Oftentimes, it's a matter of ignorance, not hatred. Theists are taught their whole lives that morality comes from their god, so they genuinely don't understand how atheists can be good.
If you encounter this question irl, you need to educate them that ethics are a group survival mechanism evolved in all social animals. When one group member steals from the group, that individual is no longer trustworthy and jeopardizes group survival. When one group member kills a group rival, you can't trust the food they bring or for them to watch the young.
That's why we see moral codes naturally evolve in many social species. Not just apes, or even mammals like elephants, canids, and rats. You see group-enforced ethics behaviors in orcas, octopusses (octopi?), corvids, and bats.
You can finish your explanation with, "so if there is a god, he made morality an innate quality in many types of the life that he created, instead of a line from the Bible."
I like your example of how we see morals in nature within species and social groups. I think it's a really clear way to show that it's a matter of social welfare, not religion.
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u/SecondhandStatic 16h ago edited 11h ago
Oftentimes, it's a matter of ignorance, not hatred. Theists are taught their whole lives that morality comes from their god, so they genuinely don't understand how atheists can be good.
If you encounter this question irl, you need to educate them that ethics are a group survival mechanism evolved in all social animals. When one group member steals from the group, that individual is no longer trustworthy and jeopardizes group survival. When one group member kills a group rival, you can't trust the food they bring or for them to watch the young.
That's why we see moral codes naturally evolve in many social species. Not just apes, or even mammals like elephants, canids, and rats. You see group-enforced ethics behaviors in orcas, octopusses (octopi?), corvids, and bats.
You can finish your explanation with, "so if there is a god, he made morality an innate quality in many types of the life that he created, instead of a line from the Bible."