How Do Atheists Decide What Is Good And What Is Bad?

[goodlife]

Is it conscience or upbringing.( Romans 2:14)

[atalanta]

I drew up my own set of commandments. But only 9

Obey the law of the land where you find yourself.
You have a value as a human being ; your value is no less and no greater than anyone else’s. Respect that value and that equality in everyone.
Do nobody any harm, to body or mind
Do not seek to control others : rather seek to control yourself, your passions and desires
Do not lie : do not cheat to obtain an unfair advantage
If you make a promise, vow or oath, keep it.
If someone is in need of help which you can give, give it.
Tread lightly upon the earth.
Strive to live your life so that you leave the world a better place at your death than you found it at your birth.

[mikey4444]

A good start would be to ignore people like you !

We are all perfectly able to decide what is right and wrong for ourselves, without consulting the supernatural world.

But if I was forced to beardy-weirdo, my choice would be Gandalf !

[mikey4444]

Fender...you missed my favourite line !

"He's not the Messiah, he's a very naughty boy ! "

[wildwood]

Being a bloody nuisance by interfering with normal people's lives when they are busy making tea and spouting your ridiculous prattle is bad. Respecting others' believe or lack of is good.

[saxy_jag]

I think there's a theory somewhere that we're basically selfish and that we treat others well because we subconsciously hope they will treat us well in return. Also that our collective and individual most basic instinct is to preserve our species. Hence we're going to look out for one another if we don't want to be harmed ourselves.

Certainly can't be down to religion, given some of the despicable things that have been done in its name.

[ludwig]

How do religious people decide what is good and what is bad?

[birdie1971]

↑

They read their holy scriptures and decide which bits they like and which bits they don't and act accordingly. If they're sensible people with a developed sense of morality and compassion, they chose the 'nice' bits. If they are nasty pieces of work who get a kick out of causing pain and suffering to others, they chose the horrible bits and justify their horrific actions by claiming that they are just obeying the word of God.

The truly funny thing is that both groups believe they get their 'morals' from their religion, when in reality they get their morals from external sources and later falsely ascribe them to their religion in an effort to justify both themselves and their religion.

[birdie1971]

↑

I know it's late/early but please don't be so idiotic.

[Answerprancer]

I'll answer this with another question:
How do religious fanatics decide what is good and what is bad?
Given the amount of human suffering, warfare and hypocrisy that religion has caused?
Over to you "Goodlife".

[Answerprancer]

Ey oop !

[cupid04]

Where do yo get that religion causes all wars. It dosen't. Man causes war. And if he didn't have religion to fight about he'd find something else, I'm sure.
There are enough resources in our world for people not to go to bed hungry but mans greed prevents him sharing. He'd rather keep it to himself than help others.

[Answerprancer]

Being a joeboe - "Goodlife" will only respond to replies that fit in with his agenda/intellect. Still, it's nice to extemporise.

[I_Hate_Infinity]

Good life, you've a habit of posting questions and answers that, on the surface at least, seem rediculously self evident or contradictory to evidence. Though i must encourage you to keep asking them as every ABer (myself inc.) has been encouraged before. Your question hints at a deeper concept than your context. I respect peoples beliefs and the passion which they defend them but might I extract the essence of your question and rephrase to purpose a better debate?

Why is man moral?
- The answer I feel provides the most logic is that man is a social animal and it is mutually benefical for groups of animals to share food types which are gathered from various sources by individuals, as this richer diet would be hard to obtain by a single individual hunting/gathering alone. Better food supply increase group population and increased numbers demands a social structure. Order is established. Family groups shouldnt interbreed so relationships are made with other groups to form new bloodlines. Groups expand, so on, so forth.

As a social animal we are born to cooperate in groups and from what i explained, social law is enforced highlighting immoral behaviour as punishable, which evoled into (IMO) the elaborate tale we call The Bible. Moses decreed all the laws relevant to jewish culture at that time, based upon not harming your fellow man but enforcing strict justice for crimes of immorality.

Simples :)