I have heard it argued, repeatedly, that without God there are no morals. It is usually also argued in parallel that atheists wish to dispose of God somehow so that they can “do whatever they like.” It seems to me, however, that to claim that without God you would be ‘free’ to commit any atrocity is a spectacularly amoral viewpoint. The heart of the matter is this: do you do what you feel is right because you feel it is right, or because you fear punishment by God? (Claiming you follow God’s rules because of a love or respect for God doesn’t really change the basic point either.)
People decide their own actions. You decide whether to act in a way that you feel is moral, or immoral (or even to avoid thinking about whether an action is moral or not). You are responsible, if only to yourself, for your actions. The decisions to act in certain ways and the feelings you have about the morality of those actions come from you. Arguing that morality or feelings about morality come from God is saying that you are not responsible for knowing the difference between right and wrong. God tells you the difference and you simply obey.
To me that is a profound abdication. Whether God tells you the rules or not it is still your responsibility to decide whether you believe the rules are right. Of course the moral choice is to follow the rules set by God (in any reasonable theology), but you are still responsible for the decision that the moral thing to do is to follow God’s rules, no matter what. Morality does not spring from God: it is your responsibility.
This is why arguing that the intent of the atheist is to escape morality makes no sense. There is no escape from morality in supposing the non-existence of God. You might feel that you will not be punished for infractions of morals as decided by God, but you are just as responsible as ever for the moral consequences of your actions. The atheist is, in a way, more morally obligated, because he cannot rely on God to make decisions for him.
But, you might say, by assuming God does not exist the atheist feels no threat of punishment for breaking moral laws, and therefore he can be totally immoral. If you do say this then I ask if you only behave morally because of a fear of punishment. Is it right to lie, cheat, or steal as long as you aren’t caught? No truly moral person should suggest such a thing. Even if God were to appear to you and say “I will not punish you, no matter what you do,” wouldn’t it be just as important to be moral? Even if there is no God or punishment, morality is still important to a moral person. Thus the phrase moral atheist is no contradiction in terms.
To say that atheists in general are trying to ‘escape’ God, or God’s judgement, is, for all practical purposes, insisting that atheists are all insufferably immoral. This is an insult to the thinking, moral atheist. It also, I believe, reveals a certain immorality (or at least thoughtlessness) on the part of the accuser.