The Immanent Root

Abstract

This chapter explores atheists’ common contention that their moral sensibilities represent progress over those expressed by people of faith. Atheists generally contend that morality is not derived from religious worldviews, that most morally decent religious people actually get their ethics from the same secular sources as do atheists, and that overall atheists are actually more moral than their religious fellow citizens. They also claim that atheist morality represents progress from its religious counterparts because, requiring little by way of systematic thinking or heroic levels of obligation, it is more achievable in everyday life, and since it is imparted to individuals through societal norms and institutions, its requirements are actually more accessible to people who thus do not need to rely upon others’ expertise in discerning ethical positions.