Full Idea
The fact is that the great religions of the world are not principally concerned with ethics at all, but with the religious life for its own sake. ..The Sermon on the Mount, for example, is mainly concerned with how to pray and worship.
Gist of Idea
The great religions are much more concerned with the religious life than with ethics
Source
Gordon Graham (Eight Theories of Ethics [2004], Ch.9)
Book Reference
Graham,Gordon: 'Eight Theories of Ethics' [Routledge 2004], p.190
A Reaction
This seems to me a highly significant point, given that most people nowadays seem to endorse religion precisely because they wish to endorse morality, and think religion is its essential underpinning. See Idea 336 for the core problem ('Euthyphro').
Related Idea
Idea 336 Is what is pious loved by the gods because it is pious, or is it pious because they love it? (the 'Euthyphro Question') [Plato]