I've argued that many of what philosophers call moral sentiments can be seen in other species. In chimpanzees and other animals, you see examples of sympathy, empathy, reciprocity, a willingness to follow social rules.
Religions have a strong binding function and a cohesive element.
They emphasize the primacy of the community as opposed to the individual, and they also help set one community apart from another that doesn't share their beliefs. We are the products of editing, rather than of authorship. Quoted from The Columbia Dictionary of Quotations. Given the ambiguity of religious texts and teachings, the mixed historical record, and the empirical evidence, it would be foolhardy to assert that religious faith necessarily upholds democratic values. The New Christian Right of the 1980s was dominated by paper organizations that were essentially the mailing lists of a handful of politicized ministers.