That general feeling is why I distanced myself from religion, and eventually stopped being religious altogether. I think that most people want to be good, and do try. Sometimes it feels like they aren't trying very hard, but they think they are trying as hard as they can. My opinion is that this is a symptom of the institution of religion. As opposed to a person having a personal relationship with God, they are a member of a community, and that community has a human leader such as a preacher. That leader interprets, and disseminates their version of what they think is right. A group mentality often develops, so you judge how good and pure you are by how well you are accepted in the group, as opposed to how you personally interpret the word of God. In a group mentality, people may also start to think of their group as good, and people not of their group as bad. This can cause the people in that group to give off an air of being sanctimonious or "better than thou." So I do think that people try, and even if they aren't being pure and good, they think they are because the group around them and the leaders of their group tell that they are doing a good job.