Thought for the day: Do we have to believe in God to believe in good?

Morals - do they really only come from religion? Philosophers and theologians have battled for centuries over this issue and I don’t expect to find an answer in the 300 words I’m allowed in this article but I would like to pose the question and give you a chance to think about it.

The reason I raise this issue is that I recently wrote about ‘old fashioned values’, and I was subsequently challenged to accept that values and morals only exist because of religion.

It’s certainly true that various faiths have been the caretakers and self appointed arbiters of our values for many centuries but do we really think there could be no values without God?

Do you really think that an atheist is not able to determine right from wrong?

I’m content with the fact that people can feel secure that their values are rooted in their faith but some of us feel equally secure that our values are rooted in our humanity.

Don’t you think it feasible that if mankind had developed as a species without religion of any kind, that we would have found a set of rules that allowed us to live together with some degree of harmony and accord?

Even the wildest of wild animals find ways of getting along. I have to believe if wolves can do it, man can do it!

As a Humanist and atheist I may not believe in God, but I do believe in good.

I would suggest there are many people in the world today, many people reading this newspaper, who do not live with faith but who live good and decent lives.

The moral code they follow may be driven out of simple respect for their fellow man and policed by the little voice we all have inside our head…our conscience.

DREW BAXTER

Humannist