatic.

That is exactly why jihadis can feel it is absolutely moral to blow themselves up in a public place - because their supernatural being tells them so. A morality based on shared experience and empathy on the other hand can't let this sort of behaviour claim to be moral. The ethics of real practical experience demands much higher standards of behaviour.

Atheists have a much stronger morality than one based on faith. They have much higher personal standards and they are good because of their social understanding and empathy and that's why you should be good too. You have no need of supernatural beings to develop a strong and resilient sense of morality.

You'll find, if you look, that people who are atheistic know that all they have is faith in humanity. I'm not talking about governments here and the wars they wage; I'm talking about people. Most atheists are ethical and moral people.

They believe that the welfare of the human race is in our hands. To attribute our goodness to a "threat" with consequences for not being obedient, is childlike. Come to think of it, it reminds me of the Tooth Fairy; the Easter Bunny and Santa Claus.

It seems absurd to me that you would only treat me well because your deity told you to do so. Does that mean that if the bible siad nothing about being kind to thy neighbor that you would then feel it is alright? Perhaps you should learn to think and reason for your self before seeking religion.

It is the whole weak minded element of organized religion that turns me off. Sheeple waiting to be led. If your God gave us free will, and the ability to produce rational thought, does he really have to instruct you on how you should act; after all "God helps those who help themselves".

The reason why people are giving you snide answers to this question is because it has been asked and answered many times before. Sometimes Google is more efficient than Hubpages. Try Google first.

Because it is the right thing to do. One doesn't need a god for common sense but rather an understanding of the difference between right and wrong. Humans invented what is proper behavior and humans are the one responsible for how they act.

Athiests don't use god to justify their acts which in turn makes them stronger people.

Imagine if you get caught in a web of lies, you'll feel pretty rotten, not because of some supernatural being marking it down in your permanent record but because of the social stress it creates. Society is what obligates us to behave certain ways and to not behave in others. Good is just a term we've given to behaviors that are either beneficial to society or individuals in society or who's benefits outweigh the risks.

Bad and Evil are the other side of that, they are labels for the harmful things that hurt others or are detrimental to a society. Furthermore we are taught morals fairly early on by our parents. So rather than obeying just to avoid a negative after-life or karma-like comeuppance we can obey to avoid causing harm to others.

We should ask all the people in the most non-religious countries in the world, who also have the lowest crime rates, what their motivation is. Also reading "The Moral Landscape" by Sam Harris is useful. Good is better if it isn't done for fear of hell or to earn brownie points with the god or gods, no?

Being "good" has value to the well-being of the individual and species. There are consequences for "bad" behavior, aside from laws, such as being ostracized from one's social system. Therefore most (but not all, under any set of rules) people will be "good" a fair amount of the time.

From:vexen.co.uk/religion/freewill.html#1 - God cannot have free will. A benevolent god always chooses the path that causes most good so therefore has no real choice. #2 - If God, angels and other beings in heaven have free will where there is no evil or suffering, then it cannot be true that god lets evil exist because it is a required side-effect of free will.

#3 - God did not make the Universe or there is no Godhttp://hubpages.com/hub/ChaosFreeWill.

Well let me tell you a TRUE story about myself......My wife, just last month, threatened to sleep around with LOTS of men if I don't give her my WHOLE paycheque every week. She also said that she will have sex with my beloved Pastor if I don't empty out all my personal bank accounts and transfer all my savings to her. And this one made me REALLY SCARED.....she said that I will spend an eternity in Hell if I don't transfer my half of the house and cottage into her name alone!

I tell ya.....the only way I was able to solve this dilemma was to OBEY her and DO AS I WAS TOLD! And thank God that option was even available to me. Now I can sleep soundly at night without any stress or fear.

And now I feel VERY PROUD....everyone tells me I'm such a kind person!

We're not obligated to be good or evil;, it's our own decision. I for one find it very disturbing that the notion of God practically forces us to be 'good' because otherwise we will receive a punishment in the form of eternal damnation. But what the church sees as good and the real meaning of the word, are 2 totally differrent things.So practically obeying God doesn't obligate you to be good(Inquisition, Crusades, etc), it obligates us to conform with the moral values imposed by the church, it obligates us to respect, and to praise the Church's vision of good, not the supreme good(which actually is impossible:(.)In conclusion being an atheist an agnostic, or just a skeptic actually offers you more freedom, while obeying the Bible blindly, narrows your views on the world.

Blind faith is the world's most effective prison, a prison of the soul.P. S: A little riddle for you:If God is almighty, can he create a stone so heavy, than even he himself cannot lift up?

The question is a typical of stupid religious wacko questions. Since it is ngureco asking it, I don't know if serious or not. But if you really WANT an answer, look at the others' answers here.

Religious wackos cannot conceive of any thoughts or answers outside of their dogmas.

To you Christians, how can a Christian ever know that he is good or not. If you do good in hope of Heaven or fear of Hell it's not a good deed, it's an investment for the future and completely selfish. Christianity, and all the Abrahamic religions, don't allow you to be a man at all, but only a non-thinking, non-responsible idiot pulled by Big Daddy's apron strings.

Maybe Christians need to grow up and take responsibility for themselves.

First off, I'm not an atheist; but I have to warn you that your question is very insulting to atheist. Right is right if nobody is doing it, and wrong is wrong if everyone is doing it.. .. The prejudicial and un-Christ like manner with which so many individuals who CLAIM to be Christians in today's world is WHY we have so many atheist. My personal opinion is that atheist do not even exists... They are individuals in denial, but that's also an unpopular opinion...

I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.