Moral standards of a community cannot be legislated for

He added that Govern-ment could not mandate the moral standard of the people.

While I am in complete agreement that Government and law enforcement cannot mandate moral control over the people, I am clearer about the parameters of the possible influence that religious leaders may have over people. 

The moral standard of a society cannot be legislated by Government or manipulated by the religious leaders.

Even God will not impute His moral expectation of behaviour upon a people.

Deut. 12:8 KJV:  Ye shall not do after all the things that we do here this day, every man whatsoever is right in his own eyes.

Judge 17:6 KJV: In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes.

Prov. 21:2 KJV:  Every way of a man is right in his own eyes: but the Lord pondereth the hearts.

It is all about choice. Every human being will have the power to choose to do the right thing.

A person might have never been exposed to religious leaders, but still live a morally good life.

On the other hand, a person raised in a good, morally sound home can choose to go another way, rejecting that which they know to be right. 

Why? It's all about individual choice.

Monarchy

Throughout the Bible, you can read account after account where the people of God refused to walk in the ways of God.

They went their own way. Indeed, the leadership of the people of Israel moved from being a theocracy to a monarchy, as the people refused to be led by the man of God.

They desired to be led by a man — a chosen king.

Time after time, God spoke to the leadership, who in turn spoke to the people, and then the people had to choose whether to obey or disobey.

Think back to when God delivered the Israelites out of bondage.

One might have thought, given the miracles the Israelites saw and experienced, they would have served God with all their heart, mind, and strength.

That was not the case. The Israelites complained about their freedom. They complained about being uncomfortable and thought fondly about the days when they were in Egypt.

They complained about not having the comforts of their place of bondage.

The very God who had opened up the Red Sea and swallowed their enemies was the same God they complained to and about. The Israelites eventually built themselves an idol in the form of a golden calf, rather than trust the voice and direction of God through His servant, Moses.

When the Israelites literally heard God speak to Moses, while Moses was on top of Mount Sinai, they promised to do all God said, and then they (once again) chose to be disobedient. 

Those people were God’s chosen people yet they had difficulty in choosing God.

If God could not convince and convict the people into doing the right thing, the religious leaders of today cannot expect to do more than God.

Now, this does not hinder religious leaders from constantly making an effort to live Godly lives and be wonderful examples, providing a way of hope for this generation.

Yet, at the end of the day, it will be a personal choice by each and every individual.