Do you think religion tends to give people a false perception of morality?

You know what I mean? I mean, one of the main criticisms that religious people have for non-religious people is that they assume that non-religious people have no morals, so logic dictates that religious people must think that morality just comes naturally with being religious. They must think that one doesn’t even have to examine their moral code and check it for inconsistencies; they must think something like, “I am religious, therefore, I am moral.” Do you think religious people tend to think this way?Do you think religion tends to give people a false perception of morality?
For starters: Yes, a religious person should examine his beliefs and understand them. However, if his belief system is, overall, cohesive and consistent, then he will ikely accept something that he does not understand (in much the same way that scientists do not abandon science when they come across a problem with a theory. They keep the old theory, despite slight imperfections, until they have a new one that works even better.





However, without religion, there is no such thing as an objective sense of morality. Therefore, everyone decides for themselves what they feel is ';right.'; Of course, without religion, the entire idea of ';right'; and ';wrong'; is an illusion - anyone can decide that WHATEVER they want is right, and while you don't have to like it, there's no logical argument that it's wrong.





So, someone else can argue that according to his personal value system, there are inconsistencies in my value system. That's their problem, though, not mine.Do you think religion tends to give people a false perception of morality?
Yes, that's absolutely right. And by saying that I am not in any way indicating that religious people are less moral, all I mean is that people in general are equally moral...they just attribute that morality to different things. I think that people who credit religion for their morality aren't giving themselves enough credit. They would be just as moral if they weren't religious. (As much as so many of them like to bluff and say they would be out robbing banks if it weren't for their belief in God.)


They aren't moral simply because they're religious, and having religious beliefs doesn't make you more moral than anyone else.
Many times, yes, but not always.


What sickens me is the religous people who are only moral for the sake of going to heaven. Morality is not something that should be used as an ultimatem. Morality as a answer to a threat is immoral. People are moral because they choose to be moral, not because they must be moral. People who are moral only to save their souls are cowards.
your argument is without merit, as you are assuming many things based on what seems to be personal bias.





morality has its basis in religion, not the other way around. therefore, to have a false perception of morality is to have a false perception of religion. bear in mind that religion and morality are the seed and the plant, yet both a seed and a plant can exist mutually exclusively. the basic thought to consider is that, without the seed, the plant would not exist...
If you ever have a chance, try to go to Christian conference (especially a Youth one). I don't say this to try to convert you or anything (although that would be cool :D ) I say this because a vast majority of the time, the topic of the speaker will have nothing to do with Atheists morals or lack of some morals. More than likely the speaker will focus on where many Christians (or Christian teens, in my case) fall short of the expectations set in the Bible and by Jesus. Also, a huge concept of Christianity, especially in my church, is humbuling(sp?) yourself and not judging people(Christian or not) because we are no better than anyone else here.
It can, some people draw the conclusion that everything is black and white, their is no grey. I see the world as shades of grey. I cannot imagine how anything can be only good or evil. I don't think it is a useful, practical, or realistic way to look at the world.


I'm not sure if religion is the issue, or if people like this are just drawn more strongly to religion.
Religious people are the biggest hypocrites one can encounter in life, they're the last ones I'd talk to about morality. They claim that they are kind and accepting, but what they mean is we're kind and accepting so long as you're the same as us or willing to be the same as us. If you have a differing view point, the majority revile you as some kind of ';hellspawn'; and think you need to be re-educated or eradicated. The Crusades...the idea of a Jihad...bunch of crazy hypocrites. The only ones I don't have a problem with are Buddhists.
religion is a code of sorts, and most try to guide, or even control behavior.


Just because a person is religious, doesn't mean they are ';upright';.


Frequently those things done under the banner of religion are self-serving to the individual or even the religion.


The crusades are a perfect example. Those actions are not condoned by Jesus Christ, or scripture.
Their morality is just a delusion, since they have blown the help that their founder has offered to them. He offered the light of God to bring a blessing and a better life, but they have picked up on Paul's gospel of blood for sin, which does nothing.





Click on my avatar if you want an explanation for this answer.
No not all.


Infact, not most.


It is because if people are nonreligious, or atheists, they do not believe in GOD, which is false because GOD does exist. So if they do not believe in GOD, how can the be moral? Know what I mean?


if they do not believe that GOD is there, their lives are useless and what happiness can they possibly gain? True happiness lies in GOD, not in this material world.
in general, yes. Many people who rely on organized religion seem to have little or no sense of real morality; they mistake it for books or authority.





Morality and even ethics should ideally be something people consider regularly, and even debate often rather than retreat into Bronze Age suppositions.
no, not necessarily so, some christian, do say, when ever someone is indiscreet, ';There but for the grace of God, go I.'; Or if someone becomes immoral, they feel grief for that person, pray for them, they may repent and turn away from their sins. Nothing like condemning them, but rather hoping they will repent and return to the Lord their God.
as an atheist, i think its kind of sad that so many religious people act ';good'; because they want the reward of getting into heaven.


I think its almost a paradox.
I think religion gives people an objective sense of morality.
Yep.


The whole concept of morals works by making people feel guilty about their natural impulses then offering them ';The One True Way To Salvation';.





It's a con that has been going on for ages...
no
Yeah it is completely stupid. A book does not tell me how to act. I have morals.
Yup.
Yes I do
Yes. 100%. Definitely.





HUMANISM (love and respect for one another), not Jewish, Christian, or Muslim faiths will save the world from falling in to a Armageddon. This is the time to awaken and realize that only love for humankind can save the Earth.





We have mapped the human genome, and have found cures for every disease under the sun. WE have also figured out how to stop aging through science. We are about to enter a new golden age of science and collective wisdom thanks to the collective human conscience (brain) wired together as the internet. Already, truths are being revealed by being connected with one another. Yet, still someone or something is holding on to and suppressing this information from humanity. The truth will set us free.





We need to assure one another as people that there will be love between all people of all religions, and non-religions, races, backgrounds so that we can spread these cures, cash and technology to the rest of the world where we'll have a permanent Heaven on Earth. Love for one another is the only thing that can make this happen. There is nothing for us to be afraid of. It is our destiny as humans to grasp this notion. We are eternal. As the East is going West, the West is going East. In the rise of China and India we have found our global unity in a single conscience and are finally being connected together as one massive brain linked together by using the internet. Big media, big banks, big business, big government are all unnecessary EVILS.





So let's do the global revolution dance, and prepare for a new golden age of humankind, eh?





Bob Marley, poet and a prophet said, ';Let's get together to fight this holy Armageddon.'; ';ONE LOVE';.





I love you. Do you love me?
The contention religious philosophers have regarding atheism and morality is that an atheist can indeed live moral lives, but has no basis, no foundation for doing so. People who do not believe in objective morality change their tune very quickly when someone breaks into their house and steals everything they own, or does them harm in some fashion. Suddenly, they scream about the wrong done to them in an objective manner.


It's fascinating that atheists will holler about witch-burnings, and then claim there is no absolute morality. Well if morality is subjective, then why is burning people alive necessarily wrong? If morality is an illusion of our thinking, as some claim, then why is pedophilia necessarily evil? Without God, as many atheists freely admit, there is no ethical basis for any any action being right or wrong. Bertrand Russell and Friedrich Nietzsche both stated this.


No atheist has any reason for harping about what is right or wrong, much less asserting that God, even hypothetically, is cruel for devising a place like hell, or destroying tribes of people in the Old Testament. Operating on the objective recognition of morality that theism asserts while simultaneously denying it exists is exactly what the atheist must do. They must borrow from theistic views of ethics and try to pass them off as merely survival mechanisms, or societal constructions. You may well be a morally aware person, but atheism or secularism cannot account for it.