Are Atheists and Theists Morally Equivalent?

Do people need God to be good? Daniel Dennett's 'Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon', Richard Dawkins's 'The God Delusion', Chris Hedges's 'American Fascists', all claim that theism is morally inferior to atheism.

Morality Among Atheists

The rise of the "New Atheism" has led to the claim by its major proponents that atheism is morally superior to theism and that the world would be better off if the entire population were composed only of atheists. A new study raises doubts about that claim.

Reginald W. Bibby, Board of Governors Research Chair in the Department of Sociology at the University of Lethbridge, Canada, shows that atheists rate several moral values less important than theists do.

Religion and morality

Theists are far more likely than atheists to be part of groups that work hard to instill values about being good to other people, and having good relationships. Two of the three main Sikh principles emphasize 1) an honest living, 2) to share with others via charity, etc. Many moral values are not emphasized in social circles dominated by atheists.

Importance of moral values

A survey of 1,600 Canadians asked them what were their beliefs about God and what moral values they considered to be "very important." The results of the survey are shown below:

Moral Values of Theists vs. Atheists

Moral Value	Theists	Atheists
Honesty	94%	89%
Kindness	88%	75%
Family life	88%	65%
Being loved	86%	70%
Friendship	85%	74%
Courtesy	81%	71%
Concern for others	82%	63%
Forgiveness	84%	52%
Politeness	77%	65%
Friendliness	79%	66%
Patience	72%	39%
Generosity	67%	37%

Although the differences between theists and atheists in the importance of values such as honesty, politeness, and friendliness are generally small, moral values emphasized by religious beliefs, such as Sikhism, including patience, forgiveness, and generosity exhibit major differences in attitudes (30%+ differences between theists and atheists).

What's really concernnig is that only half of atheists think that forgiveness is very important. Either these people have not been married or maybe married multiple times, since a lack of forgiveness in a marriage is a sure recipe for disaster. Couple that moral belief with a perception that neither patience nor generosity are very important, and it seems that the divorce rates are likely to go up significantly in the near future.

According to Professor Bibby, Grandma is the "symbolic saintly person in the clan. So valuing Grandma also means valuing many of the things important to her. In successive generations you have a lingering effect of morality. But further down the road generations get further removed from the sources of those values. That's where it gets tricky."

Conclusion

Religious philosopher and writer C.S. Lewis believed that the inner call to be good comes from a higher power that speaks to conscience.

Contrary to the claim of the "New Atheism," it seems that atheism leads to a decline in the perception of the importance of many personal moral values, especially those that have a big impact on interpersonal relationships. Since these new atheists are still being influenced by persons of traditional religious moral values, it seems likely that the importance of these values will diminish even further in the beliefs of the next generation of atheists.

According to Reginald Bibby, the author of the study, "To the extent that Canadians say good-bye to God, we may find that we pay a significant social price." In addition, a recent scientific study shows that a certain atheistic belief (determinism or lack of free will) negatively impacts moral behavior.

ਕੇਤੀਆ ਕਰਮ ਭੂਮੀ ਮੇਰ ਕੇਤੇ ਕੇਤੇ ਧੂ ਉਪਦੇਸ ॥ Keṯī▫ā karam bẖūmī mer keṯe keṯe ḏẖū upḏes.
So many worlds and lands for working out karma. So very many lessons to be learned!
Guru Nanak Sahib Ji (Sri Guru Granth Sahib, Ang 7)

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