Scholars point out that there are two very different ways of viewing the world: the religious perspective and the non-religious perspective.
The Religious perspective contends that a loving, all-powerful God created the world in order to provide a home for us. We, in turn, were created in his image, to be his children. Therefore, the world is not devoid of meaning and purpose. It is, instead, the arena in which God's plans and purposes are realized. Many people in our society subscribe to this view or to something very similar to it. Many of these individuals who endorse the religious perspective conclude that without God there can be no ethics.
On the other hand there are those who adhere to the nonreligious perspective. An example of this view is the "scientific worldview" which was expressed by British philosopher Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) in his 1903 essay entitled, "A Free Man's Worship". For those in this camp, God's existence is not required to provide a basis for and for the existence of ethics or morality.
