[piercehawkeye45]

I am with you up to your hitting someone in the face analogy. Then I honestly have no idea where you are going with it. The best guess I have is that you assume morality from the "bottom up" is individual based, which I strongly disagree with.

First, I would like to point out that morality in humans is environmentally produced. A persons morality will be based upon the society around them.

Lets think about this for a second. Ever wonder why people in rural America tend to have a different moral code than the people in urban America? Ever wonder why people in Western societies have a different moral code then, lets say, Indonesian hunter gatherers?



Because morality is so constricted within groups I find it really hard to argue that morality comes from anything besides the society a person is raised in. It makes sense as well. How does a child learn right from wrong? From the teachings of their parents and observations from society, not some genetic or god-given force. A child does not have to be religious or not to observe that stealing or cannibalism is deemed wrong in a certain society.

Obviously there are disagreements about morality in certain societies as well. Sex is a good example. Some people, mainly religious, think that all non-reproductive sex is ethically wrong. Many others, disagree with that strongly. While there is a variation with sex in our population keep in mind that even the "sexually liberated" people will still look down on prostitutes and think they are "whores". This shows that even though there is small variation within populations, there are still constrictions that very few people stray from (also keep in mind that prostitutes do not look at their job with pride and only do so because they have very limited options).

This also explains why we can have different views on where morality comes from. Because of nationalism, many will think that their society's morals are the "absolute" morals for the "top down" thinkers because they have been taught from birth that their way is the correct way. Others, who tend to stray from religious doctrines, feel that they have a choice over their morals (the small ethical variations still accepted by society) and go for a more "bottom up" approach.


Morality comes from society and whether an individual takes the "top down" or "bottom up" approach, it does not change that fact.


So, atheists have the same reason to be moral as theists do. That reason is because we really do not have a choice. I was raised in an environment where many actions are deemed wrong and no matter how hard I try, I do not think I can break that social conditioning.

And even if I could, I do not see the point. If I do not have morals I will be quickly rejected from society and my evolutionary instincts tell me that is bad because until recently, it would have greatly increased my chances of death. So maybe morality evolved to allow better interaction and sustainability between humans. Acknowledging that, I still do not see how my breaking of morality will help me in any way. Being in tune with my society is my greatest chance of survival and keeping my morality in check is one great way to ensure that I stay in tune with my society. So yes, I do have a good reason to be moral.