Lost it here! lol I think religion, especially peaceful ones, like Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, etc, helped mold morality more definitively. When we look around in history, we see that people, when made to answer to someone much, much greater than themselves, tend to lead a life based on what that someone wants from us. I am sure there are some cultures that have managed to create a moral lifestyle and teach it, however, I would tend to believe that those were far and few. Through out history, many cultures were savage. It was all about who you could conquer, and men were driven by wealth or power. The only moral code was that of your family and brothers in arms, but even then, the morals could have tainted in some areas. God and Christ gave us more of a moral compass. Jesus taught to love your enemy. How many other religions teach that?
I agree with you that most cultures throughout history were savages (though I really don't like using that word, because, after all, they were just common people with a different mindset than others. Calling them savage for being different just doesn't feel right to me. But for argument's sake, let's just keep it that way.) But what's very interesting is that the 'savages' had their own god(s) and religion that 'prescribed' their own set of morality. Humankind has always been real suckers for wealth and power, and more often than not they use their religion and their 'God-given morality' to exert power over the masses. A fine example would be the crusades or the whole Islamic terrorism that's going on right now. They all are fighting to implement their book's version of 'morality' on us.
There's a term called Secular Humanist which describes those without a belief in a deity or higher power per se, or at the very least an image of a god. However, they adhere to moral traits and qualities because they feel it is their duty to be a good human being rather than just another mammal without limits or common sense for right and wrong. Whether or not they believe there is a higher power or not, it doesn't void them from being or striving to be a good person. Many of them try harder to be a good person than the religiously oriented do, for the sheer fact that if this is all there is, they want to make the most of it and not waste any moments on being hurtful toward their fellow man or woman. They don't use the idea they will "be forgiven" later as an excuse to do harm to good people today, which is in their favor whether they believe in more or not.
