A World In Perfect Order.. or Not?

Can we be Good Without God?

One question that seems to come up frequently to this day is does religion and crime go hand in hand? In other words, can we be good without God? Now, there are quite a few other things that do not fall under the category of crime, such as, lying to your parents and pre-marital sex. Other actions that are not considered a crime in our judicial system depend on each individual’s morals. But do morals coincide with crime and religion? Does God, or any other religious figure, have such an impact on how we live our lives honestly?

Ask any individual who regularly goes to church and has a strong belief in God, and they will instantly answer, “We are better because we believe in God.” According to Christianity we are supposed to “Fear God.” Now, that does not mean we are to literally fear God as to where we do not believe in Him, but for an unbeliever, by fearing God, you fear the judgment of Him and eternal separation of Him, which would also be known as hell. However, if you are a strong believer in God, then your fear of Him would be in honor of Him. Because of this, many Christians, or any other religion that follows God, know about sin. Every person in this world sins, whether they know it or not; we are not perfect. Fortunately we are forgiven of our sins. So, from the viewpoint of any strong believer in God, they would tell you, “Yes, we are good because we believe in God; we are supposed to try not to live our lives in sin.” But what if God never existed in the first place? What if the world never saw religion? Can we still be good?

Without God, we would never know of sin in the first place. Although we would not have a Godly figure guiding us throughout our lives, we are still born with our own morals, personality, and beliefs. With religion now, we still fight wars and see numerous unthinkable crimes on the news every day. A very religious person would probably not be able to see a world in order without God, but if we never knew what religion was, then how would we ever know in the first place? Every single individual in this world is different. So yes, without God, there still could be crime on the streets, but I do not necessarily believe that every single person would be corrupt. According to a recent study in which “researchers asked students about their religious affiliation and their willingness to cheat on a test”, they came to find out that the majority of one group resisted cheating, and that was atheists (Conyers, Harvey 63). This study opened up my eyes instantly. Most religious individuals would be astounded by this study because of their opinion on atheists. That study just shows that each person is their own. By that, I mean that although they do not believe in God, they still have morals. They may not be religious based morals, but they are still morals linked to their unique selves proving that we can be good without God. We can live honestly because each of us is one of a kind with our own separate morals, beliefs, and personalities.

There are plenty of criminals present day who regularly attended church prior to being locked up for life and there are plenty of others who have never stepped foot in a Sunday service once in their entire lives. I could never imagine a world without God, but I do realize that every person on this earth is different from each other. So yes, I do believe that we can be good without God.