Do you believe that religion or a belief in God is necessary to be a moral and decent person?

[Anonymous]

https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/04/20/many-people-in-u-s-other-advanced-economies-say-its-not-necessary-to-believe-in-god-to-be-moral/

[Anonymous]

What a stupid, stupid question. It’s incredibly loaded and clearly asked by a person who knows nothing about faith, let alone goodness and decency. The moral and theological naïveté really is breathtaking

Are all people who happen to believe in a god automatically “good and decent” people by default? Nope. No religion or religious text teaches that. Not one.

Conversely, is the absence of a belief in a god a guarantee of goodness or decency? Nope.

This article is all really just a propaganda push to get more people to abandon their religions.

”See! See! This survey says people don’t need religion after all! See! Look at all the people who think it’s not necessary!”

🙄

Yes... and look at the billions and billions of people around the world who believe in God. Christians, Hindus, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Sikhs, the multitude of aboriginal and indigenous peoples of the world and their faith, their belief, their gods.

And then there are the atheists...

P. S. And about that survey... did you see the note Pew attached to it?

Wow. That’s convenient. They didn’t include the views of any Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus etc.

Some “survey.” 🙄

[Asker]

Your condescending and insult laden answer just proves the point that no religion is required to be moral and decent.

[FunkyMonkee]

Absolutely not!! Aside from myself, there's lots of non-religious people that are just as kind and helpful, if not WAY moreso, than religious people!

Dig! In Feb. 1984, I was the victim of a hit & run! It happened right in front of the hospital a mile from my house! My leg was fractured and I had a huge crater in my left elbow almost to the bone!! I couldn't walk and I tried to stand up aside the road (in the grass) to flag down passing cars for help to get me TO the ER half a block behind me!! NOBODY stopped to help!! I stepped out to edge of the road and tried to flag them down, NOBODY stopped!! They just drove around me! So, I hopped out into the MIDDLE of the road to flag down help!! NOBODY stopped to help and they ALL drove around me!! I had to hop on one foot over to the ER which was at least 1 story above street level!
Now, how many of those people that REFUSED to help me do you suppose were religious? I'd say at LEAST 95%!

[sean1234]

You have no clue what they believed.

[FunkyMonkee]

@sean1234 That's right but, as I said, chances are most of them were religious!

[strateguy632]

statistics support most were Christian in u. s. a place where we learnt to fear strangers.
we can't risk stopping the car for strangers who might be faking or have a partner with a gun.
too bad you didn't hav a cellphone to call ambulance? or just a propaganda fiction?

[FunkyMonkee]

@strateguy632 We didn't have cell phones in `84. At least none where you didn't need to carry part of it around in a briefcase!
Between that hospital (named after a saint!) and my house, a mile away, there are 4 churches and a nunery!
Between my house and where I am, now (4 miles away), there's at least another 9 churches. Chances are VERY good most of those people were religious! As for someone not being able to trust me, there's almost a constant stream of traffic on that road until shortly after midnight. It was 10:00 p. m.. It's right next to a huge mall. If someone stopped and I started shit with them, chances are the couple cars behind them or on the other side of the road would've stopped to help the person I was accosting.

[sean1234]

www.pewresearch.org/.../ Hmm, if that chart is correct, then potentially 65% of those people were either atheists or perhaps fake Christians.

[msmissydc]

No!
On the other hand if morals are based on believes in a god, that would mean if these people would loose their believes they would become problematic individuals. Even worse, if these people would still believe but not see that as a good god they could try willingly try to break the 'god given rules'.
On the other hand religions do that all the time going to war and such. Nothing against believers but if you base your morals on an abstract thing your morals are abstract as well.

[strateguy632]

bad theory, opposite order, if we chose evil, we could decide to be atheist.
that bike doesn't have a lock, now i am atheist?
if a person has a habit of not being immoral or like my nature that not tempted to steal, then my nature would be the same if religion were false! the problem is the inverse.
do criminals rely on atheism?

[msmissydc]

If people are evil they can just read the religious scripts how they want to and it makes sense doing evil things.
Also you just agreed with me. It doesn't depend on the religion it depends on the person being evil. Religion just can give you a reason to be evil.

[IslaTheWitch]

no

morality comes from our conscience, and conscience is created in the process of growing up from the values we are exposed to in our environment - family, friends, school.

[sean1234]

Yeah, BUT where did they get their morality from? The much older generations did believe in God.

[IslaTheWitch]

@sean1234 not everyone took morality from God and many believes were violating commandments. They came more from tradition, from "it always" was like that... especially on territories, where religions changed. So, people believed more in stories told by elders than in what priests said.

[sean1234]

Maybe elders told stories, but priests did also. Tradition first is what they do. Tradition 1st and throw away God's law.

[strateguy632]

only indirectly. not necessarily fear of hell but as i will explain.

the real problem is that immoral people rely on atheism therefore promoting atheism, reassured and encouraged criminals.

as one user here put into clear words,

societies as a whole are ugly even depraved due to denying god.

also who "gets to define" what is moral or evil?

if each person defined, then more crime! "a shop won't miss one shirt if i shoplift"? says the atheist.

in the end religion IS NECESSARY for DEFINING what is good otherwise people think harming a fetus is okay, cutting peices off healthy children is okay.

but if we agree breaking your window is evil then harming a fetus is far worse.

[normalice]

It is the opposite, if anything. Belief in a moral authority suspends all moral decisions so a person can instead focus entirely on what they want with no regard for who they are taking it from. If you believe you are going to be unconditionally and eternally loved and appreciated in the after life there is no incentive to do the work to be loved and appreciated in this life. That results in a lot of people giving themselves permission to be absolute wads of steaming hot ass juice because they are "chosen" instead of responsible for their choices.

[strateguy632]

consider "do not do unto others" in new testament.
that isn't "suspends all moral decisions" needs to be considerate!
not "focus entirely on what they want" we must consider how we want to get treated!
the so called "humanists" took their moral compass... from this part of new testament.
they relied on religion to guide what is moral.

[normalice]

No scripture matters unless religious people follow it even when it puts them out. And I've seen the opposite of that. Ultimately what gives weight to any moral authority is if its is enforced impartially. Religion circumvents the need for that in life by promising it will happen in death, which is just admitting they can't get it to work in life.

[genericname85]

this is not really a question that has anything to do with "believing something". the answer is facutal and objective: no you don't need a religion or a god to be a moral person.

being a "decent" person is super subjective and that part of your quesiton can not be answered without stating your definition of subjective. because if by your definition, "decent" means they gotta believe in god, then obviously you can't be a decent person without a religion by your definition. but i don't define it that way.

[strateguy632]

even indirectly, making decent "subjective" is risky. see my answer to original question.

[genericname85]

@strateguy632 i'm not "making" the word "decent" a subjective term. it just is.

[genericname85]

it's a normative word that everyone fills with their own meaning. unlike "moral" which has a formal objective definition that doesn't depend on anyones opinion.

[sean1234]

Oh that doesn't ask much.

A belief in A god and a belief in THE God are 2 TOTALLY different things.

Everyone has a belief in a god, even if they don't think they do. As for morals, it comes from the God of the bible and not from the false preachers mouth who claims to be a Christian.

So many break the 4th commandment VERY freely.

[sean1234]

Only The one true God creates morals. As for laws, aside from the outdated sacrificial system that Jesus did away with, Moses got from God what all should follow.

10 commandments mainly.

[jshm2]

That's a daft question to ask. It's like asking if you need to follow American laws in America to be an American.

You cannot have "morality" without God. Ethics is basically a watered down and secularised morality, but it always fall short against the original.

[electromagnetic]

Priests have been raping children for decades and they’re suppose to devote their lives to god. Nope religion has no part in this. If you’re a predator, you’re a predator.

[laly520]

u can have morals without being into religion

tho religion enforce it

[Smashingdoozy]

My gosh no not at all. Morals are dictated by life experience, being a decent person is just human nature

[OfDeath]

No. People can be virtuous without believing in a god or a religion. At the end of the day, it is up to a person’s learnt habitual behaviour and not whether they are religious or not.

[strateguy632]

they "can" be virtuous but are they? i have never heard of atheist soup kitchen? atheist homeless shelter? atheist orphanage maybe YOU and the asker will start one?

[OfDeath]

@strateguy632 The Red Cross, The Smith Family, Stewart House, Oxfam etc.

So you’ve just learnt something. Not only are there non religious charities, but the largest one in the entire world is non religious.

Good talk bud.

[OtterMan68]

no, there are many people who claim to be religious but are far from being decent.

[AngryCarl]

No, in fact frequently the opposite is true.

[Anonymous]

Nope. I'm not a very religious person, but I have a strong moral compass

[jahaims]

No lmfao

[Astarlessnightsky]

Nope.

[Agape93]

Nope

[JacobJordan]

Nope.

[litty736]

Yes I do