Morality and ethics are words that are hard to define. Michael Scott Earl, in his presentation Bible Stories Your Parents Never Taught You, noted that ethics are often elusive in popular culture. On the one hand, most people in the United States believe that morality and ethics come from religion. On the other hand, most religious people do not base their morality on the tenets of their religion. In such a great state of confusion, where do secular ethics fit?
Religious Morality
Although millions of people claim to base their morality on the teachings of their religion, a brief look at these religions suggests that this is not the case. The 10 Commandments, for example, are embraced by both Christians and Jews as God's divine law. Yet, according to polls, most Americans can't even remember all ten commandments, let alone follow them. How many people work on the Sabbath or take the name of the Lord in vain? In addition, there are many moral precepts that people believe are not connected to religion. Slavery, for example, is actually endorsed by the Bible, yet today nearly everyone believes that slavery is immoral. Clearly, something other than religion drives the morality of believers.
Atheist Morality
Atheism does not contain any specific precepts about morality, because Atheism is not a belief system. It is the lack of a belief system, specifically, the lack of a religious belief system. An Atheist can respect and love religion, even though he or she doesn't believe in it, or they can aggressively attack religion as immoral and illogical, as do many in the New Atheism movement. But Atheism by itself does not have anything specific to say about morality.
Secular Ethics
Atheists and other secular individuals can find ethics in alternatives to religious morality. One example is the Humanist movement. Humanism is a secular philosophy that values freedom of thought and the grounding of ethics in human needs. One Humanist group has even constructed a "Humanist Manifesto" explaining the specific moral and ethical precepts of humanists. An important difference between secular ethics and religious ethics is that traditionally, religious ethics have been based on God's needs. Humanist ethics are based on the needs of human beings. Religious ethics contain moral precepts that one is "commanded" to follow, yet in many cases, these beliefs are forgotten or ignored. Humanism does not command anyone to do anything, and it tries to encourage people to think for themselves.
Although many religious individuals claim to get their morality from religion, their religion's actual teachings often differ wildly from their beliefs. Atheists do not get a moral code from their non-belief, but their foundation in secularism allows for a creation of secular ethics such as Humanism. The main difference between secular ethics and religious ethics is that secular ethics try to focus more on the concerns of humans in this life, rather than the needs of gods in the next life.
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