Seeking Common Ground with John Shook, 2009, Nonbelievers and Morality

Responding to John Shook, Center for Inquiry on the God-Morals Connection/Disconnection
It’s no mystery how Nonbelievers stay moral without God - May 24, 2009 - by John Shook

Shook observed:

"It’s really no mystery how nonreligious people are moral too. Sill, religious people just can’t help but make a big mystery out of this obvious fact. Even if the religious admit that atheists can know what morality is, they stay bewildered by atheists’ ability to willingly follow morality. We hear the faithful endlessly worry over moral atheists. "How do they obey morality, when they have no motivation to be so good?" Is it like watching a disaster movie for them? The faithful seem perched on the edges of their seats, anticipating a catastrophic climax when a billion people who don’t believe in any supernatural God suddenly erupt into anarchy and chaos."

www.centerforinquiry.net to READ MORE

There are almost too many points on which to comment adequately when reading John Shook's post.

First, I would complement him on a well written and reasonable discussion of the subject. I would agree with him that "Nonbelievers" (I will capitalize it since he did) can be as moral as believers. I would also add a theist's perspective with which I would not expect him to agree.

Take this statement:

"The world is getting along just fine with a sixth of the world’s population living without your God. No disaster is coming, and it’s no mystery why not. Unbelievers don’t need God to stay moral. It’s all about motivation. "

Actually, I don't think the world is doing all that well, but there are plenty of people who believe in God who are a part of the problem.

I would suggest that in reality, more than 1/6 are living "without God." By that I mean that while most people have a nominal belief in God, it is not so pervasive that it drives their moral decisions on a daily basis.

On the other hand, we don't think that just because you don't believe in God that God is not involved in your life. So, in the strictest sense, and from a theist's point of view, we would not say that you are living entirely without God.

I would agree that it is all about motivation.

Shook creates an argument for the God-Morality connection and attributes it to believers. There are many who would use that argument, but I am not certain that it would be the best of all possible reasoning processes.

A missing motivation would be the basic law that what you reap you sow.

The Hindus have a version of it and call it Karma. Deists would have called it natural law.

To find examples of these universally applicable principles and motivations that exist in the universe whether or not its people believe in God, one need only ready the Hebrew wisdom literature - especially Proverbs. These sayings arise as much out of observation and inspiration. Yet, the writer says that they all come from God.

Therefore, reverence for God, however you describe God or ultimate truth, is the beginning of wisdom.

The motivations, however, flow from the natural consequences of behavior that rewards itself. So, if I want to be trusted, I will be trustworthy. That will bring a reward. The reward will condition me and teach me. That training will inform my moral sensibilities. As a believer, I would say that God set that in motion. Nonbelievers would not make that claim. The results are the same in this dimension.

Shook raises a good question: Do we need to have eternal rewards assured or punishment avoided in order to behave morally? Hebrews 11 suggests that people in ancient times who did not have a strong sense of eternal rewards were willing to exercise extraordinary faith for the benefit for those who would come after them. Of course, they believed in an eternal God and that gave them significance.

Again, the wisdom literature attempts an answer. From Ecclesiastes we read:

For everything there is a season and a time for every purpose under heaven.

God has made everything beautiful in its own time.

God has set eternity in the hearts of human beings.

As offensive as it may seem to my atheist friends, Christians believe that you have a sense of eternity in your heart whether or not you believe and that it drives many of your responses to life. We also believe that the goodness that exists in you is not entirely voided because you do not know from whence it came. We further believe that the human capacity for empathy is a "God-connection," as is love and the longing for grace.

For every naturalistic explanation for anything that a Nonbeliever cites, we see a First-Mover behind it. For that reason, I could find no reason to quarrel with these points that Shook relates:

"(1) possessing moral knowledge alone provides a reasonable motivation to be moral;

(2) moral conduct can be intrinsically satisfying for one’s self and hence is reasonable;

(3) moral conduct towards another person is valuable to that person and hence reasonably creates value;

(4) moral conduct can be a practical means of maintaining beneficial social relations and hence is reasonable;

(5) moral conduct can be useful for survival and hence would be reasonable."

We do believe in ultimate rectification. It gives us great comfort and encouragement. We believe that there is power in the Spirit living within us to overcome temptations and make tough choices. We believe that the message of life-change-possibility (repentance) flowing from mercy, grace, and forgiveness liberates people to become more than they otherwise could become. We believe that we are loved unconditionally, forgiven freely, and awakened eternally through faith.

But I don't think our theism hinges on a moral theory of God. In fact, the Christian message is not primarily a moral one. Ethics is but one component of Christian doctrine. We believe that it originates with God, but that it is the one component that is virtually universal in its revelation with or without the specifics of scripture to explain it. That is why all people share accountability for their actions in this world.

The Christian ethic is that our moral choices should exceed the minimum requirements of basic human morality for no other motivation than love. Love is the standard for behavior according to Jesus. It is the only standard. To the extent to which Nonbelievers agree with this, we have something in common.

"Don’t worry, faithful—you can count on steady morality from nonbelievers."

I am happy to know that. I already suspected it.