Atheist Ethics

You heard it said often that the fact the Golden Rule can be found in many religions is a proof both of its inherent truth and of its divine origin.

Nonsense. That fact that many religions have more or less the same moral code is proof of the code's human origin. All religions were invented by humans; therefore, their moral codes are going to be roughly the same.

Atheist ethics are therefore very similar to religious ethics--because they're all merely human ethics. Do (or don't do) unto others. Turn the other cheek. Be decent and neighborly. Don't steal or lie or murder.

Religions make a big deal out of these moral codes. To which the atheist replies: well, duh.

Of course we should be decent to one another, because we're all we've got. To harm others is ultimately only to harm ourselves. We need to behave ourselves not in hopes of some greater existence in the next life, but because this life is the only one we get and you ought not piss in your own nest.

It was easier to believe in god-stuff in earlier centuries in part because there was no real understanding that we are all in the same boat. Rather, people thought in terms of us and them: aristocrats and commoners, tribe and foreigner, saved and damned, this life and next life. It's much harder to maintain that myth now.

I picture religion as a log floating in a lake. For millenia we've clung to that log for fear of drowning. The atheist says, hey look, we can swim! Let's go see what we can find!

Smilin' all the way.