yes it can help people

Religious people who are kind and empathetic do so in spite of their gods' wishes.

It's preventative, because they're simply stuck in a rut. It's best to think of it as someone who is in an abusive relationship. They get verbal confirmation that the abuser cares about them when it's obvious that their abuser is just a selfish piece of shit. The only difference is in the religious case, it is your fellow cult members who offer the verbal confirmation as opposed to the abuser.

I'd say both. It doesn't allow for someone to look at the reasons for doing good, therefore limiting, but doesn't allow for disregarding some morals (due to hell), therefore leash on the sociopath.

When I was studying Sociology in college, i found that studies indicate tht fer of punishment is a rather poor way to control abhorrent or criminal behavior. The mos influential reason for people to "behave" is fear of disapproval from those we love and care about.

From that perspective, if a person belongs to a religious community, and if their sense og belonging to that group is important to them, they will behave. However, belonging to any community group wold have similar effects in motivating a person to behave morally whether that group is religious or not makes no difference. The only real important factors are that the person is a member of a social or community group, they have an accepted place in that group and their place in the group and their acceptance is important to them. A person can derive the same moral motivations from The Sierra Club" as from a religious organization (minus sexual moral judgements).

Funny, lack of empathy is a common trait of sociopaths. If one can only define what should be done for the greater good due to worry of negative reinforcement during an afterlife...he/she does not have morals. They have fear.

Question: “Does religion help people, who have a lower sense of morality, behave; or does it prevent them from developing a higher sense of morality?” -- though I’ll likely find this question answered in one sentence or less, I can’t

Obedience is more important to our wouldbe religious oppressors than personal ethics or external morals. Morality comes from awareness and empathy, and as you described, is not something everyone has... The threat of punishment for the misinterpretation of religious rules disguised as morals is a from of control.

There’s no doubt internal conflict when weighing what one’s told - against what one feels … and when the oppressed realize they’ve been manipulated, I suspect any enforced morality is out the window and replaced by vengeance - hopefully directed at their deserving oppressors...

www.patheos.com/blogs/scienceonreligion/2012/06/does-religion-make-us-moral/

Does religion make us moral-check out this link

I often say that most people would be better off without religion. The exception would be sociopaths, since they feel no empathy. If you are a sociopath who needs the fear of eternal punishment in order to behave morally, then, by all means, stick to your religion. For the rest of us, we're better off leaving it behind.

This makes me wonder if the failure to develop a higher sense of morality happens in a person's youth because of religious indoctrination.

Unfortunately, there are people who seem to lack an internal moral compass. To be moral, they seem to need some kind of external direction. Religion may help some of them to be better people. But, it also makes them very vulnerable to manipulation by demagogues who are more than willing to use them for their own ends.

Great question! I don't know the answer, but I've met a few people I'd hate to see lose their only connection to a moral code!