One of the major purported benefits of religion is that it helps us to behave morally and to understand the difference between right and wrong. However, what if morality is simply an inborn human trait, produced because it had an advantage in the evolution of man? In Chapter 38, The Genetics of Good Behavior, I discussed altruism as one form of inborn moral behavior. Altruism consists of performing good acts that put the individual at risk for the benefit of the group. Altruism is common in many animals other than humans, is controlled in part by our genes, and imparts a selective advantage during evolution.
    Scientists are becoming increasingly interested in the biological basis of morality (1). John Mikail of Georgetown University is investigating the question or whether there is a ‘universal moral grammar’ that is present in a broad range of humans independent of gender, age, education level,  cultural background, and religion. He administered a moral dilemma test to a wide range of people, including children and individuals from non-western cultures. His preliminary results suggest that such a universal morality does exist. Hauser and colleagues have administered an online Moral Sense Test (http://moral.wjh.harvard.edu) to over 200,000 individuals from 120 countries. You should log on and take the test; I suspect you will enjoy it. Again the results indicate much similarity in moral principles across cultures. These studies are consistent with humans having an inborn moral code independent of religious or cultural upbringing.
Studies in primates have also found evidence for inborn moral fairness. Monkeys will forgo food for days to prevent a neighbor from receiving a shock. Human morality may be an elaboration of a primate behavior that evolved because it helped to promote cohesiveness in early groups of humans.
  These studies increasingly suggest that morality is an inborn rather than a God dictated trait. This make it likely that man’s inborn sense of right and wrong led the human authors of the Bible and other sacred books to incorporate moral laws into their verses. Then, to add greater authority they proclaimed these laws had to be followed because the verses were dictated by God.


(1) Miller, G: The Roots of Morality. Science 32); 734-737, 2008