
Certainly many religious beliefs seem to be positive principles for
everyday living.  Indeed, I believe it is the Islamic religion which
avoids alcohol (I apologize if I name the wrong religion) and that
is certainly a physical positive in many respects.  However, this
proves nothing.  Just because something is a "basic, pragmatic
principle of day-to-day living" TODAY doesn't mean it evolved from
the same.  Especially those beliefs and (mostly) positions held based
on interpretations of the religion.

Religious beliefs come from many places but most will be backed up
(after many levels of arguments) to "Because that's how it is written."
or "God says..."  Now I'm not faulting that but that is not a basic,
pragmatic principle as you mean it in this context.  It is a belief
based on faith, which by definition is not necessarily backed up by
logic.  Faith is a given.  God is a absolute truth when arguing from
religion.  Also, many religions would reject your thesis that their
beliefs simply come from these day-to-day principles.

In summation, if you wish to use religious arguments be prepared to
back them up with "It says in the [fill in religious document here],"
because most religions (things which at least I denote as religions)
are based on the writings of or teachings of [fill in religious
figure here].

NOTE: Religion is a charged topic and if I offended anyone regarding
	  my references to God, I apologize.  Please insert your own
	  sensible references, the argument should apply to nearly all
	  religions.