Can you be a good person and not religious?
342704
It depends.  What do you think is good?  If you are a Christian, then you know that you are not good.  No human is good. No animal is good.  Only God is good.  But, in our world, most think of good as an earthly thing.  I'm not criticizing the non-religious people, just saying that if you are not religious, and you think of yourself as good, you most likely are.
720111
It all depends upon what standard you apply to "Christ likeness". For instance Christ was loving and compassionate and an Atheist can certainly demonstrate those qualities.\n\nBut if by being Christlike you mean a person who not only possesses qualities like the ones I already mentioned, but who also seeks to do the will of his Father in Heaven like Jesus always did, then the answer would be "No! An Atheist cannot be Christlike although anyone can certainly "act" Christlike".
883391
someone who is not christian
155415
One can respect alot of things without beliving in God
716284
Belief is the conditioning of the mind where as goodness is a proof in the conduct. Hence, believers need not necessarily be good persons.
1100251
Sometimes, but you have to make sure that its not just church you have in common. And sometimes- one can act like a spiritual person and be far from it, so as with people outside church- you have to really get to know the person. Church sometimes helps you meet good moral people- but then sometimes they are FAR from moral- so sometimes yes sometimes no. Depends on the person and the church I guess.
9751
No, not a muslim. Reason: I attempt to be as rational a being as possible.  You certainly do not need to practice any religion to be a good person, and, as has been pointed out above, no religion guarantees its followers to be good.
1123566
Religion is SUPPOSED to lead you into doing good and living in harmony with others...
858420
I'd say atheists could be slightly happier on average because they are allowed to accept themselves as good beings without being in conflict with their religion.  Most religions such as Christianity take the stance that humans are inherently sinful and bad.  An atheist can start with the idea that they can be however they act - it they act with kindness and love they can feel good about themselves and feel that they are good.  Religious folks are not allowed to feel that they are good beings without being in conflict with the teachings of their religions which state that they are not good beings and that their actions cannot make them good beings.  I feel sad that people are raised believing they are not able to be good no matter how good they behave or how kind they are.  \n\nThere's also no evil God hanging over our heads waiting to have us tested like Job or tortured like half the poor people in the Bible.  When something bad happens to us we don't have to think, "what did I do wrong?  why am I being punished?"  We can think, "oh, well, sh*t happens" without assigning blame to ourselves and get back to living without feeling guilty that something bad happened to us.  \n\nI have yet to see a Christian who could follow all the rules of his religion.  The rules are too many in number, conflicting, and complex.  They seem to be constantly "sinning" in their own opinion.  The guilt must be awful.  Religions are mostly based on the principle that humans are inherently base and evil beings.  Atheists don't have an obligation to feel like crap just because they were born human.\n\nTo sum up - \nAthiest = allowed to feel good about good actions\nAtheist = doesn't feel guilty when bad things happen to them\nAtheist = doesn't have to fear torments from a God\nAtheist = can have a clear conscience so long as they feel they've done nothing wrong\nAtheist = can believe that people are fundamentally good
145211
Many people don't see religion as casting all humans as inherently bad.  For some of us, for example, our belief in a higher power incentivizes us to do good even when society would permit us not to.  In my own personal conduct, integrity is the hallmark of everything that I do and say.  I trace that integrity to a belief that at some point in the future I will have to answer for (i.e. justify) my every choice, word, and action.  In other words, even when it appears that no one is observing my conduct, I behave because I believe that Someone is.  It has become fashionable in political circles to mention one's religion, and particularly one's fundamentalism, much in the same vein as one lists other credentials (i.e. education, business experience, and political involvement to date).  I am tremendously skeptical that many if any of our political leaders truly believe the faith they profess.  I am convinced that if more of them anticipated justifying their conduct to a higher power, the world would automatically be better and, for example, the war in Iraq might never have begun under such false pretenses.
796800
When you base your religion on how non believers feel about it you might as well not have religion.  Stand true to God and God will stand true to you.
1144456
I think that as ong as you are a good person in your heart, and dont' inflict pain on people, that you will go to "heaven" or whatever it is called. All religions pretty much have the same message.
798481
Be a good human being. Be honest to yourself. Wish and seek the truth about life diligently. Do to others what you want from them. Do not get trapped in any belief system. Be a free human being. Without freedom, there cannot be growth.
1035495
This is very true.  I know quite a few atheists and agnostics who are very good people.  Those who judge them otherwise are ignorant and should not be payed attention to.
974162
There are good people in all walks of life. Some of the most honest, trustworthy people I have known have been atheists \n\nReligion does not make you good unless you think you are bad already and need to change for the good.
1032990
Being good is not enough and not even for a christian. We can't continue in sin and expect God to reward us Heaven. God is not willing to turn his back on us if we do the right thing and that's serve him wholeheartedly. God is merciful and forgiven but we must repent and turn away from that lifestyle or sin.
697186
I know a lot of people are moral without believing in God. \n\nBut for me, for most of my life I didn't have much of a backbone, and I'm fairly certain I would have fell into some vices because of peer pressure if it hadn't of been for that last thread of 'no, this is against my religion' keeping me away from it.\n\nThanks