TheSquealer

First and foremost, no one has defined "morality" - making the entire discussion of morality and religion a bit moronic.

Definitions vary.

One way to define it is by simply looking at what part of the brain is processing the question. Reason and moral questions are processed very differently and in different areas in the brain and moral questions and moral processing in the brain are easily identified with brain scans.

Generally speaking, its about how people interact with and treat each other, keeping it fair, not harming others, taking care of others etc.

I'm not going to waste my time laying out all the research and studies to people who won't read it and really don't care about facts, but rather to defend a personal narrative and set up pre-determined beliefs.

Morality is not determined by religion.

We are born with a basic framework for morality. We, as infants understand not to hurt other infants etc. This "framework" - becomes more nuanced with life experience.

a quick example from the very first link of the first search i did: HERE

Furthermore, religion is not "morality". Religion could be defined more accurately as a "moral system" as its many parts which make up the whole, the majority of which have to do with addressing moral issues. Religion includes a lot of things which guide a culture from how to treat food, what to eat, to be clean/sanitary, how to conduct war, what to do with bodies etc. etc. etc.

A quick definition of moral system by one of the worlds leading experts on moral psychology, Jonathan Haidt:

"Moral systems are interlocking sets of values, virtues, norms, practices, identities, institutions, technologies, and evolved psychological mechanisms that work together to suppress or regulate self-interest and make cooperative societies possible."

Let me be clear here first....

I don't believe in God.
I don't believe there is a God.
I don't believe in Heaven or Hell.

That said, a reasonable person would have to take a hard look at religion with an open mind to understand why its survived in one form or another in every culture everywhere on earth.

Obviously it poses benefits to our survival or it wouldn't exist as a moral system (note: moral system goes well beyond "what happens when you die").

No matter how much one detests "rules" - usually anti-social personalities, which this board is full of... this doesn't change the fact that "ON THE WHOLE" and as a cooperative group, living together and dependent on each other to improve our chances of survival, people behave much better with religion as a binding and guiding force, than without. That's why it persists in one form or another, everywhere... for the vast majority of cultures on the planet.