How do religions inspire people to be good?

[robvalue]

Yeah, it may produce better behavior, or rather desirable behavior. It doesn't make the person actually good though, it's just forcing them to act a certain way. If you have to threaten someone, then clearly they are acting against their nature.

I suppose the argument could be made that it becomes part of their nature, if they act that way long enough.

That brings up the question of how ethical it is to "program" someone by fear.

And the thing is, how would you convince the person that they are now being "better"? According to their own standards, they are now doing things that go against their own values.

"To do is to be," to paraphrase Sartre. We are the sum of our actions. There is no "you" lurking underneath the surface. If religion can inspire people to act better than they would without it, I'd be satisfied. But there's little evidence of that generally.

The problem is if the programming stops working, and the person sees through the religion.

However, I've also seen little evidence that someone leaving religion make them a worse person for it. In fact I've heard a lot of people who become better, because they realized they were harboring irrational bigotry.