Conventional morals are really just politically acceptable ways to bribe and coerce other people to obey. Reward is bribery. Punishment is coercion.

Problem is, morals arise and are preserved by child rearing practices that rely upon reward and punishment. They are codified in things like the Ten Commandments and songs like "Santa Claus is Coming To Town". Ask any uninformed adult and they will tell you that we're not talking about bribery and coercion. They'd tell us that reward and punishment are what make civilization possible.

But what they won't tell you is that reward and punishment don't teach any skills. All they do is reinforce behavior. Neither will actually inhibit challenging behavior.

Until we learn to teach the skills required to deal with challenging behavior exhibited by kids and adults, we'll rely upon reward an punishment to justify the morals we impose on others through government or religion.

True morality doesn't come from a book. It comes from the chest and the stomach. If the thought of doing something to someone else makes your stomach burn, don't do it. If you feel pangs in your chest after you do something to someone else, don't do that again. Adrenaline and guilt are the moral guideposts that inform of of our compassion for other human beings.

Perhaps when we become willing to acknowledge our feelings about what was done to us in childhood and what we have done to others, as a society, we will know peace.