Q&A: An Atheist Friend
An Atheist Friend
Question
During a discussion with my atheist friend, I argued that there is no morality without God.
He argued that morality is something that developed evolutionarily, and that basically the following process happened:
A person who had a different morality—for example, wanted to murder, rape, etc.—was pushed out of society by the society with proper morality, and then evolutionarily every other kind of morality (bad morality) died out… and only good morality remained, and that is how it was created. I would appreciate it if the Rabbi could elaborate and explain the topic, and whether my friend's claim is correct or incorrect…?
Answer
Both claims can be correct. They are consistent. But one has to understand that if morality developed evolutionarily, then there is nothing binding about it. I do it because I feel like it, not because I am obligated. There is no such thing as “obligated.” Therefore, the question is not how to interpret morality, but how to interpret conscience as a psychological phenomenon. On his view, there is no morality, only a moral impulse. It is not essentially different from the impulse to speak gossip. You can decide whether to go along with it or not, but there is no good and bad here, or right and wrong. Of course, you also cannot judge someone else who does not act that way. You feel like behaving this way, and he does not.
Someone who is willing to accept such a picture (according to which there is no valid morality) can remain an atheist. He just has to understand what that means. See column 456 and the discussions following it.