Let me be diplomatic here...
There ARE hollow forms of religion, we sometimes call them Churchianity. Just because someone has a hat, doesn’t mean they have cattle. The bible says “A form of religion, but denying its power.” The power is in Jesus. Jesus isn’t always a super strict rule enforcer. He knows what to stress and when, and it’s tied to the divine plan. If He is said to have borne our sins and yet that didn’t impact the plan, then He really didn’t bear them.
I think in Catholic circles (but also in many evangelical ones) it has become particularly common to assume that because the morality talk is there, God will be there too. But even pagans have morals, though you wouldn’t want to get wrapped up in their spirituality. Let’s not be whitewashing tombs, or putting band-aids on dead bodies, is where I am coming from here.
Kilroy was here. We see the remains of Kilroy’s lunch. That doesn’t mean Kilroy is here now.
Catholics are—or ought to be -— big on Natural Law. There are different versions of this, but from a Catholic POV it would be based on the conviction that the Book of Scripture and the Book of Nature have the same Author, Who built His law right into the very structure of reality.
St. Paul discusses this some.
Acknowledging and attempting to conform your life to Natural Law doesn’t mean you are in a state of Sanctifying Grace, but it does predispose the soul to receive that grace. Thus, it is easier for a moral, noble pagan to receive the Gospel, than for a Satanist or a moral degenerate to do so.
This is because sin makes you stupid.
In contrast, Natural Law is at least congruent with Supernatural Law, and the man who loves the former, will be more open to the latter. His “soil” has been prepared to receive the seed.