Without a belief in ‘God’ how can you be good? People often ask.
Indeed alot of people think that without a belief in ‘God’ people cannot be good. Uganda’s Minister of Ethics, Dr. James Nsaba Buturo, in an incoherent rant last year went as far as claiming that secularists pretty much want to destroy the country.
But are we really such evil people, we non-believers?
Not so, according to a new study published in the journal Trends in Cognitive Sciences. The study found that people who have no religion know right from wrong just as well as regular worshippers – and are just as ethical and have as strong a moral compass as churchgoers. The Telegraph reports:
Dr Marc Hauser, from Harvard University, one of the co-authors of the research, said that he and his colleagues were interested in the roots of religion and morality.
“For some, there is no morality without religion, while others see religion as merely one way of expressing one’s moral intuitions,” he said. The team looked at several psychological studies which were designed to test an individual’s morality.
Dr Hauser added: “The research suggests that intuitive judgments of right and wrong seem to operate independently of explicit religious commitments.
Believers might also be interested to know that three out of the top five most generous philanthropists in the world are known to be atheists who, between them, have in total so far donated over $74 billion to charity. Just last week, Bill Gates (one of the three) announced that he will donate a further $10 billion over the next decade to develop and deliver new vaccines to children in the developing world.
All this – with no belief in a ‘God’, or the promise of heavenly rewards.
Don’t be scared, Dr. Buturo. We don’t bite.
Freethought Kampala 
5 comments
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February 10, 2010 at 2:01 am
The 27th Comrade
I don’t expect my works to affect my after-life, either, even though I believe in God.
All people have a sense of right and wrong, due to natural revelation. The symbolism of the tree of knowledge of good and bad, you know. Genesis, you dig? 😀
February 10, 2010 at 12:43 pm
James Onen
What is ‘natural revelation’?
February 11, 2010 at 6:07 pm
The 27th Comrade
Hi, James.
Natural revelation (and I’ll define this in terms that atheists wouldn’t object to, if they are not to object ultimately to the “revelation” bit) is where a person or a people do an irrational thing (that is, a thing that is not supported by science) such as self-sacrifice, moral strictures, sin and the wages of it, the law and its absoluteness, the idea of God, et cetera that is ultimately in line with revealed religion.
It is sometimes called General revelation.
What appear to be the expositions on it, in the Bible, the ones that I love best, are: Romans 1:20-23, where Paul rants off on it before he begins the greatest exposition on the Grace, and then also in Acts 17:22-27, where the word “agnostic” was born unto us. 😀
Some of such stuff is what’s going to be in my blog posts, at the blog that I’ve submitted in the “Website” field of this form.
February 10, 2010 at 12:29 pm
char
“Incoherent rant”… hehehe… much of his statements seem to be unburdened by logic 🙂
Of course you don’t need to believe in God to be a good person. But I do think in the absence of a religious-moral code, people are more likely to compromise on ‘goodness’- especially when things fall in a morally gray area.
That said, the presence of a strict religious moral code also means its adherents are more likely to be intolerant of others and to kill in its name.
Meh…
February 10, 2010 at 1:35 pm
hAkiM
Right and wrong, i believe can be determined with or without religious belief. Behaviour is not considered right or wrong, but only classified as so depending on its benefit or harm. I have always viewed our dear ethics minister as a pseudo-puritan whose judgement is clouded by an unco-ordinated mixture of culture, religion and environment. This is when i concretely believe in critical thinking, if all our leaders would emulate the same.