>>Yes we can M. Since religion was invented by man, it stands to reason that man knew of right and wrong and then codified it into religion - for better or worse.
In this case, the chicken came before the egg got scrambled. <<

I believe in evolution and the natural history and pre-history of man as described by science.

The formation of early religion is nicely described by Joseph Campbell. in the myths and legends of hunting and gathering people. When man depended solely on the bounty of nature and the seemingly random migration of game, his religion reflected that. As technology progress, man's goals changed, society evolved.

A big part of religion is giving individuals the ability to see beyond the pleasures of right here and right now and to defer pleasure, and to work for the larger good and for the society.

The small societies with the "better" ie the more survival and growth suited values grew and prospered and the ones that were less so whithered and died or were assimilated.

Ancient Greece was great incubator of such ideas, hundreds of small states each trying different values, societal norms, different versions of and perspectives on their Gods, DIFFERENT IDEAS OF MORALITY, DIFFERENT CONCEPTS OF RIGHT AND WRONG, until one small state went out and conquered most of the known world.

Note that the Spartans and the Athenians had very different concepts of right and wrong when it came to the treatment of women and children and both sets of values seemed to work within the short term goals of each society and their ideas were assimilated into the values of the Macedonians after Phillip and Alexander came along.

I guess what I am saying is that there were many different chickens, many different eggs and the scrambling was far from a singular process.