My understanding is that religion probably developed through communal dance and the strong social bonds that builds. These bonds lead to a respect for the community and a natural tendency to strive for the good of the community. So I don't believe that the Stage 1 development of religious morality was fear of punishment.
I also have some problems with this description of Kohlberg's ideas:
Kohlberg believed that individuals could only progress through these stages one stage at a time. This view contrasted with Maslow’s (1943, 1968, 1972) hierarchy of prepotent needs because human beings, according to Kohlberg, could neither skip stages nor return to any previous stage. Human beings could not, for example, move from an orientation of punishment and obedience to an orientation toward law and order without first passing through the stages of instrumental exchange and interpersonal conformity. Neither would human beings return to an orientation of punishment and obedience from an orientation toward law and order. Hence, human beings come to a comprehension of a moral rationale one stage superior to their own. But, once human beings achieved a superior stage, they also no longer will be motivated to utilize an inferior stage of moral reasoning.
The last sentence does not ring true to me. I believe that fear of punishment is always a part of morality. A person in a post-industrial society, such as the US, has moral obligations to different groups. A person may reach a high level of social success and a concomitant higher stage of moral reasoning, say Stage 5. Yet family obligations, say an expensive chronic illness, could put extreme financial pressures on her and she may only resist opportunities to steal due to fear of punishment.
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