Even Atheists Stereotype Atheists, Ctd

A reader writes:

I think there’s a pretty fundamental flaw in Jacobs’ interpretation of the study on atheists and immorality. He says:

The findings suggest our instinctive belief that moral behavior is dependent upon God – as ethical arbiter and/or assigner of divine punishment – creates a belief system strong enough to override evidence to the contrary. It leads people many to look at non-believers and reflexively assume the worst.

I would argue that this study says nothing of the sort. Jacobs is drawing the line from atheism to immorality, where the study only shows a causal path from immorality to atheism. There is a big difference between assuming someone who is acting unethically is an atheist and saying that someone who is an atheist is less capable of acting ethically. As an illustration, imagine they repeated the same experiment with serial killers, varying gender instead. Most documented serial killers have been men. Thus, someone doing the above experiment would likely more readily assume that a serial killer was a man. This does not mean that these people think men in general are incapable of acting morally.

Another writes, “The idea that atheists are less moral than believers deeply offends me”:

I am an atheist, yet I strive to do the right thing in all aspects of my life. I do not always succeed, but I always try. And I do not try to do the right thing because I am seeking reward, or trying to avoid punishment in some afterlife, but because I believe that, in most situations, there is a right and a wrong, and that to be a moral person, one must strive to do right.

I learned in a university philosophy course about different theories of the stages of moral development, and that the highest form of morality is based on an internalization of universal principles of right and wrong. The most primitive form of morality is based on a fear of punishment. It is not necessary to believe in a higher power to achieve the highest form of morality.

When I am unsure of what is right in any situation, I don’t ask “What would Jesus do?” but rather, “What would my mother do?” My mother was one of the most moral people I have ever known, and although she believed in God, she did not always follow the Church in its pronouncements as to what was right and wrong. She followed her own conscience, even if it disagreed with the Church’s teachings. My mother was an amazingly good woman and my moral compass. I struggle without her.

Another is on the same page:

Your post about distrust of atheists brought to mind a criticism I shared with the late Christopher Hitchens. Hitchens used to rail against the notion that only believers can be moral because they believe in a god that can reward you or punish you. Hitchens would say it’s very telling when believers only do good to gain reward or avoid punishment, instead of just doing good for the sake of doing good. I share this feeling.

My wife and I are atheists, and we are raising our two children as such. We live in what’s considered Alaska’s Bible Belt (think: near Palin’s hometown), and religion is very pervasive in everyday life and governmental functions. This has a real chilling effect on how “open” about our atheism we can be. If more people knew, I am certain we would be ostracized and stereotyped as some sort of horrible people.

This is why I am of the opinion that there are lots more atheists than there appears to be. Society just hasn’t gotten to the point where people’s minds have accepted atheism as a harmless, acceptable thing, so many atheists say in the closet.