What's an "Ethical" Atheist
(it's NOT an oxymoron...)
Contrary to popular beliefs of nearly all religious people, there are "ethical" atheists.  In fact, there are millions of them around the world.  This article will discuss ethical atheism and why these two terms are extremely compatible.  We will speak from our own viewpoint and certainly hope we don't say anything in conflict with other ethical atheist's views.  There have been several outstanding articles written by others on this subject which we will refer to in our discussion.
 

HOW CAN YOU HAVE MORALS AND BE ETHICAL WITHOUT GOD?

We hear this kind of opinion on a regular basis in conversations, written materials and emails to the Ethical Atheist.  As an example, Fred Williams of the site EvolutionFairyTale.com, wrote us on May 7, 2002.  He stated, "The term Ethical Athiest [sic] is an oxymoron, in case you were not aware..."  Needless to say, we at the Ethical Atheist do not agree.  We feel that it's not an oxymoron, but is actually synonymous and, in most cases, completely redundant.

For centuries, religion has attempted to hijack morality.  They claim it is impossible to live a moral and ethical life without God.  They claim that the Bible (or Koran, or Book of Mormon, or whatever book they are using at the time) defines morality and sin.  Therefore, if you don't believe and live by their book, you are immoral, sinful and unethical.  "Sin" is only used in a religious context.  It's not a word that has much meaning to an atheist or agnostic.  If you look up 'sin' in the dictionary, you will find it tied to religious terms.

sin (sin): sinned, sinning 1. transgression of divine law.  2. any act regarded as such a transgression, esp. a willful violation of some religious or moral principle... etc. [1]
"Sin" is a very subjective concept which varies among religions.  Religious books contradict themselves, and each other, on the definition of sin.  They often define sin, only to have major religious figures commit these precise sins.  In the Christian tradition, we are told "Thou Shalt Not Kill".  Yet, many followers of the faith did exactly this and were often directed by God to do so.  Moses was a murdering and raping machine... a sinner by religious definition.  So much for 'sin'.  Morality and ethics, on the other hand, are terms we accept and use regularly.

Many religious followers often refer to examples of morality and ethics in religious people (e.g.. Mother Teresa, volunteers helping poor farmers in third world countries, people helping the poor in our own country, etc.).  They use this as their justification that you must be religious to be moral and ethical.  This is an argument which fails basic logic.  It ignorantly assumes that moral and ethical individuals do NOT exist outside of religion.  Yet, there are many non-religious people who help the poor, help educate our children, strive for peace in the world, and so on.  Just as morality and ethics is not solely owned by religion, corrupt and abhorrent behavior falls on both sides as well.  Religious individuals are guilty of discrimination, raping our children, stealing funds from the Church, covering up crimes, murdering others in our society and abroad, etc.  Yet, so are non-religious people.  Both sides are guilty.  It is not our intention to prove which side is more guilty of these actions.  We only emphasize that their is good and bad behavior on both sides.  Therefore, morality and ethics are concepts that exist within religion AND in the absence of religion.


DEFINE "ETHICS"

ethics (eth'iks): 1. a system or set of moral principles.  2. the rules of conduct recognized in respect to a particular class of human actions or governing a particular group, culture, etc: medical ethics.  3. the branch of philosophy dealing with values relating to human conduct, with respect to the rightness and wrongness of actions and the goodness and badness of motives and ends.  4. moral principles, as of an individual. [1]

Now, did we see anything in this definition confining ethics to religion?  No.  Just as our discussion above states, ethics is not confined to, or from, religion.  Yet, we never seem to get beyond this in discussions with religious people.  Why is this?  Because they have been taught from birth that morality and ethics are meaningless unless spoken of in the context of religion.  We believe this to be completely wrong.

Where do 'ethics' come from?  Are we born with them?  In some cases, yes.  In others, no.  It is probably safe to say that the desire to murder or kill other living creatures is NOT something we possess from birth.  Without the influence of violence in the media and that 'learned' after birth, most children would not have a desire to kill - for religious reasons or otherwise.  This is a learned behavior in some people.  However, an opposite learned behavior also exists - the desire not to kill.


ETHICS IN EDUCATION

In general, we believe ethics to be solely the product of education.  Education is a broad term and this term was used here precisely for that reason.  Children learn from a wide variety of resources.  They learn in school, from their parents, from the behavior of those around them, from the mass media, etc.

The ethics of our children, and thus the ethics of future societies, is completely in our hands.  Children do not know hate at birth.  They do not know Catholic, Protestant, Jew, Palestinian, East or West, Baptist or Mormon, our country or their country.  They know love, yet do NOT know hate.  Whether you know it our not, you are giving your children these faculties.

If you teach your children to hate and to be intolerant of conflicting religions: they may grow up to be suicide bombers; they may become murders of Planned Parenthood workers; they may discriminate against their neighbors; they may promote overthrowing the government in bloody coups (e.g.. Pat Robertson); and they may become the next Hitler.  If you let your children grow up watching violent television, your children may grow up to have little regard for life; they may kill others or promote war; they may torture animals; and they may have no concept or desire for peace on Earth.

In Ireland, children at the age to 2 already know the difference between Catholics and Protestants.  At the age of 4-5, many are already making derogatory remarks about the other religion.  This is not something they are born with - it is learned by behaviors of those around them.  Palestinian children are raised in an environment of hating the Zionist Jews.  Is it any wonder that they dress up in fake bombs at the age of four?  Likewise, Israeli Jews are raised to hate Palestinians and a career as a member of the Israeli army fighting the Palestinians is admired.  But, are these Israelis also taught that they stole the land they are fighting for from Palestinians after World War II?  Probably not.

On the other hand, if you raise your children to understand morality and ethics; and to live by these rules, the world just might be a better place.  If more truth and honesty existed in educating our children around the world, we believe that chance would exist for peace and reconciliation.  If you teach your children to accept their neighbor, chances are they will.  They will be subjected to other influences, but the role of the parent should not be underestimated.

What is the biggest contributor to hate and intolerance in our world?  The answer is simple: religion.  More conflict is generated by religious beliefs and actions than from any other source.  And, this not only applies to conflict between countries and societies; but to conflict within individual countries and societies.


ETHICS AND CRITICISM OF RELIGION

Many religious readers question how we can call ourselves 'ethical', yet criticize religion to the point of making fun of it.  They point to our humor pages, our Science, Truth & the Church page, our Questions for God page, and so on.  Let us say, as we have said in other pages on the Ethical Atheist, that we do not condemn religious people as a whole.  There are many good religious people who have done many ethical and moral things.  We are not criticizing or making fun of these people.

We are making fun of (or pointing out):

Is this bad?  Unethical?  Immoral?  Absolutely not.  It is false education and improper teaching to our children.  We feel compelled to criticize it and make fun of it, just as we would make fun of any other false teachings.  This site, being the "Ethical Atheist", tends to focus on false religious teachings.  However, there are many other topics that are being forced upon our children that could be subject to scorn...   These would include: For more on these pseudosciences, please see our skeptic links on our Links page.


SO, WHAT'S AN "ETHICAL ATHEIST"?

It actually quite simple.  An Ethical Atheist is someone who lives by a personal desire to do good things in their limited life on Earth.  They don't believe in an God, religion, or an afterlife.  But, that doesn't stop us from living an ethical life and attempting to co-exist with our fellow man in a peaceful, rational manner.  We have many atheist, agnostic and religious friends.  Generally, we accept them as they are and respect everyone's right to have beliefs other than our own.  Can we exist in peace together?  We believe so.  It is up to everyone involved (please see our poem, "We will not go away").  We listen to others with conflicting views and realize that we cannot change these views.  We try to accept others beliefs and keep our mouth shut.  However, if religious people push their views and criticize us, we will not remain quiet.  If they insist on educating OUR children in falsehoods, we will not remain quiet any more than if someone taught our children that dirt was water, or that the sky was rock.  If you attempt to overturn our government with beliefs of the religious-right, we will not remain silent either.  This country was founded on diversity - diversity of ethnicity, religion, nationality, sex, etc.  Obstruct this diversity and we will not get along.  America was founded on the belief that all are equal.  America is a melting pot of many nationalities and beliefs.  We respect everyone's belief in religion, so long as it doesn't censor another's beliefs.  We believe that blacks are equal to whites.  We believe that males are equal to females.  We believe that heterosexuals are equal to homosexuals.  We believe that children are equal to adults, they just lack experience and education - are you willing to provide an unbiased, truthful education to them?  We believe that the life of someone living in a third-world country is equal to that in a developed nation.  We believe that our children should not be sexually molested, just as we believe that it is a crime that Catholic children or any other children should be subject to this torture.

We believe in living in peace with our fellow man.  In fact, to us, there is no better calling.  You have to understand that, to us, it is all we have.  Without a belief in the afterlife, this life is all we have.  We cherish it and are grateful for our time alive on this planet.  We have a strong desire to avoid conflict.  We also have a strong desire to educate our children with what we have learned during our time on this planet.  We abhor all the killing that has occurred in human history.  We abhor the ignorance of science and will give of ourselves freely to change this condition.  You will find many books and sites on the internet with this goal, whether stated or not.  You will find many educators who also live by this creed.  You will find individuals who left behind very profitable careers in the business world to give of themselves in hope that they may benefit society as a whole or help our children better understand humanity, the Earth and the Universe.  This is our noble goal.  And, if any of you see this as an undesirable goal, we would suggest you take a long, hard look at yourself and the history of humanity.  You may easily pick up any textbook on history and see what ignorance and religion has contributed to society.  The question is, "Are you willing to see it?"

Ethical Atheists are willing to live in peace with everyone.  Are you willing to live in peace with us?

We believe that the most noble goal in life is to live in peace and to understand the universe in which we live.  Is that wrong?  Many in the religious community would say that our goal is lacking a belief in a higher power.  If we saw evidence of a higher power, maybe this would influence our goals.  But, we don't.  In fact, we see considerable evidence in religion that conflicts with our goals.  That is precisely the reason we reject religion.  Many great scholars in history have stated this better than we can.  (Read our Quotes page.)


SHOULDN'T THE RELIGIOUS QUESTION THEMSELVES?

Religious people should ask themselves the question, "Why have atheists given us most of the greatest scholars and scientists we've ever known?"  Or, "Why did Christianity proceed with the Inquisition?"  Or, "Why did we murder, torture and imprison scientists that were helping us understand the world in which we live?" Or, "Why did Christianity carry out the Crusades?"  Or, "Why does our Koran teach us to kill the infidels?"  Or, "Why do we believe that our most recent 'Book of Mormon' is best?  What about the Bible?  What about the New Testament?  What of all the other religious books claiming to be the 'True Word of God'?"

Is it the earliest or most recent religion that deserves to be treated as true?  In either case, it appears that most religions are ruled obsolete.  Where does that leave most religious beliefs?  Answer this question on your own.  Your answer will not be graded.


CONCLUSIONS

We have examined many topics in this article.  Did you read it?  Are you free of guilt?  Probably none of us are.  We hope that, at a minimum, you got the message from this article that: (1) ethics and morality are not the sole property of religion; and (2) education is the key to ethics - both good and bad.

For those of you who are religious, you have the 'Golden Rule' and other teachings that you should follow.  For us atheists, we intend to get along with, and co-exist with, our fellow man.  We believe in equality and hope others respect this concept as well.
 

Note: Religious people should not stray into our humor section.  If you have ever been truly discriminated against, then you will understand our humor section.  We are often subject to abuses by religious followers of all persuasions.   Our humor section is our relief.  If you do not want to be offended, don't go there.


RECOMMENDED ARTICLES FOR FURTHER READING:
References:
    1. Webster's College Dictionary, Random House, 1991
 - Ethical Atheist
[Created: 11/27/2002]
[Last Update: n/a]