"did we not agree that most people will never lie unless it benefits them? "
We did not agree on this. It is imo demonstrably not true. There are people who lie when it does not benefit them, and some people seem to lie all the time even when it clearly hurts them. So no, I couldn't agree with that. Most people lie when they think it helps them, or when they do not think it hurts them, and some people lie when they think they are helping someone else, but lying seems to be something all people do, and we do it very young, so I tend to think it's one of those wired in traits, and it probably has huge benefits for survival. I can think of numerous ways lying could help you survive. I'm sure you can too. I doubt religious belief, or belief in an afterlife, has much to do with how much people lie. It probably has some impact on the guilt people feel about lying, and it may make people more likely to try to atone, but I doubt it actually stops lying- since from what I have observed in children and adults lies often fly off the lips before conscious thought- it looks like a defense mechanism to me, a sort of fight or flight response of the brain, rather than a well thought out moral judgment. I think there is a very quick odds weighing- of "will I be caught versus what am I trying to achieve and how likely is it to be achieved"- but I don't think people throw right and wrong in to the mix.
Here's some scholarship on lying- just read the first few paragraphs- there are some studies mentioned there:
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