>My point is that with so many people with no firm religious exposure having a strong moral code, and so many people with significant religious exposure having no moral code, it is very hard to draw a relationship between the two.
Agreed.
>Consider also that wildly variant religions (Judeo-Christian, Hindu, Buddist, or even Greek/Roman gods) have equivalent basic moral codes. That also inclines me to the belief that the one is not dependant upon the other.
One possible explanation is that many of these religions were originally inspired by teachings sent by one and the same God.
Difference in opinions hath cost many millions of lives: for instance, whether flesh be bread, or bread be flesh; whether whistling be a vice or a virtue; whether it be better to kiss a post, or throw it into the fire... (from Gulliver's Travels)