This is a tricky topic because we live in a world that has been influenced by religion from the very beginnings of humanity.
At first, it's easy to dismiss your statement by saying all human beings have a moral code "pre-installed" since the moment they are born, which is true but it's widely ignored that our instinctive moral code isn't the same most of us would approve of. Instinctively, we know we shouldn't kill people, we should protect our family and close circles, and so on, but many other things we refer to as morally good have been determined by religion, such is the case for charity and compassion, both of which are the product of a Christian-centric society; if we were to look at us from a completely selfless position, we can see that those values are negative.
Speaking strictly in evolutionary terms, maintaining our species is the main goal, but even then killing a member of our own kin is justified as long as we can benefit from it. If a member of another tribe has a lot of food and you need food and they aren't willing to share, you have the "right" to kill them in order to feed yourself and your family. This primitive instinct of survival can still be seen in poor communities, and is the main cause of the high crime rates they have. But in a "civilized" environment it is something absolutely immoral for you to do, because it's not the other person's fault that you don't have food. If you were to kill somebody for this reason you would be punished, it is not approved by our society.
Why has this changed? One reason (though it's certainly not the only one) is Christianity and other Abrahamic religions. Christianity sees every human life as equal and thinks that the only one with the right to take a life is God Himself. The 6th commandment is "thou shalt not kill". When we realize this, it's easier to see how religion, reflected particularly in the form of the 10 Commandments, has changed our perception about certain things. Thou shalt not kill. Tho...
This is a tricky topic because we live in a world that has been influenced by religion from the very beginnings of humanity.
At first, it's easy to dismiss your statement by saying all human beings have a moral code "pre-installed" since the moment they are born, which is true but it's widely ignored that our instinctive moral code isn't the same most of us would approve of. Instinctively, we know we shouldn't kill people, we should protect our family and close circles, and so on, but many other things we refer to as morally good have been determined by religion, such is the case for charity and compassion, both of which are the product of a Christian-centric society; if we were to look at us from a completely selfless position, we can see that those values are negative.
Speaking strictly in evolutionary terms, maintaining our species is the main goal, but even then killing a member of our own kin is justified as long as we can benefit from it. If a member of another tribe has a lot of food and you need food and they aren't willing to share, you have the "right" to kill them in order to feed yourself and your family. This primitive instinct of survival can still be seen in poor communities, and is the main cause of the high crime rates they have. But in a "civilized" environment it is something absolutely immoral for you to do, because it's not the other person's fault that you don't have food. If you were to kill somebody for this reason you would be punished, it is not approved by our society.
Why has this changed? One reason (though it's certainly not the only one) is Christianity and other Abrahamic religions. Christianity sees every human life as equal and thinks that the only one with the right to take a life is God Himself. The 6th commandment is "thou shalt not kill". When we realize this, it's easier to see how religion, reflected particularly in the form of the 10 Commandments, has changed our perception about certain things. Thou shalt not kill. Thou shalt not commit adultery. Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour. All of these are perfectly normal human behaviours, and they all serve an evolutionary purpose towards our survival, however, after thousands of years of religious influence we've come to regard them as reprehensible and immoral.
So you are right, people do need religion to keep in check with our modern concept of moral virtues.
One could argue the fact that those morals we attribute to religion are nothing more than a natural progress of human thinking and behaviour and that it was needed in order for us to thrive and get to where we are now. And one may be right. But it's useless to argue the hypothetical when in reality it was a product of religion.
This is a tricky topic because we live in a world that has been influenced by religion from the very beginnings of humanity. At first, it's easy to dismiss your statement by saying all human beings have a moral code "pre-installed" since the moment they are born, which is true but it's widely ignored that our instinctive moral code isn't the same most of us would approve of. Instinctively, we know we shouldn't kill people, we should protect our family and close circles, and so on, but many other things we refer to as morally good have been determined by religion, such is the case for charity and compassion, both of which are the product of a Christian-centric society; if we were to look at us from a completely selfless position, we can see that those values are negative.
Speaking strictly in evolutionary terms, maintaining our species is the main goal, but even then killing a member of our own kin is justified as long as we can benefit from it. If a member of another tribe has a lot of food and you need food and they aren't willing to share, you have the "right" to kill them in order to feed yourself and your family. This primitive instinct of survival can still be seen in poor communities, and is the main cause of the high crime rates they have. But in a "civilized" environment it is something absolutely immoral for you to do, because it's not the other person's fault that you don't have food. If you were to kill somebody for this reason you would be punished, it is not approved by our society.
Why has this changed? One reason (though it's certainly not the only one) is Christianity and other Abrahamic religions. Christianity sees every human life as equal and thinks that the only one with the right to take a life is God Himself. The 6th commandment is "thou shalt not kill". When we realize this, it's easier to see how religion, reflected particularly in the form of the 10 Commandments, has changed our perception about certain things. Thou shalt not kill. Tho...
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