Religion rewards faith, not ethics...

I'd reword this to say rewards obedience, not ethics, that is, if one defines "faith" in its original veresion: "Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence for things not seen." (Hebrews) If you define "faith" as manmade religions, I'd agree with your statement.

I prefer the use of "Persuasion" as it used to be used, as in, "What's your [political] persuasion?

(I don;t think people use their heads enough these days to claim any persuasion about anything!)