they are urged, encouraged or have an opportunity.
In societies where there is no religion, people become predisposed to commit all kinds of immoral acts. For instance, a religious person would never take a bribe, gamble, feel envy, or lie because he would know that he would have to account for these actions in the hereafter. Yet, someone with no religion is prone to doing all these things. It is not enough for one to say, “I’m not religious but I don’t take bribes”, or “I’m not religious but I don’t gamble”, because a man who does not fear God and who does not believe that he is going to give an account of himself in the hereafter may do any one of these things when the situation or conditions change. A person who says, “I’m not religious but I do not commit fornication” may do so at some place where fornication is considered normal. Or a person who says that he does not take bribes may say, “My son is sick and about to die, therefore I have to take the bribe”, if he has no fear of God.
However, a religious person does not display such immorality, because he fears God and does not forget that God knows his intentions as well as his thoughts.
A person who is distant from religion may say “I’m not religious but I’m forgiving. I feel neither vengeance nor hate,” but one day some untoward event may cause him to lose his self-control and display the most unexpected behaviour. He may attempt to kill or injure someone, because the morality he adopts is one that changes according to the environment and conditions of the place in which he lives.
Yet, one who believes in God and in the hereafter never deviates from his good morals, whatever the conditions or the