Can We Be Good Without God?

Is Human Morality Dependent on Belief in God?

As a citizen of the United States, daily life is surrounded by the essence of God. We live in a country where religion takes a huge part in our public sphere. The separation of church and state is often a very hazy line due to what we would consider civil religion; the religion of our society as a whole. Is it religion that drives the under workings of our society as a whole? There is evidence of our civil religion everywhere, the most common place being in our money. With so much of a religious root being instilled in our country, one would assume that the morality of our country, as a whole, would reflect the amount of religious people that are a part of it. Can we be good without God?



One of the main constituents of many of the popular religions in the United States is that we are all sinners. This is drilled into us over and over again, that sinning almost becomes “semi-acceptable.” As Tinder states in “On the Political Meaning of Christianity,” (75) “It is morbid and self-destructive, supposedly, to depreciate ourselves in this way.” As a society that is what we do; we emphasize our weaknesses instead of our strengths. If our country did not have so much of a religious background, we wouldn’t necessarily think of ourselves in this way.



Faith does give people a reason to do better, however. Religion instills a sense of morality in all people that partake. We are taught what is right and wrong. It becomes obvious to all of human nature what we are expected to do, yet we still commit acts of crime and violence. As Conyers and Harvey explain in “Religion and Crime: Do They Go Together?” (63), studies show that religious people have a higher likelihood of committing a crime than do non-religious people. Religion alone, is not enough to create “good” morality. All of your experiences partake in a constant interplay to develop your own sense of morality which varies from person to person. Even without religion, as in the case with many types of animals, there is a sense of human-like morality found in their innate behavior. For example, dogs live to please and do good. They are loyal and friendly; they do not judge. All animals innately have maternal instincts, which in turn, could be said to be closely linked to morality. Morality is something we are predetermined to have as human beings. Every person innately has a sense of morality.



Works Cited

Conyers, Lisa and Harvey, Philip D.. “Religion and Crime: Do They Go Together.” Academic Communities/Disciplinary Conventions. Ed. Bonnie Beedles and Michael Petracca. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall, 2001. 62-67.

Tinder,Glen. "On the Political Meaning of Christianity." Academic Communities/Disciplinary Conventions. Ed. Bonnie Beedles and Michael Petracca. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall, 2001. 68-88.