These are common accusations of the religious. They fact that it’s obviously fallacious seems to completely pass them by. If the only measurer of good or bad is Yahweh, then how do peoples and cultures who have never had anything to do with Christianity get by? How come they haven’t managed to kill themselves because they were unaware that they shouldn’t?

To ask the question ‘Can you be good without God?’ is akin to asking ‘Can you have tasty food without salt?’, or ‘Can you produce light without electricity?’ To anyone not indoctrinated into the religious fallacies, the answers to all three questions are easy – and the same. I won’t argue that salt brings a new dimension to the taste of our food, and that electricity makes it so much easier for us to have illumination in our homes. Similarly, I won’t argue that being religious and believing in the All Mighty brings a new dimension to how you might come by your moral compass. But they are none of them essential, and furthermore if used incorrectly might even prove dangerous.

So, I’ll ask again – ‘Can you be good without God?’