Is a person considered an atheist or immoral if they are not religious but respect other people's faith?

Answer 1

This question has several different parts. First, being an atheist has nothing to do with morals: you could be moral and an atheist, or immoral and religious. If you are not religious you can be moral or immoral either way. Secondly respecting people's faiths would be considered moral.

• atheist from the greek "theos" or "god" adding an "a" means "not with" or "without". It has nothing to do with morals which is a completely different disipline.

• An Atheist is just a person who does not believe in a higher power. Just because they're atheist doesn't mean they're bad people; it just means they have different beliefs. If they respect other people's faith, they're of higher morals than those who do not feel similarly.

• If you do not believe in god, then yes, you are an atheist - but that does not make you immoral, and if you respect the views of others that is an indication that you do have some good morals.

• You're an Agnostic if you believe in some sort of Supreme Being, yet not particularly the God mentioned in The Bible; or, you may have your doubts about the authenticity of the Bible. No, you're not a bad person. I'm a Christian and my husband is an Agnostic. I find that each person in their own time has to come to grips with some sort of faith.
• If you do not believe in God, you are an atheist.
• Someone is not 'immoral' if they are not religious, particularly if they also respect other people's decisions to be religious. Believing in God does not make someone more moral than those who don't. Spritual faith and morality are not mutually exclusive.
• In summary, somebody who isn't religious, but respects other people's religion, is a good atheist, and is certainly not immoral.

Answer 2

There are a number of separate issues in the question.

1) Atheism and Immorality: These are two completely different things. An atheist is someone who simply rejects the idea of a supernatural. Immorality is the rejection of proper and ethical conduct. A person can be atheist and moral, atheist and immoral, theist and moral, or theist and immoral.

2) Not Religious: This term has two distinct meanings. Some people use it to mean someone who is spiritual but does not follow organized religion, such as an Agnostic. Others use the term exclusively for atheists.

3) Respecting Faith: This is a split within atheist groups, since agnostics and spiritualists generally respect faith. Some atheists have a more neutral position on faith and do not see it as an issue. Other atheists often cast themselves as Anti-Theists and hold that religion is a cancer on society. Since Anti-Theists are more extreme in their opinions, they are usually more vocal, but this does not mean that they are the majority.

Therefore, it is perfectly possible to be an atheist who respects the religions of others. I would also argue that it is more moral to be tolerant of those who are different from you than to be intolerant of them, so it would not be immoral to respect the religions of others.