The Existence of Morality without God (Atheist's Belief)
Where does the morality of humans originate if there is no God? How do we know if something is right or wrong? If you don't believe in God what will stop you from doing bad and unjust things?
This is one thing where I felt amazement on religions. They have done an amazing job in this part. Somehow, they convinced most of the humans in the world, most especially here in the Philippines.
But if you think about it, before the emergence of some of the major religions, humans long ago already had a concept about morality. There only came a time where political officials and powerful men in history used holy scriptures and Quran like the Roman Empire in Europe and the Arabs in the Middle East. Because of that power, they had control over the media available at that time. One of the reasons why religion holds the standards in morality is because it is easier to answer with their Quran or Bible.
So the big question is, where does the morality of those without God come from?
Evolutionary History
For thousands of years, our ancestors are already existing with groups consisting of 40-80 people. Their cooperation is one of the biggest reasons that they survived. The tribes that grouped and worked together with the cooperation and those who are kind and thought about the goodness of others. The loyal ones and took care of those people that are sick and needs help are the ones who succeeded and continued living and be able to pass on their genes. Those offspring that inherited those good genes and continued doing those good things are the ones who survived and passed that culture for a long time up to our generation.
You might ask, but why do bad people still exist?
Well, the answer is that we can not deny that good and bad characteristics are part of human nature. That makes psychology an interesting topic. The point is that our good side was the key to our survival and the standard of morality we follow today.
Neurological
Our minds are developed to have empathy. That was being sensitive to what other people feel and compassion. That is the reason why some of us don't want to see other people suffering or being in pain. We have cortisol and peptides that releases hormones from our brain. That is the reason why it doesn't feel good that we see someone suffering. Of course, not all, there is an exception. Some studies showed us that even babies aging 5-6 months old don't want something that scares or hurts them. Babies want those good things and things that won't hurt them.
Social and Cultural
All of us were raised by our parents or other persons. While a baby grows up he gains knowledge with the help of the elderly around the baby. He learns the culture and characteristics of the community where the baby belongs to. That is where he learned to think and take care of others. That process was already existing a long time ago even at the times where the religions are still not established.
Personal Experience
Our personal experience as humans. The things that we have learned in the times we are thinking. Sometimes our personal beliefs, views, and perspectives change, let us take note of morality here. That is the reason why psychology and philosophy were established because we have our way of thinking. That is our difference from other animals out there.
Our sources are very clear and our explanations are thorough about the existence of morality. As an atheist, I hope that I could explain all of that easily but there is nothing like that. At the end of the day, when it comes to right or wrong, there is nothing written on the rock that is considered as the highest or the exact definition of morality, we humans are the ones doing that, and for some, it is very scary if we define our morality from others. All in all, it's our decision about morality, not on trees, rocks, or invisible creatures. We only need to agree on what is important and that is the time we could have objective morality.
