[quote=HeySeuss]
I'm not sure the threat of divine retribution is much more of an adequate mechanism for morality than secular mechanisms anyway -- Boko Haram, FLDS and so many others manage to justify their depredations against their fellow human beings and lawyer away any psychological issues they might have with the course of action they're taking by figuring that it okay according to scripture. Hell, in the Jewish community (so this is closer to home for me) there are people that think it's okay to defraud gentiles because it's not prohibited in the Talmud, whereas fraud against fellow Jews is specifically prohibited in the same. White supremacists tend to make a lot out of this, but the reality is that some fanatical communities consider fraud fine, so long as you aren't defrauding within the Tribe. And not a night's loss of sleep is given with the faithful involved.So I don't see religion as entirely a mechanism of prohibiting certain acts by dint of proclamation -- I see that sword cutting both ways. There's all sorts of exhortations to do shit in certain circumstances and people willing to play word-games and essentially cleave it as finely as they can. Sure, that gets done in secular law, but that's the point -- write away with the best intention, but someone's gonna fuck with you using the loopholes.
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What I am saying is, take two completely identical hypothetical moral systems, one with divine retribution, one without. I don't see any harm in having divine retribution promised. You lose nothing (people kill for religion and irreligion) and may stand to gain as a society.