Ironically, biblical morality is absolutely fucked in the head.

Killing women because they didn’t scream while they were raped (probably because the uncle or father or brother raping them was either choking them out or holding a knife to their throat or something worse.)

Killing infants and unborn children because someone 3 generations ago did a thing.

Stoning teenagers for being, you know, teenagers.

It really is a good thing morality doesn’t come from god.

It’s much easier to be a good person when you aren’t indoctrinated from birth with some book of ancient myths telling you who to hate.

Penn Jillette has a good explanation. I don't agree with a lot he says, but this is pretty spot on. (The clip goes kinda off the answer after about a minute)

tl;dw: If you I don't believe in a god, what's stopping me from raping and killing anyone I want? And the answer is: I have. I already have. I have raped and killed everyone I want to rape and kill, and the answer is............. zero. There are zero people I want to rape or kill. And the question becomes: Who are these people walking around with lists of people they want to rape and kill? Why do we consider THEM the sane ones?

We evolved into social creatures - apes together strong. The group becomes weak if we are always knocking down or killing our neighbour. If we all work together and gather bananas, then we can feed those in the group who can not gather bananas. Healthy ape brains receive pleasure helping other apes (and animals) in need.

Of course it all falls apart when we have malfunctioning ape brains in the group who promote hate, greed, and fairy stories of a magic sky ape or we have Musk ape, Trump ape and Zucker Ape who want all the bananas.

I need some advice, regarding some other elements of God's Laws and how to follow them.

1. Leviticus 25:44 states that I may possess slaves, both male and female, provided they are purchased from neighbouring nations. A friend of mine claims that this applies to Mexicans, but not Canadians. Can you clarify? Why can't I own Canadians?
2. I would like to sell my daughter into slavery, as sanctioned in Exodus 21:7. In this day and age, what do you think would be a fair price for her?
3. I know that I am allowed no contact with a woman while she is in her period of Menstrual uncleanliness - Lev.15: 19-24. The problem is how do I tell? I have tried asking, but most women take offence.
4. When I burn a bull on the altar as a sacrifice, I know it creates a pleasing odour for the Lord - Lev.1:9. The problem is my neighbours. They claim the odour is not pleasing to them. Should I smite them?
5. I have a neighbour who insists on working on the Sabbath. Exodus 35:2 clearly states he should be put to death. Am I morally obligated to kill him myself, or should I ask the police to do it?
6. A friend of mine feels that even though eating shellfish is an abomination, Lev. 11:10, it is a lesser abomination than homosexuality. I do not agree. Can you settle this? Are there 'degrees' of abomination?
7. Lev. 21:20 states that I may not approach the altar of God if I have a defect in my sight. I must admit that I wear reading glasses. Does my vision have to be 20/20, or is there some wiggle-room here?
8. Most of my male friends get their hair trimmed, including the hair around their temples, even though this is expressly forbidden by Lev. 19:27. How should they die?
9. I know from Lev. 11:6-8 that touching the skin of a dead pig makes me unclean, but may I still play football if I wear gloves?
10. My uncle has a farm. He violates Lev.19:19 by planting two different crops in the same field, as does his wife by wearing garments made of two diverse kinds of thread (cotton/polyester blend). He also tends to curse and blaspheme a lot. Is it really necessary that we go to all the trouble of getting the whole town together to stone them? Lev.24:10-16. Couldn't we just burn them to death at a private family affair, like we do with people who sleep with their in-laws? (Lev. 20:14) I know you have studied these things extensively and thus enjoy considerable expertise in such matters, so I am confident you can help. Thank you again for reminding us that God's word is eternal and unchanging.

Mutual respect, it isn't fucking difficult.

It starts with "I don't want to die so if you won't kill me, I won't kill you" and just incrementally grows from there.

Is an action good because God commands it, or does God command it because it is good?

If it's the first one, then all you're saying is "God commands what God commands," and assigning "good" to that is meaningless. If God commanded you to do evil things, then you would have to just blindly accept that as "good."

If it's the second one, then you acknowledge that there's a source of morality independent of God that you're judging God's commands against to determine that his commands are good. At that point, you're in the same place as the atheist, and it raises the question of why we need to listen to God as opposed to just going to the source.

This argument literally predates Christianity. But most religious people just think that philosophy doesn't apply to them and that the answer to every philosophical question is just "Jesus."

I think it’s a bit more complex than this.

I think, in religious households, instead of being taught to be a good caring person you are taught to be as selfish as possible while staying within the rules.

So it’s not that religious need eternal threat of damnation, it’s that they have been taught to be as selfish as possible.

So I don’t think they lack morality naturally but they have been taught to be horrible people who obey laws.

That Golden Rule. If you wouldn't like it done to you, don't do it to someone else.

"I don't need the threat of eternal punishment, we've got punishment at home." --Me, a bad person.

We're atheists and have raised our son (almost 10) as such, but always answer any questions he has about religion, especially since he hears it in school. He has no qualms telling friends he doesn't believe in God and one friend told him he was going to hell. This was essentially my statement for him to use in the future andI love that he has no fear expressing himself.

Religious idiot wanting to sound smart. A classic.

Interestingly, law is considered a more effective deterrent for immoral people than religion itself!

Nature has essentially built a concept of good and bad into us through evolution. Traits such as cooperation, reciprocity, and concern for others can improve survival and social cohesion, giving individuals who possess those traits an evolutionary advantage over those who are consistently uncooperative or harmful.

You do not necessarily need religion or philosophy to understand the basic distinction between what is good and what is harmful. Human beings already possess psychological mechanisms such as sympathy and empathy that allow us to recognize and understand the experiences of others through our own subjective experiences.

If you understand that something causes you pain, suffering, or fear, empathy allows you to recognize that the same experience is likely to be harmful to someone else. Likewise, if you understand that something brings you pleasure, security, or happiness, you can recognize that similar experiences may be beneficial to others.

That does not mean every individual instinct or emotional response is morally correct. It means that the foundations for morality can exist naturally within the human psyche, without requiring religion or a formal philosophical system to create them.

The thing is, you can "debatebro" yourself into most of morality, save for stuff like "homosexuality is evil".

How do atheists decide between good and bad choices?

Well, some of them are dumb, and they just guess based on what's best for their survival at the moment.

The clever ones employ something called "critical thinking"

(I went to Christian schooling for my entire childhood. I first learned about "critical thinking" and the scientific method when reading an Edmund Scientific pamphlet. Blew my mind... in my mid 20s).

Since religious morality is made up by people it comes from the same source as atheist morality. Humans!

Religion tends to make it easy for people to insert shitty stuff and claim it is a divine mandate. Atheists have to make a case for why something is right or wrong.

It makes me feel nice to do good things and be nice to others. I usually go by that.

Most religious fundies like this lack a conscious and do no know such things exist in others.

I made a video about this because it comes up so much.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfgXj_V33Pw

It's scary how many christians will pretend "my particular interpretation of god said so" is objective morality. People actually defend rape, slavery, and genocide.

I rely on sense and reason, personally. I aim to reduce overall suffering because I find suffering unpleasant and I empathize with others, and also because working together is mutually beneficial. It's not a choice between emotion and utility, it's both.

I like what Ricky Gervais said about it. He asked Stephen Colbert if he believed in any of the other 3000 gods from human history. Stephen said he did not. Ricky told him that he just believes in one less than he does.

Let's be honest, they do so by adhering to cultural norms with the exact same devotion and lack of scrutiny that religious people do.

"Why do we do it this way?" "We've always done it this way!" "Why is it wrong?" "Because it's just wrong!"

The very small subset of actually moral people decide between good and bad choices not depending on social norms, not depending on laws, not even depending on morals or ethics, but by what motivations their actions arise from, whether they come from Ego or understanding.

You can never know whether an action is good or bad, you can only know whether your motivations are good or bad.

If in doubt, remember what Granny Weatherwax said:

'And sin, young man, is when you treat people as things. Including yourself. That’s what sin is.’

I have yet to find a counterexample.

Good people sometimes do bad things, and bad people sometimes do good things. But the real kicker is that people aren't truly good or bad, it's a false dichotomy.

You put yourself in the mind of the person or people your choice affects. If they would think positively about your choice, it's generally good, if negatively, then bad.

This isn't rocket science