Jose Nava

Ms. Alcaraz

ENG 11 p.6

16 February 2018

Can You Be Good Without God?

About 56% of Americans say that it’s possible to be a good person without god. In 2011,

one quarter 26 percent said it was possible to be good without god, while 32 percent a third say

so. The questioning of the church began during the Renaissance which will end up causing the

reformation which divided the Roman Catholic Church. People can be good without god because

people without god still live good lives, god isn’t needed to have a good morality, and does god

really exist.

People can be good without god because people still live good lives when they are

atheists. In the article ​“ Can you be Good without God” Todd Aglialoro claims “ Atheists and

agnostics like to claim that religion or belief in god isn’t necessary for living a moral life. “I can

be a good person without god,” they say” ( Aglialoro). ​The author is saying that if a person

believes in god and a person who doesn’t believe in god doesn’t make difference because they

can still be good. ​Second, “​ What is the measure of morality? How do we know right from wrong

- and thus what it means to be a “ good person” rather than a “ bad person”? Without god or

something like god that is both authoritative and trascendent, we can only point to society’s

definition of morality, or to our​ ​own personal code.”(Aglialoro). ​The author is saying that people

can be good because if morality but if god was in there life things wouldn’t change because

people would still be the same like without god. ​Finally, in the article ​“ Can A atheists be good
without god?”​ states ​“They can know the behaviors that respect the goods of human nature and

living accordingly.” “For example, an atheist can know that killing an innocent human being

violates the intrisistis right of life”(Broussard).​ ​The author is saying that people who don’t

believe in god still know what’s good and bad. Also that they don’t need god to tell them that

killing someone is bad because they already know that it’s something bad.​ In conclusion, that

people who don’t believe in god still have good lives know what is good and bad.

God isn’t needed to have a good morality. In the article​ “ A growing share of Americans

say it’s necessary to believe in God to be Moral” Gregory A. Smith states, “ Among white

evangelical protestants, 32% now say belief in god is not necessary to have good values and be a

mural person, up from 26% who said this in 2011”(Smith).​ ​The author is saying that people don’t

need god in their lives to have good morality. Also that 42% of people believe that they don’t

need god. ​Second,​ “ Among all religiously affiliated adults, the same who say belief in god is

unnecessary for morality ticked up modestly, from 42% in 2011 to 45% in 2017”(Smith).​ This

evidence is saying that from to 2011 less people said that they don’t need god to be good but in

2017 more people said that it’s unnecessary to have god to be good with a good morality.

Thirdly, in the article ​“ Good without God? More Americans say Amen to that” Kimberly

Winstan states “ In the current pol, protestants and catholics were also polled, and 45% of them

agree that god is not necessary for personal morality, up from 42% in 2011” (Winstan). ​The

author is saying that people are saying that god is not needed to be good . Also without god

people well still have good morality like people that believe in god. ​ In conclusion, to be a good

person you don’t need god to have a great morality.

 Does god really exist for that people can believe in him to be good. In the article ​“ Does

It matter whether God Exists” Gary Guttinng claims, “The philosopher John Gray , however ,

has recently been arguing that belief in god should have little or nothing to do with religion”

(Gutting)​. ​This evidence is saying that the existence of god shouldn’t affect that people should be

good. Also that god shouldn’t affect people and change their lives if god wasn’t real. ​Secondly,

in the article, ​“Moral Arguments for Existence of God” Josh McDowell states, “ This fact might

seem to favor morality rather than moral religious arguments for belief , but if someone believes

that morality is on some way “ objective” or “real”, and that this moral reality requires

explanation, moral arguments for God’s reality naturally suggests themselves” (McDowell). ​The

author is saying that if morality is good than you don’t need god to be good. Also that if they

belief they have good morality then some don’t believe in god. ​Finally, in the article ​“ Does God

Exist?” Dr. Richard Lewontin states, “ … Its is not that the methods and institutions of science

somehow cumple us to accept a material explanation of the phenomenal world, but on the

contrary, that we are forced by our a prior ; adherence to material cause…”(Lewontin).​ This

means that some people need evidence to believe that god is real so that people can be good.

Some believe that god isn’t real and still live good lives. ​In conclusion, some people don’t have

to believe in god to be a good person.

In conclusion, with 56% of people saying that people could be good without god. About

56% say that possible to be good without god in their lives so its possible to be good without god

or without believing in god.