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Atheists and believers surprisingly share moral values, except for these 2 key differences

robocop (actually)

Well-Known Member
Premium Member
Atheists, it turns out, are a rather morally driven bunch. This is news to many, including Tomas Ståhl, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Illinois at Chicago, who this week published a fascinating study in Plos One comparing the deepest beliefs of theists and atheists.

By analyzing the beliefs of nearly 5,000 people in the United States and Sweden, he found that atheists and theists share a number of moral values: Both groups fervently believe in fairness, liberty (including freedom of belief), and the importance of protecting the vulnerable, and both groups hold surprisingly strong bents toward rationality and evidence-based knowledge.

Where they differ is revealing:

  • Theists are likely to support morals such as reverence for authority, loyalty, and sanctity, which all fuel group cohesion (versus individuality).
  • Atheists tend to decide whether or not something is moral by the consequences of a behavior, rather than the morality of the action that caused it (for instance, the common atheist bent that sex acts are fine as long as they’re consensual and no one gets hurt).

    Atheists and believers surprisingly share moral values, except for these 2 key differences
 

Altfish

Veteran Member
Atheists, it turns out, are a rather morally driven bunch. This is news to many, including Tomas Ståhl, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Illinois at Chicago, who this week published a fascinating study in Plos One comparing the deepest beliefs of theists and atheists.

By analyzing the beliefs of nearly 5,000 people in the United States and Sweden, he found that atheists and theists share a number of moral values: Both groups fervently believe in fairness, liberty (including freedom of belief), and the importance of protecting the vulnerable, and both groups hold surprisingly strong bents toward rationality and evidence-based knowledge.

Where they differ is revealing:

  • Theists are likely to support morals such as reverence for authority, loyalty, and sanctity, which all fuel group cohesion (versus individuality).
  • Atheists tend to decide whether or not something is moral by the consequences of a behavior, rather than the morality of the action that caused it (for instance, the common atheist bent that sex acts are fine as long as they’re consensual and no one gets hurt).

    Atheists and believers surprisingly share moral values, except for these 2 key differences
Indeed, I always thought so.
 

Left Coast

This Is Water
Staff member
Premium Member
Atheists, it turns out, are a rather morally driven bunch. This is news to many, including Tomas Ståhl, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Illinois at Chicago, who this week published a fascinating study in Plos One comparing the deepest beliefs of theists and atheists.

By analyzing the beliefs of nearly 5,000 people in the United States and Sweden, he found that atheists and theists share a number of moral values: Both groups fervently believe in fairness, liberty (including freedom of belief), and the importance of protecting the vulnerable, and both groups hold surprisingly strong bents toward rationality and evidence-based knowledge.

Where they differ is revealing:

  • Theists are likely to support morals such as reverence for authority, loyalty, and sanctity, which all fuel group cohesion (versus individuality).
  • Atheists tend to decide whether or not something is moral by the consequences of a behavior, rather than the morality of the action that caused it (for instance, the common atheist bent that sex acts are fine as long as they’re consensual and no one gets hurt).

    Atheists and believers surprisingly share moral values, except for these 2 key differences

Makes sense to me. The notion that without theism people become amoral selfish hedonists is just a silly caricature.
 

Heyo

Veteran Member
Atheists, it turns out, are a rather morally driven bunch. This is news to many, including Tomas Ståhl, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Illinois at Chicago, who this week published a fascinating study in Plos One comparing the deepest beliefs of theists and atheists.

By analyzing the beliefs of nearly 5,000 people in the United States and Sweden, he found that atheists and theists share a number of moral values: Both groups fervently believe in fairness, liberty (including freedom of belief), and the importance of protecting the vulnerable, and both groups hold surprisingly strong bents toward rationality and evidence-based knowledge.

Where they differ is revealing:

  • Theists are likely to support morals such as reverence for authority, loyalty, and sanctity, which all fuel group cohesion (versus individuality).
  • Atheists tend to decide whether or not something is moral by the consequences of a behavior, rather than the morality of the action that caused it (for instance, the common atheist bent that sex acts are fine as long as they’re consensual and no one gets hurt).

    Atheists and believers surprisingly share moral values, except for these 2 key differences
While that isn't very surprising, it is good to have a study to support my personal experience.
 

PureX

Veteran Member
Interesting that none of the atheists here cared to comment on their apparently amoral belief that 'the end justifies or condemns the means'.

"Atheists tend to decide whether or not something is moral by the consequences of a behavior, rather than the morality (intent) of the action that caused it."
 

Mock Turtle

Oh my, did I say that!
Premium Member
Is reverence for authority a moral value? Seems to me that even if respect is expected - where authority is legitimate - any reverence is likely to me detrimental - where such (the authority) can sometimes be abused.
 

ChristineM

"Be strong", I whispered to my coffee.
Premium Member
Interesting that none of the atheists here cared to comment on their apparently amoral belief that 'the end justifies or condemns the means'.

"Atheists tend to decide whether or not something is moral by the consequences of a behavior, rather than the morality (intent) of the action that caused it."

Yes, if thumping someone in the face (figuratively) will cause a war, then don't do it. Its interesting that theists don't recognize that.
 
New Is reverence for authority a moral value?

Whether you personally agree with it is subjective, but if you compiled a list of the most common human values across cultures and time, then respect for authority would certainly be one of the most common ethical principles.
 

Left Coast

This Is Water
Staff member
Premium Member
Interesting that none of the atheists here cared to comment on their apparently amoral belief that 'the end justifies or condemns the means'.

"Atheists tend to decide whether or not something is moral by the consequences of a behavior, rather than the morality (intent) of the action that caused it."

Since when is consequentialism amoral? Whether ends justify means depends on the ends and means in question, from my perspective.
 

Mock Turtle

Oh my, did I say that!
Premium Member
Whether you personally agree with it is subjective, but if you compiled a list of the most common human values across cultures and time, then respect for authority would certainly be one of the most common ethical principles.
My query was the reverence term though. Respect, we can all understand.
 

robocop (actually)

Well-Known Member
Premium Member
Read some history.

Group cohesion does not include that other group who believes differently to our group
Yeah, I don't know. Marx/Stalin and Lenin killed 100 million and Marx was probably Satanic. Hitler was fake Christian. I don't know about nuking Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Those were the 3 worst IMO.
 

Revoltingest

Pragmatic Libertarian
Premium Member
Interesting that none of the atheists here cared to comment on their apparently amoral belief that 'the end justifies or condemns the means'.

"Atheists tend to decide whether or not something is moral by the consequences of a behavior, rather than the morality (intent) of the action that caused it."
Why call it "amoral"?
 
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