Religion and Morality

Ladies and Gentlemen, I was asked again today how I can have ethics or morals if I do not believe in a God or Gods. Aside from the obvious reply "You saying without God you would have no morality? That's scary!", I find that this is a continuous broadsides to non-believers that lacks any real understanding of our view of religion and our issues with it.

Leave it to the acerbic and brilliant Christopher Hitchens to so succinctly state the issue at hand from my perspective. I certainly do not know if there is a higher power, but if there is, it's not at all like it's argued for. Below is Mr. Hitchens' opening argument (in two parts) to address this. For those who believe (and possibly find this offensive..though I would wonder why dissenting views are threatening to them), I ask that you come to understand the non-belief position before rejecting or arguing against it. As a ex-believer, its only common courtesy to see both sides as I am forced to do.

Part 1:


Part 2: