Does morality require a God?

"Convinced that there is no eternal life awaiting him,
he [man] will strive all the more to brighten his life on earth
and rationally improve his condition in harmony with that of his fellows."
- Ernst Haeckel. [The Wonders of Life, p. 108.]

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I have tried to avoid turning this website into a big list of links that has little to say itself. Some of the questions that often crop up about atheism are

  • Morality comes from God. How do you determine morality if you don`t have a God?
  • Is humanist/atheist morality any better than theistic morality (e.g. based on the teachings of Jesus)
These are also common questions I receive in response to this website - I have tackled many other aspects of religion, but said little about morality.

There are many people who have already addressed this issue in detail (and have no doubt made a better job of it than I could). For the sake of completeness, I'm simply going to provide links to these articles. If, in the future, I feel I have something original to add, I will, but I think that these articles should answer most of your questions (the answer is No, you do not require a specific God in order to have morals, and Yes, humanist morality can (in some ways) be superior to theistic morality).

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