There has been some discussion on Hirhurim and Cross-Currents about the morality of an atheist versus a believer in a God. The question raised is whether an atheist can be a moral person even though he does not believe in God. One might say that indeed an atheist is moral because at the end of the day atheists are for example as averse to killing or stealing as believers are. This is true, but I think one must define morality better.
I do not think an Atheist can have an absolute moral code that is more than humanistic in value. It is humanism that will tell him that it's wrong to murder. That's because he knows that he does not want to be killed. Hence he can can reasonably conclude that neither do other humans want to be killed. It's kind of an inductive type of reasoning. And such is the reasoning behind all types of human behavior that is not based in a religious moral code.
Therefore, it is not just murder, but all Halachos Bein Adam L'Chavero which do not need God as a rationale. One can devise a moral code of behavior in the realm of human relations and be a very moral person in tht sense, without any religious values dictated by God. One simply adheres to Hillel’s “Golden Rule”: “Do not unto other what you would not have them do unto you”. But when it comes to Mitzvos Bein Adam L’Makom, that is where God comes in. Shabbos, for example, is one area that will not be a basis for behavior to an atheist. But that is not really a moral issue. Sexual behavior is.
What about the morality of sexual behavior? Sexual conduct is one area where there would be a broad difference between an atheist and a believer in God. When it comes to sexual acts, both issues of Bein Adam L’Makom and Bein Adam L’Chavero come into play. If one accepts the concepts of absolute morality that are dictated by God, then there are acts which are forbidden as immoral... irrespective of whether the impact on a participating party is positive.
Let us take homosexual acts as an example. To an atheist whose view of morality is based on Bein Adam L’Chaevro, a homosexual act will only be evil if a participant objects to it. If on the other hand he has a willing partner, then there will be nothing immoral about it. But to one who believes in a God who has taught us that there is such a thing as absolutes with rspect to sexual morality, homosexual behavior is by religious definition immoral, no matter whether a partner in the act is consenting or not. There is a correlation between belief in a religious based morality and whether one cosinders homosexual behavior moral.
But then one might ask why an atheist is repulsed by incest for example. I doubt that any atheist will see incest as acceptable behavior, even if it involves two consenting adults. How does this explain the revulsion an atheist might have to it? To me the answer seems obvious. It is a part of the culture. The cultural milieu in which we live will dictate that such behavior is repugnant. But in fact, in a humanistic sense, it is not. In that sense there is nothing wrong with it as long as no one is hurt. This is a form of indoctrination an atheist will have living in a civilized ciulture. He will repulsed by.
But in a vaccum, would such behavior be repulsive? I think not. In my view civilization has determined such behavior to be immoral only because of its historic religious beliefs of a God based absolute morality. I do not believe it possible to explain it any other way.
So it isn’t correct to say that Atheists have no moral standards. They most certainly do. But I think the standards are based on a humanistic system combined with a civilization that has been indoctrinated over time to consider acts immoral that have no apparent reason attached to them except as dictated by society's millenia old belief in a God based morality.
So the bottom line is that one needs to define their terms. If morality is based on humanism, one can be a very moral person within those limits. And at the same time be morally depraved in religion based, God centered terms.
