Rou

Pop quiz time for sanctimonious pricks out there.

Can an atheist behave morally if he doesn't believe in a supreme being?
A)yes
B)no

If you said B, you can feel free to go throw yourself off the nearest convenient tall building. Atheists aren't automatically devoid of moral structure just because they don't believe in God or take Jesus Christ as their savior. Just as Christians aren't always moral titans. There are good and bad in just about every group.

But just so you know, let me explain to you how a non-denominational, entirely secular moral structure might look.

Never impose on others what you would not choose for yourself.

Confucius said that sometime around 500BC, but there have been a number of variations of it, both earlier and later. It doesn't require worship or fear of a deity to be true. It's not right to do something to someone else that you wouldn't want done to yourself. Simple. Elegant. Timeless. All five of the major religions have some version of it. I imagine most of the minor ones do as well. I happen to like the way Confucius phrases it.

Secular morality stems from the concept that doing positive things improves society and doing negative things harms society. If this world is all there is, than it's in our best interest to improve it.

Moral value is not a religious monopoly. If you stopped acting as if you were a direct conduit to the Lord Almighty, you might have realized that.