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"Atheists Have No Morals" | Goodness Without God

November 14, 2026 · 30 min

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Uploaded 16-05-24

Over the years a consistent claim has emerged from both some theists and some atheists that morality is untenable without the existence of a God. But is this true? Today I will explore three variants on the position that "Atheists have no morals" to see which ones hold water and which are simply unfounded assumptions.

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Papers cited:

For claim that people harbour a distrust of atheists: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22059841/

Benefits of group camping trips: https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1348050/full

Relationship between religious attendance and generosity (an example of pro-social behaviour): https://news.gallup.com/poll/122807/religious-attendance-relates-generosity-worldwide.aspx

A paper questioning the relationship between atheism and pro-sociality. and the correlation sometimes found: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22925142/

For Investigations between the religiosity of societies and their levels of anti-social behaviour: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Society-without-God-Religious-Contentment/dp/0814797237

Relationship between prosociality and religion: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38407059/#:~:text=years%20of%20research-,Religiosity%20predicts%20prosociality%2C%20especially%20when%20measured%20by%20self-report%3A,doi%3A%2010.1037%2Fbul0000413.

On Atheists being more interested in consequentialist ethics and Theists being more interested in Group Cohesion: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0246593

Article on Moral Anti-Realism: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/moral-anti-realism/

00:00 God and Morality
01:20 "Atheists are Bad People"
07:57 "Morality Needs God"
14:09 The Atheist's Conundrum
19:09 Post-Theistic Morality



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