Often people wonder and ask – how can atheists be morals? A believer’s morality comes from his belief in the book. Where does an atheist get his morality from? What is the base of an atheist’s morals? I had written about this in my first post about atheism. But I will try to explain it in a little detail here.

What are morals?
Dictionary entry says – morals are principles or habits with respect to right or wrong conduct. It is the motivation based on ideas of right and wrong. Knowing what is right and what is wrong are morals and to behave accordingly is morality. Doing something which is right, abstaining from doing something that is wrong.

But right and wrong are subjective terms. As such there is nothing right and nothing wrong for an atheist. Then how do I as an atheist conclude whether something is the right(good) thing to do and something is wrong(bad) thing to do?

The fundamental rule is – If I want to be treated in some way, I better treat others in the same way. Because if I don’t – I will be punished. And if I get punished doing something, it is bad for me to do and hence wrong.

I will try to explain this with the analogy of a murder – killing someone.

As an atheist I think killing someone is not right. It’s not that we don’t have the “right” to kill someone. In the eyes of law we might have rights to do something and not do something, but in nature there is no such thing as a “right” – authority to do something. Anyone is free to do anything. In the law of the land it might be wrong to kill someone but in the law of the nature we have the right to kill anyone, BUT its not right to kill anyone.

Why? Why as an Atheist I think it is not right to kill anyone?

If I want to be treated in some way, I better treat others in the same way. If I don’t want someone to kill me, I better not kill someone else! If your survival depends on killing others, then yes it is right to kill because you’ve gotta survive as much as the other one needs to. So in a such a situation, the Darwinian rule of Survival of the fittest prevails and The stronger, fitter one services.

When it comes to survival both the atheists and believers think it is right to kill. Look at terrorists, they kill innocents because they think it is right. It is right and they have a right – given by Allah. There have been crusades in past, Christians killed because it was a question of survival (of their faith). Killing is otherwise wrong. But when it comes to survival even gods permit it!

Under normal conditions – when its not a question of your survival – some of the right things become wrong. Like a murder. For a believer, murder under normal circumstances is wrong  – according to his holy book. As I mentioned above under normal circumstances murder is wrong even for an atheist. Why?

Law of the nature – every action has an equal and opposite reaction. If I slap someone I will get slapped back (Unless the one whom you are slapping a Gandhian!). If I rob someone’s house, he will catch me and beat me to death. If I harm someone, he will harm me. Cause and action, Action and reaction. That’s the base of an atheist’s morality.

As an atheist I know what is wrong and what is right, not because it is written in some book. Because I know if I do certain things, the consequences will be bad for me – these things are wrong. If something does not harm me, or benefits me – without harming someone else in a way that it has bad consequences for me – then its right! Simple. This does not mean that whatever is beneficial for me is right as well. Cheating somebody or robbing someone is definitely beneficial for me, but it is not right because if I get caught, the consequences will be bad for me. So it is wrong. Even if I don’t get caught, what I am doing is something I won’t like to happen with me. So what is bad for me is bad for others. You harm someone, you will be harmed in return. The “if” condition here is dangerous. It’s a risk. In normal circumstance (when its not a question of survival) the risk is not worth taking. There’s lot at stake. So it’s wrong!

But this means that certain things which are wrong for believers even under normal circumstances like gambling, earning an interest (for Muslims), Eating certain type of food (Pork for Muslims, beef for Hindus, non-kosher food for Jews), consuming alcohol, homosexuality, abortion, wearing certain types of clothes etc are not necessarily wrong for atheists. Some atheist might have certain objections to certain activities like I don’t like the idea of homosexuality but I am okay if someone around me is loving a person of the same sex. I don’t understand their psyche – I feel there’s some loose screw somewhere in their head, but I am just fine with them. I don’t hate them. It’s their individual preference. And I certainly don’t think it is wrong to be a homosexual.

So that’s my morality. An atheist’s morality. And most of my morals are not different than those of the believers. Its just that they don’t understand why something is right and something is wrong. They follow it just because it is written in the book. I know what is right and what is wrong and I know the reason WHY!

It’s the law of the nature – the law of the jungle that forces an atheist to act morally.