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 I always find this idea absurd. People do not need to believe in a religion to be a well-behaved person but many of the people think that people must have religious beliefs to be a good person. What are your opinions of this question ?

Religion does not give a person morality, religion gives a person the ability to override morality, so that they can commit atrocities

One of the great tragedies of mankind is that morality has been hijacked by Religion. So now people assume that Religion and morality have a necessary connection. But the basis of morality is really VERY simple and doesn't require religion at all. "Arthur C. Clarke"

It is a old way of thinking in my opinion.

Back in the old days the reason why we didn't commit awful acts was due to the fear of the devil and punishment in the afterlife. You have to think that religion has been around for 100's of years and our civilizations were not always as law abiding as it is today.

Humans are always evolving and now with the big crimes we are taught due to humanities sake not to commit them.

I think now it has turned on it's head and by sticking to religious texts actually do not fit into our society as we have developed passed them.

Atheism in itself is a religion. That is why they are being judge according to their religion. Their religion is to completely deny that there is a God. It is as if you are an Artificial Intelligence(AI) and you deny that you were programmed.

it's part of religions having the in-built tendency to think they are 'correct', in an absolute sense.  like my idea is right and yours is wrong.  so then it's a natural extension to think that i have morals and you don't!

truth is, of course many atheists have high morals... and many do not!

İn general people who think like this do not have moral principles.Because atheists defend morality.But believers are hiding behind their faith.they do not understand that something can be done without fear or an interest.

Our belief is not a belief. Our principles are not a faith. We do not rely soley upon science and reason, because these are necessary rather than sufficient factors, but we distrust anything that contradicts science or outrages reason. We may differ on many things, but what we respect is free inquiry, openmindedness, and the pursuit of ideas for their own sake. -Christopher Hitchens, god is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOHgrnaTxk0

Atheism is everyone's thinking, as well as moral principles, and not interconnected. Therefore, there are many options, but most importantly everything depends on the person himself.

I don't agree with that neither. The fact that atheists don't believe in God doesn't make them immoral. In fact sometimes atheists are even more human than religious people

because many people think that atheist is a lazy person but my opinion is atheist is smart because god does not exist.

Atheists tend to be more intelligent than religious people. A new review of 63 scientific studies stretching back over decades has concluded that religious people are less intelligent than non-believers!

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/religious-people-are-less-intelligent-than-atheists-according-to-analysis-of-scores-of-scientific-8758046.html

http://www.iflscience.com/brain/study-suggests-atheists-are-more-intelligent-because-they-can-override-religious-instinct-/

It is hard taking a person serious that beleives we all were created by a man sitting on a cloud....

I think that it is because we always have the wrong notion for peiple who do not believe on a higher being or even to some extent to people who have different beliefs as purs. BUt what is really important is we try to keep an open mind as they are still people and no matter the difference they have humanity. Sometimes much more than people who have beliefs.

It's not so much that Atheists don't have morals, rather there can be no absolute morality without God's existence. If God isn't real, then morals or ethics are relative to everyone or each society. People who believe in God are taught to follow a set of rules which are said to come from a god.  they don’t realize that others (i.e. secular humanists) are able to make rules based on how they affect human lives and the world at large. They also assume that atheists and other religions are amoral because they have different ethical systems.

I agree with you entirely. Some religious people tend to be too judgemental when it comes to religion. I think more than what you do to yourself, what you do to others defines you more. It doesn't matter if you have a specific god you worship, what matters is how you treat everyone around you.

This is a good question indeed - people who would not be able to be human without religion wonder how others actually can very well manage that.

But, I am more noted in the moral principles of ethical egoism. Thus, according to those who are atheists this moral principle of the goodness of attitude and life must also be held. The term is the golden role.



first: they do good, because they also want to get good treatment from others. For example, they want to love others, in the hope that they will get similar treatment when faced with similar life circumstances. they also do not want to disturb others, in the hope they will not be disturbed. Because, in the goodness of man does not want to interfere with each other. They do not want to be betrayed in the hope of being betrayed by those they trust too.



the second: they want to do good because others like goodness. Thus, the forms of solidarity, friendship, friendship are built on this basis. For example a guy when want to have a girl, then do the best possible to please the girl. to gain praise, recognition, and thus their social rewards have a moral obligation to do or have good principles.



The third, those who are rational humanist principles then think that he needs a good social environment. social goodness can only be achieved if all the smallest elements that build it also have good principles as well. They are part of the 'universe' goodness.



that is, finally they see that there is no reason to see that those who with their honesty can not find God in religion, even then proclaiming themselves as atheists are entitled to commit a crime. on the contrary, they question who gives legitimate rights to the religious to judge them as those who deserve to go to hell ?

Yes, some believe that, but when you look at news broadcasts you often see religious people often committing crimes or being involved in wars.

I agree. Ypu don't have to have a religion for you to have morals. I think even when it comes to percentages, people who belong religions are even less moral than atheists. It doesn't take believing in any diety to know what's right and what's wrong.

most of the people think that if a person talks about God, then he has a conscience...but this is very abstract who and how understands God...someone can talk about God and kill.. and someone can call themselves an atheist and feed every day animals and engage in charity...you need to look at the actions of a person and draw conclusions

Even though religion show how people should really behave in their holy books, it doesn't mean that its the real reason why people are mostly morally upright in the first place. A child will know what is wrong from what is right and it doesn't take religion to show the child that at all.

I don't believe that their is morality or ethics without god, only fear of consequences from other people..

If their is no god then what is the point of being "good" other than fear of the law or community rejection/retaliation?

Like, even if I knew I would 100% get away with it in the eyes of man, I wouldn't shoot someone in their head and take all of their money.. If their is no god then why wouldn't you??

If you knew you would get away with it as far as human society, why would you not steal and kill if their is no god?

I believe in god and if you think that makes me any less of a person then good for you.. I could care less..

But I don't believe in "good" without a god, because if their is no such thing as god then their is no such thing as evil..

I wouldn't say it is exclusive to atheists, all religions think that their set of moral principals it the correct and true way that life should exist. That does not make any of them right. It is history that built up in a certain way, using religion as a form of "common law" the early ages, leading us to the world we inhabit today. It is a relatively new concept not to follow any religion, pagans across the British Isles were considered immoral by the Romans, but that was a different type of spiritual guidance.

I don't believe atheists have no moral principles. Morality is a wide range scope in humanity.
If an atheist a father he knows exactly what is the right thing  to do to his son or daughter, doing good to fellows,  etc, those things is the act of morality. And also Morality is not built by religion, it is religion built by people with their own pattern of morality

People seems doesn't want to understand something they doesn't know. So they will judge it. Yeah you know its just easy if you just judging something.

For me atheist believe that there is ni God and generally it is already a belief. Back to the question, maybe because some people thinks that atheist has no biblical rule that is guiding them but in fact you dont need any rule to be humane. Just try to respect each persons idea.

Basically, humans have limited knowledge in many things,
both about the visible and the unseen, and also the limitations in predicting what will happen to him and others, and so forth.
Because of these limitations then man needs to need a religion to help and provide spiritual enlightenment to his self.
  Man needs religion not just for his own goodness before God alone,
but also to help himself in the face of various problems that sometimes can not be understood

Humans usually equate Moral principles to Religion and as the word atheists imply and that is what it makes other people to fear or think that they dont have moral when in realty bot all who are into religions are moral and not all atheists are immoral

Many people think it is outrageous, or even blasphemous, to deny that morality is of divine origin. Either some divine being ... This observation leads to a second: atheists and agnostics do not behave less morally than religious believers, even if their virtuous acts are mediated by different principles.

Goodness is one of God's innate traits that gave in us, we have this goodness and we don't need to pretend or to be religious in order to be good, sometimes those whom we highly think and well respected religious person are the ones who has none of it but all hypocrisy and rules and law without mercy in the way they act, religion is not away to be good person.