Is there good, without God? Can an atheist be moral? Are theists more moral than atheists? If there is no God, what are moral values? Perhaps the most misunderstood argument for God is the argument from the existence of moral values. I’ve heard it said by not just a few skeptics, “How can you claim moral superiority because you believe in God?” or “I don’t need the Bible to tell me what’s right and what’s wrong”.

It is the case that moral values – by which I mean universally accepted ethical principles that govern the day to day living of life – are either objective, in that they are not dependent on human opinion, awareness or conformity; or subjective, in a socio-cultural sense (right and wrong changes with culture and time) or in an evolutionary sense (morality is linked to evolutionary development and intelligence).

It is a fact that all people…