Aron Ra on Morality without God
Aron Ra argues that morality not only exists without God but that secular ethics represent a clear improvement over religious morality.
Aron Ra's case for morality without God rests on both evolutionary science and historical evidence. Empathy, cooperation, and a sense of fairness are observable in social mammals — primates, elephants, dolphins — long before any concept of God enters the picture. These traits evolved because they promote group survival, and they function perfectly well without theological scaffolding.
Ra frequently contrasts secular moral progress with religious moral stagnation. The abolition of slavery, the emancipation of women, the civil rights movement, and the recognition of LGBTQ+ rights were all achieved by secular moral reasoning, typically over the objections of religious institutions citing scripture. If morality required God, religious institutions would lead moral progress rather than resist it.
He also notes that the most secular nations on Earth — the Scandinavian countries, Japan, Australia — consistently rank among the safest, happiest, and most egalitarian societies in human history. This empirical fact is difficult to square with the claim that without God, morality collapses. If anything, the evidence suggests the opposite.
“Morality doesn't come from religion. It comes from empathy. And empathy doesn't require a god — it requires only the ability to recognise that other beings can suffer.”