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

Discussion in 'Comparative Religion' started by robocop (actually), Feb 28, 2021.

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  1. robocop (actually)

    robocop (actually) Well-Known Member
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    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
     
    #1 robocop (actually), Feb 28, 2021
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  2. Altfish

    Altfish Veteran Member

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    Indeed, I always thought so.
     
    #2 Altfish, Feb 28, 2021
  3. samtonga43

    samtonga43 Active Member

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    I don't find this surprising at all.
     
    #3 samtonga43, Feb 28, 2021
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  4. ChristineM

    ChristineM "Be strong" I whispered to my coffee.
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    Nothing new here
     
    #4 ChristineM, Feb 28, 2021
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  5. Subduction Zone

    Subduction Zone Veteran Member

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    Au contraire. I was shocked, shocked I say to find that theists could be moral:D
     
    #5 Subduction Zone, Feb 28, 2021
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  6. ChristineM

    ChristineM "Be strong" I whispered to my coffee.
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    In their way they can, not what i consider moral but none the less they have am image to portray
     
    #6 ChristineM, Feb 28, 2021
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  7. Left Coast

    Left Coast Happy Spring!
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    Makes sense to me. The notion that without theism people become amoral selfish hedonists is just a silly caricature.
     
    #7 Left Coast, Feb 28, 2021
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  8. Heyo

    Heyo Well-Known Member

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    While that isn't very surprising, it is good to have a study to support my personal experience.
     
    #8 Heyo, Feb 28, 2021
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  9. ChristineM

    ChristineM "Be strong" I whispered to my coffee.
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    I will be using it myself next time i am told 'you are atheist therefore you have no morals"
     
    #9 ChristineM, Feb 28, 2021
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  10. PureX

    PureX Veteran Member

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    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."
     
    #10 PureX, Feb 28, 2021
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  11. Mock Turtle

    Mock Turtle Silent Generation - so don't expect much
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    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.
     
    #11 Mock Turtle, Feb 28, 2021
  12. ChristineM

    ChristineM "Be strong" I whispered to my coffee.
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    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.
     
    #12 ChristineM, Feb 28, 2021
  13. Augustus

    Augustus the Unreasonable

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    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.
     
    #13 Augustus, Feb 28, 2021
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  14. robocop (actually)

    robocop (actually) Well-Known Member
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    If theists want "group cohesion" they probably don't want war.
     
    #14 robocop (actually), Feb 28, 2021
  15. Left Coast

    Left Coast Happy Spring!
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    Since when is consequentialism amoral? Whether ends justify means depends on the ends and means in question, from my perspective.
     
    #15 Left Coast, Feb 28, 2021
  16. Mock Turtle

    Mock Turtle Silent Generation - so don't expect much
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    My query was the reverence term though. Respect, we can all understand.
     
    #16 Mock Turtle, Feb 28, 2021
  17. ChristineM

    ChristineM "Be strong" I whispered to my coffee.
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    Read some history.

    Group cohesion does not include that other group who believes differently to our group
     
    #17 ChristineM, Feb 28, 2021
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  18. robocop (actually)

    robocop (actually) Well-Known Member
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    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.
     
    #18 robocop (actually), Feb 28, 2021
  19. robocop (actually)

    robocop (actually) Well-Known Member
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    Also, the group often wants everyone else to join them, so they don't attack them.
     
    #19 robocop (actually), Feb 28, 2021
  20. Revoltingest

    Revoltingest I have the kavorka
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    Why call it "amoral"?
     
    #20 Revoltingest, Feb 28, 2021
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