The relation between religion and morality is investigated through a comparison of the normative standards and behavior patterns of religious and skeptical individuals. The religious are more likely to believe in traditional ascetic standards than are the skeptics, but the two groups do not differ in the degree to which they believe in elements of common social morality. Similarly, the religious are less likely to report violations of ascetic morality, but the two groups report the same degree of violations of social morality. The religious and the skeptics do not differ in the degree to which they live up to the norms they profess; the greater tendency of the skeptics to violate ascetic norms reflects a difference in norms rather than differential upholding of norms. This study, therefore, finds no evidence to support the assumption that religious sanctions are essential to sustain basic social norms.