Atheists and Morality - Are Atheists evil because they reject God?

I am often asked this question: Are Atheists evil / immoral because they reject God?

There seem to be two possible sources for morality, depending on your personal beliefs. Morality either comes from deity, or is a matter of social norms reinforced by emotion and instinct.

Deity is claimed to be omnipotent, benevolent, and unchanging. If morality comes from deity, you would expect the morality to be unchanging throughout human history.

The bible provides a snapshot of morality at two distinct times in history. In the old testament morality included specific diet, observance of animal sacrifice, and a rigid social hierarchy. Slavery, child labor, and child marriage were all encouraged and tolerated to different degrees. The old testament also precluded all non-Hebrews from salvation. In the new testament the strict diet is different, animal sacrifice is gone, and Christ himself exemplified dissolution of the social hierarchy. In the new testament, the "Hebrews only" policy is overturned.

Recent Christian history is replete with examples of changed morality: Conquest, forced conversion, killing of "heathens", slavery and indebted servitude are just a few examples.

All of these activities are currently considered evil, immoral actions. Yet, these actions were considered morally acceptable at some point in the past.

The fact that morality changes over time suggests that it is a purely human phenomenon. Religion can have positive and negative effects on the prevalent morality of a culture.

The basic sources of morality as a human phenomenon are sympathy, empathy, and self reflection. Think of it this way: If you see another person being stabbed, you have a physical and emotional empathetic response. You know what pain feels like, so you empathize with the stabbed person. If you have an emotional attachment to the stabbed person, your empathy is even stronger.

The same holds true for most evils. Empathy and sympathy inform morality, thus keeping rape, murder, theft and infidelity in check. Babies are born with the basic emotional framework for empathy and sympathy. These qualities slowly emerge as the baby grows and experiences life. As the child grows, self-reflection comes into play. As the child experiences their environment, they use their empathy/sympathy system to judge actions and circumstances around them. As they mature they begin to reflect on how their actions effect others, modifying their behavior accordingly.

The empathy / sympathy / self reflection system is a balance between basic human emotions and the rational mind. If you look at it from this perspective, you can understand why this system is easily overloaded by powerful emotions elicited by things like: greed, racism, nationalism, and even religion.

As you can see, Atheists are just as capable of morality and kindness as believers. The difference is: Atheists have no "sin / repentance / forgiveness" belief. From the moment an immoral deed is done, we own it. We have to wrestle with it in our own conscience, make appropriate amends, and forgive ourselves.

As you are probably aware, it is often more difficult to forgive yourself than to accept forgiveness from another.

I hope this helps set the record straight.