ABSTRACT
This chapter examines Moral atheology across Western thought. Moral atheology criticizes commitments to deities that encourage religious followers to violate moral norms which humanity should respect. The chapter explains why gods involved with immoralities should be abandoned and shows how morality can be disconnected from piety. Moral atheology appeals to normative standards for healthy human lives, basic moral norms, and reasonable social ethics—standards approved by civil societies and endorsed by most of the world's religions. The chapter outlines primary arguments in the debates between Moral atheology and moral theology. Moral atheology relies on the availability of knowledge about objective morality, possessed by nontheists as well as theists. If theology denies nontheists have any moral knowledge, moral knowledge would have to be linked with the "correct" religion and the "right" deity, thus begging the question of god's reality. Moral objectivity for humanity is the neutral ground for both Moral atheology and moral theology.
