09/06/2026
🌿Sunday Reflections | Good Without God🌿
Years ago, I read a book called Good Without God, and while I don't remember every argument the author made, the concept behind the title has stayed with me. Can we be good without God?
There is an idea within some religious traditions that morality ultimately comes from God. Without belief in God, what compels us to be kind, honest, generous or compassionate? Some organized religions take that even further. It isn't enough to believe in a God. You must believe in the right God, understand God in a particular way, and sometimes follow a particular set of teachings in order to be considered a good or moral person.
I completely reject that idea.
I am, of course, a spiritual person. My own understanding of God, consciousness and the Divine is an important part of how I experience the world. But I don't believe my spirituality is what prevents me from harming other people. I don't need the promise of a reward or the threat of punishment to make kindness worthwhile.
If the only reason we behave morally is because we believe someone is watching, is that really morality?
I think the desire to be a good human being comes from somewhere much more fundamental. We are social beings. We love. We empathize. We understand suffering because we have suffered. We experience joy in connection. We have an innate desire for our lives to matter, and for the mark we leave on the world to mean something.
Most of us want to believe that because we were here, something was made a little better.
Perhaps someone felt loved. A child felt safe. An animal was cared for. A stranger was treated with kindness. Someone who was struggling felt less alone. Perhaps we built something, taught something, created something, protected something, or simply made another person's difficult day a little easier.
To me, that is purpose.
And purpose does not require theology.
There are deeply compassionate atheists and deeply compassionate religious people. There are also people who profess tremendous devotion to God while behaving in ways that are cruel, judgemental or harmful. Clearly, belief itself is not what determines the quality of our humanity.
In fact, I think there can be something profoundly spiritual about choosing goodness without needing anything in return. Not heaven. Not karma. Not approval. Not recognition. Simply because reducing suffering and increasing love feels like the right way to move through the world.
Maybe God is part of that equation for you. Maybe God isn't. Maybe you call it consciousness, humanity, love, nature, the Universe, or nothing at all.
I am far less interested in what someone believes than I am in what their beliefs produce.
Do they make you kinder? More compassionate? More willing to listen? More concerned about the suffering of people who are different from you? More willing to examine yourself? More likely to leave the world better than you found it?
If they do, wonderful.
But if your understanding of God gives you permission to diminish, exclude, condemn or harm others, perhaps the question isn't whether someone else can be good without God.
Perhaps the more important question is what good means in the first place.
For me, goodness isn't about earning something after this life. It is about what we do with the life we have now.
We are all leaving something behind in the people whose lives intersect with ours. A collection of moments, actions, words and memories that ripple outward long after the moment itself has passed.
Whatever you believe about God, perhaps that is reason enough to choose kindness.
To leave a good mark.
To have been here, and because you were, to have added a little more love to the world. 🌿
May you be blessed,
Rev. Kim Etherington
