To the Atheists: An ethical survey?

Ok here goes.. There have been times where I was at the grocery store and noticed that they did not ring in an item. To be honest, I take it as my lucky day. Now if I walked out with something and noticed right away then I would return to pay, if I got all the way home before I noticed I probably wouldn't bother.. However if it was my child then I would go back with them and return it, just as a moral lesson.

It also does depend on the business.. if it is my local family owned and run convenience store then I would point out if they forgot to charge me for something and I would go back and pay for something if I accidentally wasn't charged for it or walked out with it on accident. That's because it will effect them personally if I don't.... now if it was Walmart I wouldn't bother.... You know as well as I do that they lose nothing as a result and just write it off.

If someone accidentally gives me something to my benefit I will take it say getting too much change back or getting one item for free on a $200 grocery bill because it didn't scan in... because it was a fortunate accident, luck if you will. If I walked out with something accidentally and realized it in time to return it then I would because that is my fault.

It's just like if I find 20 bucks on the ground, I won't go looking for the owner I'll keep it, but if I found a wallet I would return it full to the owner. Immoral? maybe, ethical? maybe not.. either way it's how I swing things and I haven't hurt anyone yet so I'll take my lucky days where I find money, and I'll take my bad days where I lose money and call it even.

EDIT.. Do you think that a store that accidentally overcharges you for something tracks you down to repay you? I mean really it all evens out in the end.. short changed, over changed, undercharged, overcharged.. it all evens out in the end.

To be honest my morals may be high elsewhere but when it comes to stealing I have some issues. I mean is it really wrong to steal from corporations that are charging you up the wazoo for less than excellent service? You can bet if Bell Canada forgets to charge me long distance I will keep my mouth shut, you can bet if I can watch a movie for free rather than pay for it I will, and you can bet that if once in a while I get a break and someone makes a mistake to my benefit I will overlook it. I don't actively steal but if someone screws up and it benefits me I won't often correct them.

This has actually happened to me, so I know exactly how I would respond. Once, a cashier forgot to charge me for an item and I only noticed the discrepancy after I left the store. The thought of the poor cashier being held responsible for the loss and having the amount taken out of his salary was enough to make me want to go back to let him know of his mistake and pay for the item.

As an atheist, I feel it is the empathy that I feel for others that guides my moral principles. I don't need the threat of divine retribution.

If I thought a business establishment was really unethical, I would most likely never shop there. So your other scenario is very much in the realm of the impossible.

I personally believe that morals are dictated by society. This is why Christians in Lebanon have been known to commit acts of terrorism in the name of Jesus in a way that is not seen in the U.S. (Tom Shroder, "Old Souls" 1999)

If I discovered I had accidentally stolen something I would return it because in my head is my mother saying, "Every time someone steals something it impacts the price for everyone else." I personally hate putting other people out. The golden rule stands for most western societies.

EDIT: After reading some other posts, I would like to add that the fear of being caught would likely not enter my mind if it were an accident, and I wouldn't steal anything on purpose so...

Fear is not a great motivator for me. I just want to do what's right for the community. That's why I pick up pieces of glass in parking lots or wipe up spills in stairwells.

If it's not much I am not going to go back to pay for it. If it's more than a dollar or two I'll tell them. On the other hand I've often not complained either if I get overcharged and notice it(it does happen with some regularity as special offers don't always get entered into the system). I figure it evens out.

Especially if the store is really busy I even know they prefer it. It has happened to me that when I tell them that I owe them another 10 cents, that they tell me to forget it as it takes more time to correct the register than the money is worth.

My personal code of ethics takes in consideration the harm done, otherwise it wouldn't be a code of ethics.

I might not believe that God is watching, but someone else is--me. I don't steal because I know it's wrong, and I have to live with myself. I don't need to worry about punishment for my actions in an afterlife, I'll feel the effects tomorrow.

I would say that my morals give me my sense of self-worth, that my proper actions are something to be proud of, yet my ethical code is far from personal. I live in the world too.

I would go back and pay for the item. I do not believe in stealing, even accidently. More important though, I would not be caught shopping in the type of store you describe. I avoid the big box stores like the plague. It truly violates my conscience to shop in places that treat their employees badly, violate the environment, rip off the public, drive small business men under, support slave labor.... need I go on?

I try very hard to live my life in a way that benefits the human race and the earth. Even though it will not benefit me in terms of "eternity" it will benefit my offspring and those other humans who follow me.

I have not problem just leaving things as they are, in that situation. As you said, negligible harm was done and I wasn't actively stealing. If I put the item on the counter and they forgot to scan it, I haven't done anything wrong.

If it were a local store I frequented and enjoyed, it would be a different story.

Stealing is wrong no matter who is stealing.

I have no right to take what is not mine, whether someone is looking or not.

It's wrong, simply because it's wrong.

Is it okay to steal money from your employer because you don't feel they pay you enough? Of course it's wrong.

Why in the world do you think atheists believe otherwise? I've lived in many, many cities. In almost every city, I've read newspaper articles about people being fired for stealing.........from the church they worked in! How could THAT possibly happen?

so a christian would be more likely to return said item, I find that laughable.

The united states is one of the most religious countries in the world, with 83% believing in God. Yet the US leads the WORLD in teenage child birth rates and homocide rates.

Im sorry, but Christians do not have any more morals than they rest of us, no matter how much they like to tell us they do.

Simple: the happiness and equality of other people. In fact, if the circumstances were compelling enough, I would not return the item (if the corporation was REALLY bad). If you believe in a God because you don't want to be punished, I personally find that thinking primitive and repulsive, and I would hope God doesn't take kindly to his "followers" who take that attitude. Why is it that if God loves every one of us, he sends some of us to eternal torture? What about our BDSM neighbors who are sent to Hell? That's like Heaven to them, isn't it?