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Being good without God....... Login/Join 
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Here’s What Being Good Without God Actually Means
The Pew Research Center took a look at what people without a religious affiliation think is essential to morality.
04/20/2016 04:18 pm ET

Carol Kuruvilla
Associate Religion Editor

In recent years, researchers have begun to study the moral practices of a relatively new and growing group within America’s religious landscape — the “nones.”

Nones are people who, when asked to describe their religious affiliation, respond that they are atheist, agnostic, or “nothing in particular.” As of 2014, the nones, also known as the “unaffiliated,” are the second largest religious grouping in America, coming in just under evangelical Christians. As a whole, the unaffiliated tend to be less religious by the standards that surveyors have traditionally used to measure religiosity — attendance at worship services, for example, or daily prayer.

But if they’re not religious by these standards, how exactly are the nones approaching the question of what it means to be a moral person?

There are more religiously unaffiliated adults in the U.S. than Catholics or mainline Protestants.
Thanks to the Pew Research Center, we now have some data on this. In a recent report on religion in everyday life, the organization asked unaffiliated people whether 16 pre-selected beliefs and behaviors were essential, important but not essential, or not important to what they think it means to be a “moral person.”

For the unaffiliated, honesty tops the list, with about 58 percent of the nones saying that “being honest at all times” was essential to being a moral person.

When Harvard chaplain Greg Epstein heard that honesty came out on top, it made a lot of sense to him. As author of “Good Without God: What a Billion Nonreligious People Do Believe,” Epstein has spent a considerable amount of time thinking about what nonbelievers actually hold to be true about tolerance, community, and morality.

“Of course these are people who are interested in honesty and integrity,” Epstein told The Huffington Post. “[Because if you’re coming out as non-religious], then you probably feel a very strong pull to tell the truth and to be honest with yourself and others about who you are.”

Epstein suggested that the act of coming out as a nonbeliever requires a good deal of soul searching and introspection. In a country like America, where the overwhelming majority of people belong to some sort of religion, and where statistics show most of the public has negative feelings towards people who don’t believe in God, Epstein said that there really isn’t any incentive or social pressure to come out as non-religious, or atheist, or agnostic.

Some other essentials that the unaffiliated believe make a moral person are being grateful for what you have (53 percent), committing to spend time with family (47 percent), forgiving those who have wronged you (39 percent), and working to protect the environment (35 percent).

Beliefs and practices that have been traditionally used to measure religiosity fell near the bottom of the list. About 10 percent of the unaffiliated believe praying regularly is essential to being moral. Two percent believe attending religious services is part of a moral life.

In an open-ended question, about a quarter (23 percent) of nones wrote that the “Golden Rule,” a behavior cited by Jesus in the Bible, was essential to morality.

For Epstein, the results of the Pew survey are evidence that the religiously unaffiliated community values action over belief in the supernatural.

“[Humanist and nonreligious people] respect completely the fact that our religious neighbors also feel the need to pray, but our view is that action is irreplaceable,” Epstein said. “Actions ultimately make the difference between living a good life and not living a good life.”


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NEVER, EVER book a hunt with BLAIR WORLDWIDE HUNTING or JEFF BLAIR.

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Posts: 17099 | Location: Texas USA | Registered: 07 May 2001Reply With Quote
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Can't argue with that. Sounds like a pretty good person to me.

My peeve is with people that claim they are affiliated with a religion, but actually have no affiliation with anything related to that religion, other than saying the word.
 
Posts: 13760 | Location: Texas | Registered: 10 May 2002Reply With Quote
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The article seems confused to me. The term "unaffiliated" means not belonging to a particular denomination or church. One could still believe in a creator god who is capable of intervening in the events of the world.

"However, many of the religiously unaffiliated have some religious beliefs. For example, belief in God or a higher power is shared by 7% of Chinese unaffiliated adults, 30% of French unaffiliated adults and 68% of unaffiliated U.S. adults. Some of the unaffiliated also engage in certain kinds of religious practices. For example, 7% of unaffiliated adults in France and 2 7% of those in the United States say they attend religious serv ices at least once a year. And in China, 44% of unaffiliated adults say they have worshiped at a graveside or tomb in the past year"
Having said that, they sound more "christian' than many of the "evangelical christians" whose hearts are filled with hatred.
The issue of identifying with a religious demonination is interesting. Many "christians" show up at church twice a year, Christmas and Easter. Judaism does not seem to be defined by doctrine but rather by practice ie. there is no such thing as a non practicing Jew! Perhaps DRG can chip in here!
Peter.


Be without fear in the face of your enemies. Be brave and upright, that God may love thee. Speak the truth always, even if it leads to your death. Safeguard the helpless and do no wrong;
 
Posts: 10505 | Location: Jacksonville, Florida | Registered: 09 January 2004Reply With Quote
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quote:
there is no such thing as a non practicing Jew


Absolutely wrong!


xxxxxxxxxx
When considering US based operations of guides/outfitters, check and see if they are NRA members. If not, why support someone who doesn't support us? Consider spending your money elsewhere.

NEVER, EVER book a hunt with BLAIR WORLDWIDE HUNTING or JEFF BLAIR.

I have come to understand that in hunting, the goal is not the goal but the process.
 
Posts: 17099 | Location: Texas USA | Registered: 07 May 2001Reply With Quote
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Might be a god, but he sure as Hell isn't the one the organized religions keep shoving down our throats. That one is entirely Man made. Wink

Grizz


Indeed, no human being has yet lived under conditions which, considering the prevailing climates of the past, can be regarded as normal. John E Pfeiffer, The Emergence of Man

Those who can't skin, can hold a leg. Abraham Lincoln

Only one war at a time. Abe Again.
 
Posts: 4211 | Location: Alta. Canada | Registered: 06 November 2002Reply With Quote
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Gator, could you explain that please? This is not a flame but a request for knowledge. As I stated, Judaism is a religion that is not defined by a set of beliefs but rather a set of practices, so if you don;t practice eg. the Sabbath, say the Shema, have a mezuzah etc. then what makes you a Jew? Honest question. You can PM if you want. Links and references are also appreciated.

Let me add than morality does not have to be rooted in a religion. John Stuart Mill's ethical theory "Utilitarianism" is a very good case in point.
Thanks, Peter


Be without fear in the face of your enemies. Be brave and upright, that God may love thee. Speak the truth always, even if it leads to your death. Safeguard the helpless and do no wrong;
 
Posts: 10505 | Location: Jacksonville, Florida | Registered: 09 January 2004Reply With Quote
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Look it up. Geesh.

Let me give you a hint. It is a set of beliefs and, more to the point, if your mother is Jewish, you are Jewish, whether you practice, believe, or not.


xxxxxxxxxx
When considering US based operations of guides/outfitters, check and see if they are NRA members. If not, why support someone who doesn't support us? Consider spending your money elsewhere.

NEVER, EVER book a hunt with BLAIR WORLDWIDE HUNTING or JEFF BLAIR.

I have come to understand that in hunting, the goal is not the goal but the process.
 
Posts: 17099 | Location: Texas USA | Registered: 07 May 2001Reply With Quote
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Case in point, my brother. He was a non-practicing Methodist (like me) who married a Jewish girl. Their kids are Jewish. My brother is "Jewish" when he thinks it is advantageous. Otherwise he's not.

I on the other hand keep marrying Catholics. I can't find an advantage in it, other than they seem to put up with me, and can be trusted more than Baptist wives. Not that I've read that on the Internet to confirm my hypothesis, just personal experience.

I agree with Grizz.
 
Posts: 13760 | Location: Texas | Registered: 10 May 2002Reply With Quote
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Look it up. Geesh.

Thanks very much!

"I on the other hand keep marrying Catholics."
Kensco, how many!!!!??
Peter


Be without fear in the face of your enemies. Be brave and upright, that God may love thee. Speak the truth always, even if it leads to your death. Safeguard the helpless and do no wrong;
 
Posts: 10505 | Location: Jacksonville, Florida | Registered: 09 January 2004Reply With Quote
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Hell is going to have a large population of moral, "I meant well" citizens one of these days...

The rules are fairly well laid out. They're called the Ten Commandments.

It's like a friend once told me: "I'm a reformed druid. We still pray to trees, but only evergreens...".
 
Posts: 23062 | Location: SW Idaho | Registered: 19 December 2005Reply With Quote
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