Of course. I don’t think anyone truly believes differently – except the few psychotic among us. The big difference between my reasons for living a moral life and a religious person’s come down to motivation. Why do I believe in being moral and not harming others? It’s certainly not to earn favor with a celestial being or to escape its punishment. I believe in living a moral life because it’s the right thing to do. My moral compass is based on the concept of overall human well-being as opposed to the prospects of my own comfort in an afterlife. It’s focused on what I see making the world better and not what rules a divine being has issued or demanded to be obeyed.
Objectively, believing that being immoral or that causing harm to others is a good thing, endangers the society I live in. It causes fractures in the trust space and engenders conflict among the people. I can see this domino effect and realize its potential to do more harm than good.
Helping other people, and avoiding intentional harm to others, by myself or by others, fosters a more trusting and peaceful environment. It builds bridges based on communal interests and the prospect of a more positive future together.
Christian apologists like William Lane Craig propose the idea that objective morality exists because God has deemed certain things to be right and others to be wrong. But that’s not objective at all. It’s based on the subjective matter of God’s choosing. And as I’ve said before, if God said murder was right, would that make it right to murder?
I think that everyone should indeed strive to be moral (that a common, universal, and objective basis for morality can be found) and that not intentionally doing harm to others is the right thing to do because I can see (and have seen) evidence that this course of action is better at building a positive global community. I can empathize with people who are harmed and feel pity for them. I do this because it is right. Not out of concern with being rewarded or punished for my choices in an afterlife or with the whims of fancy by celestial, divine beings that I can’t be sure even exist. It makes the world a better place and helps create a better life for everyone here… and that by itself is reason enough.
