Can Morality Exist Without God?
Al Sharpton and Christopher Hitchens debated one another at the New York Public Library on May 7, 2007. Part of their debate covered the issue of morality in the absence of religion or a belief in God.
Christopher Hitchens is an author, journalist and literary critic. Now living in Washington, D.C., he has been a columnist at Vanity Fair, The Nation and Slate; additionally, he is an occasional contributor to many other publications.
Al Sharpton Jr. is a Pentecostal minister, a political activist, civil rights activist and film actor. In recent years, Sharpton has also become a perennial candidate in his quest for the Democratic Party's nomination for President of the United States. Author of "Go and Tell Pharaoh: The Autobiography of the Reverend Al Sharpton."
The entire debate can be viewed here. The following is an excerpt.
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19 Responses to “Can Morality Exist Without God?”
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The topic of the debate is a great one, \"Can Mortality Exist Without God?\"
If you are being honest with yourself about it, the answer is probably no. There isn\'t a \"Mortal\" life – so how can one have \"mortality\"?
If you are always mortal, with no other state, then you don\'t need to call what you are doing being mortal.
Very humorous post! While we are mortal, we are also moral creatures, and rationalist philosophical thought believes that morality can be separated from God.
I meant that TheNooge had a very humorous comment!
Okay, I don't get Nooge's comment.
I do not know if my views are right or wrong in accordance with the person who reads this. yet I am speaking out what comes to my mind. After all that is all what is blogging is all about.
Nice point of debate. Yet a bit controversial one too. Well existence of morality is as questionable as existence of God himself. If you believe there is God, then you see that there is something to control you. Morality will exist even if god does not exist. That is what I believe. After all the power to think is what differentiates us from animals and that makes man a social animal
I agree with you, Corporate Business. A person does not need to believe in a god to have morals. Conversely, in areas where there is a high Christian belief in God, there is more crime (I don't have the cites offhand). Some have speculated that this is because the criminal thought he or she was "getting away with something" under the nose of a controlling god figure, sort of like kids purposefully defying the authority of their parents.
To have a moral does not need to believe in God. I am surely agree with your statement with condition. It only/usually take place at rich countries, but does not in a 3rd grade countries where God is the only one person to be cried for…
morality doesn't belong to God nor the religion. My morality is located next to my creed, not inside. From the other hand I prefer singing about God than talking or writing
Morality eh? As a firm believer in the absence of God – I would certainly say that I have no morals. You see, it's only ever wrong if you get caught right? That's why I just do whatever I want without regard for those around me.
But seriously, how is this question still being asked? I feel like it's been answered and dealt with a million times…
Short answer – NO.
Yup.. indeed…
No is my first glance answer
When making the assertion that morality can exist without God the obvious question is – how do you know? How many of us have been brought up in the complete ignorance of God, or a God? Can we genuinely answer the question of whether we know our morals have not been influenced by the pervasive and cultural impact religion has on us through our upbringing and more widely upon the society we live in.
I don't know the answer to this but I suspect that God plays a big part in the morality of society, even if some components of society deny this to be the case.
Want to see a great video response to this?
Can We Be Good Without God? Dr. William Lane Craig
http://100huntley.com/video.php?id=s9gttAmqEyA
To live a moral life requires knowledge of what is actually moral and immoral. This knowledge comes from God and resides deep within our conscience. Whether we choose to listen to it or not is another matter.
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Seems to me that the golden rule — do onto others as you would yourself — would apply to most thinking or empathic persons, regardless of religious belief or non-belief.
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I believe morality can exist without the God. Why? Because I'm an example, It's simple as that!
Morality cannot exist without God!!
We are inherently greedy, selfish, and power hungry. It is the way of evolution. Put a frontal lobe into an animal body and you get human–a total and complete monster–a survivalist who can think. In order for any kind of morality to exist among us, we had to create a god/gods and moral codes in order to control ourselves. Without those codes, no civilization could ever exist. But, and this is crucial, we created the codes, the gods, the morality. Until proven otherwise, there is no inherent morality in the universe aside from what sentient beings create for themselves. Good thing, too. Most gods are real bitches!