by Trent Greguhn

Created on: April 23, 2009

The problem with this is the assumption that ethics, and thereby morals, are attached to a faith system or a religious background. It also makes the assumption that atheists are in need of ethics, that they lack them altogether from the beginning. That is only true if you suppose that every human being also lacks intrinsic ethics, and that all humans need to attach themselves to some sort of following to be a good person. This thinking is entirely flawed.

I suppose if we're going to talk about ethics, then we should decide on a standard definition for the terms right and wrong. What is wrong is the intention to do ill-will or harm to others; included in this is all human beings. What is right is the intention to do no harm. We can now move on to why atheists don't require a set of rules, but no one does.

Reading through a newspaper or going through a history book, it's easy to see why and think that humans might inherantly be evil by nature. Given the history of wars and that of tribal rituals consisting of human sacrifice, it'd be easy to think that humans will resort to actions of ill intent if they're not given a lay out to go by. I firmly believe this to be untrue. This side of human history is studied and talked about most because it is believed to be interesting and that we might learn to do it never again. There is a source for all this suffering. Fear and superstition.

Superstition, fear, a type of faith system can cause types of ill-will within the human race. Wars over different religions, different beliefs of superiority, or fear that a deity will lash out vengeance on your people if not given a human sacrifice. With humans' ability to reason comes the ability of irrationality, thereby allowing the evils of the world. It is a delicate balance to work out, but just because humans have the capacity for evil doesn't mean they are inherantly so.

So, given that frame of thought, why would humans be inherantly good? The reason why these faith and belief systems were brought about to begin with. Because of humans' innate ability for good, we create superstitions with good intent, belief systems that help us and our fellow humans. The worst events may come from the best intentions, yes, but it is the best intentions that give human kind the most hope. Pair this with knowledge and investigation and humankind may have hope yet.

We're asking for ethics for atheists, when we should be asking about ethics for humans. When we all start to dice each other into groups, faiths, colors, and cultures we start to lose sight of our similarities. Differences should be celebrated, yes, but should not replace similarites all together. We are all human, we are all the same, and we all have the same bond.

So what are the ethics needed for an Atheist? The same that are needed of a Christian, Buddhist, Muslim, or Jew. That is, the desire to do no harm to ourselves, others, and other forms of life when possible. Good intentions. The belief that atheists need a different set of guide lines to live a good life is unreasonable. We all need to operate with the same level of empathy living the best life we can. This is the ethics needed not only for atheists, but for everyone.

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