Actually this thread should've been titled, "There is no such thing as Morality." Since, at the end of the day, there does not exist an objective frame of reference for deciding right and wrong. And even religion is not an objective frame of reference.

But that said, at least religion offers the only frame of reference for morality that is consistent and has been unanimously trusted for ages. Which brings me to the reason for this thread.

The opponents of religions often say that we don't need religion or revelations to decide right from wrong, and that all we need is Reason and Empathy. For instance, they may say that "We know intuitively that murder or theft is wrong, without reading the 10 commandments."

So, the atheists or deists assume that in absence of religion, a form of moral unity may be attained by a population of humans based upon reason and empathy. And this is deeply flawed.

Reason isn't consistent, let alone objective outside the laboratories of natural sciences. For instance, is it moral or immoral for a destitute, homeless, 3 weeks pregnant woman to abort her fetus? Human reason is severely limited by experience and intelligence.

Empathy is deeply subjective because it is hampered by mood, emotion and most importantly, your sensitivity. For instance, why is killing an innocent person immoral, but killing a sheep moral?

So, where then is morality derived? One that is consistent and least subjective. It derives from an authority, such as the word of God - the scriptures. This is where religion comes in.

In the end, religion don't offer an ideal or accurate moral system, but neither does atheism. What is respectable about religion is the unanimity on moral issues it brings about, which becomes a stepping stone for an harmonious society.

usermane:
Actually this thread should've been titled, "There is no such thing as Morality." Since, at the end of the day, there does not exist an objective frame of reference for deciding right and wrong. And even religion is not an objective frame of reference.

But that said, at least religion offers the only frame of reference for morality that is consistent and has been unanimously trusted for ages. Which brings me to the reason for this thread.

The opponents of religions often say that we don't need religion or revelations to decide right from wrong, and that all we need is Reason and Empathy. For instance, they may say that "We know intuitively that murder or theft is wrong, without reading the 10 commandments."

So, the atheists or deists assume that in absence of religion, a form of moral unity may be attained by a population of humans based upon reason and empathy. And this is deeply flawed.

Reason isn't consistent, let alone objective outside the laboratories of natural sciences. For instance, is it moral or immoral for a destitute, homeless, 3 weeks pregnant woman to abort her fetus? Human reason is severely limited by experience and intelligence.

Empathy is deeply subjective because it is hampered by mood, emotion and most importantly, your sensitivity. For instance, why is killing an innocent person immoral, but killing a sheep moral?

So, where then is morality derived? One that is consistent and least subjective. It derives from an authority, such as the word of God - the scriptures. This is where religion comes in.

In the end, religion don't offer an ideal or accurate moral system, but neither does atheism. What is respectable about religion is the unanimity on moral issues it brings about, which becomes a stepping stone for an harmonious society.

As far as we can tell all moral systems are human derived including the ones that claim divine origin or inspiration.

Looking for an ideal systems is a dream because as far as we know there is no perfect human system. Every system has it flaws which can be exploited by the less scrupulous.

Yes atheism doesn't offer a moral system because it doesn't care to as it a single issue focus, belief or the lack thereof, in god/gods. Humanists on the other hand advocate for moral systems that are more pragmatic, forward looking and have built in error correction mechanisms. I as an atheist, I much prefer humanist moral systems.