Thiel-Hudson 1

Nicholas Thiel-Hudson

Mrs. Andrews

Global Studies

12 November 2017

The Influence of Religion on Social Virtues:

Karl Marx was the creator of the ​Communist Manifesto​, which laid the foundation for

ideologies of the common man. He once stated, “Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature,

the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people.”​[1]

What is striking about his quote is its comparison of religion to opium, a very powerful,

euphoria-inducing drug. Really, this quote suggests that religion is a means by which people

find happiness. This is exactly the case in life. When people are afraid of death and sadness,

they adopt ideologies that, in their minds, prevent these things from happening. This can be seen

in the religions of Christianity, Buddhism, Judaism, and Islam. These religions teach that a

certain kind of behavior or “pathway” will result in happiness in life and death. For this reason,

religions have instilled social virtues in humanity. This can be seen in society’s values of

refraining from murder, refraining from theft, and most importantly, loving one another.

In the world today, there are many actions that are considered to be acts without virtue.

One of these is murder. For thousands of years, killing in hostility has been frowned upon by

many religions, and therefore, society in general. For instance, in Christianity, the Bible

specifically states, “Thou shalt not kill” (Exodus 20:13) as the sixth of the Ten

Commandments.​[2]​ This is exemplified in the Middle Ages when punishments for crimes were

controlled largely by the Catholic Church. The punishment for murder was execution.​[10]
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Buddhism also frowns upon any kind of killing, especially murder. This religion teaches that

actions have either good or bad consequences known as Karma. If one has good Karma, they

will live well in this life and the next. If one has bad Karma, the opposite will occur. In the case

of killing, K. Sri Dhammananda, a Buddhist monk, stated that, “Buddhism can never accept …

the fact that a life of one being is terminated by another.”​[4]​ Thus, the consequence of murder in

Buddhism is bad Karma, which in turn causes unhappiness. Consequently, Buddhists refrain

from acts such as killing in order to maintain their good Karma and essentially their happiness.

Judaism considers the murder of a Jew sinful. In the Torah, one of the Jewish holy texts,

murderers were stoned to death.​[12]​ Today, Jews still believe that murder is a sin. For example, a

survey was conducted in 2014 by the Public Religion Research Institute. It was found that 33%

of Jews were still in favor of the death penalty for murderers, while 54% favored

life-imprisonment.​[9]​ Islam also teaches against murder. The Qur’an, the holy book of Islam,

describes multiple “Greater Sins.” Murder is the Fifth Greater Sin. If one murders, they are then

at the mercy of their victim’s heir. The heir then has a choice to execute the murderer or forgive

him. In the case of forgiveness, the murderer is required to pay the heir a “diyah” (penalty), free

a slave, feed sixty of the poor, and fast sixty times.​[5]​ These teachings can still be seen in modern

Muslim countries such as Saudi Arabia, where one of the punishments for murder is

beheading.​[17]​ In general, the act of killing someone is considered a capital offense, and often

entails serious punishments such as execution and life imprisonment. These examples

demonstrate that religions have instilled in society the virtue of refraining from murder.

Stealing is also considered a serious crime in society. However, some do not realize what

has made humanity look down on this act. Actually, religions have preached for thousands of
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years and still preach that stealing is wrong. For example, in Christianity, the Bible plainly

states, “Thou shalt not Steal” (Exodus 20:15).​[2]​ In the Middle Ages, people followed this rule

also by the command of the Catholic Church. The punishment for theft was usually that one’s

right hand would be cut off.​[10]​ Moreover, stealing is a violation of the second Buddhist precept.

The precept can be translated as “‘I undertake the precept to refrain from taking that which is not

given.’"​[11]​ As explained earlier, people follow this rule in order to be happy. Examples of this

can be seen in Japan, where the primary religions are Shinto and Buddhism. In Japan, the crime

rate is extremely low.​[14]​ This is a result of Buddhist teachings. Judaism also frowns upon

stealing. It is said that, “... a person should keep away from dishonesty in dealing…” (Tanna

de-Vei Eliyahu).​[13]​ Traditionally, a Jew convicted of theft would be sold into indentured

servitude for six years.​[8]​ Today in Israel, thieves are imprisoned. In Islam, the Qur’an teaches

that theft is the Twenty-Third Greater Sin. The consequence depends on the value of the good

that was stolen, who stole it, and how it was stolen. If the value of the good exceeds a certain

amount, the thief will have his hand cut off.​[15]​ In current times, Muslim countries still follow the

Qur’an when punishing thieves, depending on the country. As can be seen, these four religions

have created a society in which people refrain from stealing.

It is possible to argue that love is the most important social virtue of all. Just about every

single person on the planet loves someone, whether it be their mother, father, friends… the list

goes on and on. This phenomenon is the result of religions that preach the importance of loving

one another. Actually, the very core of almost all religions is love itself. For instance, the Bible

states that what started the Christian religion was that God wanted to save humanity from death,

and thus cleanse all people of their sin. Out of love for his people, he sent his only son, Jesus
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Christ, to die on the cross. In the Bible, it is said that “… love … binds … all together in perfect

unity” (Colossians 3:14).​[2]​ Buddhism is also a religion purely comprised of love. The Buddha

taught that one should always love themself and others. He once stated, “Love the whole world

as a mother loves her only child.”​[6]​ Buddhists believe that the way to happiness and

enlightenment is the Eightfold Path. However, one cannot follow this path without having love

and compassion. Consequently, humans believe in love. Even more so, Judaism teaches that it

is necessary for people love each other. The Torah states, “... you shall love your neighbor as

yourself…” (Leviticus 19:18).​[16]​ Again, people therefore love each other in order to maintain

this commandment. Furthermore, Islam stresses the importance of love. The Qur’an teaches

that all actions should be out of love for God.​[18]​ Obviously, religions preach that loving one

another will ensure your happiness. The end result is that people love each other. This is

illustrated when people show compassion and empathy for one another, when they come to their

fellow human’s aid. Ergo, religions have made love a societal virtue.

For thousands of years, humans have always had something to believe in: a religion that

provides a way to happiness and prosperity through not murdering, not stealing from, and loving,

one another. Over time, these fundamental values became ingrained in society. This is clearly

demonstrated by the relation between values in Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and Buddhism, and

values shared by people today. For instance, all of the aforementioned religions teach that

humans should not kill one another. In today’s society we can also see this value when

murderers are punished for their crimes. Equally, these four religions teach that people should

not steal. In accordance with this belief, modern society punishes thieves as well. Most

importantly, the mentioned religions teach that love is the most rudimentary virtue of all. This is
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distinctly illustrated in the world today, as all people love one another. In conclusion, the

similarities between the values of religions and the values of modern society without a doubt

reveal that religion has directly influenced the ideals of humanity across many cultures.
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Works Cited

1. www.notable-quotes.com/r/religion_quotes.html.

2. King James Bible​. Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers, 1973. Print.

3. “Chapter 2 - Thou Shalt Not Kill - The Christian Case against Compassionate Killing.”

CMF, www.cmf.org.uk/resources/publications/content/?context=article&id=1364.

4. Dhammananda , K. Sri. “Mercy Killing.” What Buddhists Believe - Mercy Killing,

www.budsas.org/ebud/whatbudbeliev/292.htm.

5. “Fifth Greater Sin: Murder.” Al-Islam.org,

www.al-islam.org/greater-sins-volume-1-ayatullah-sayyid-abdul-husayn-dastghaib-shiraz

i/fifth-greater-sin-murder.

6. Lamoureux, Tammy. “21 Love Quotes by Buddha.” Curated Quotes,

www.curatedquotes.com/love-quotes/buddha/.

7. Levush, Ruth. “Global Legal Monitor.” Library of Congress, 20 Nov. 2009,

www.loc.gov/law/foreign-news/article/israel-toughening-of-penalties-for-theft-of-valuabl

e-property/.

8. Mishpatim, Parshas. “The Punishment For Theft.” Torah.org,

torah.org/torah-portion/ravhirsch-5770-mishpatim/.

9. MJL Staff. “The Death Penalty in Jewish Tradition.” My Jewish Learning,

www.myjewishlearning.com/article/the-death-penalty-in-jewish-tradition/.

10. Nash, Tim. “Crime and Punishment in the Middle Ages.” Crime and Punishment in the

Middle Ages | Middle Ages,

www.thefinertimes.com/Ancient-History/crime-and-punishment-in-the-middle-ages.html.
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11. O'Brien, Barbara. “The Second Precept of Buddhism - Not Taking What Is Not Given.”

ThoughtCo, www.thoughtco.com/the-second-buddhist-precept-450103.

12. Shahak, Israel. “The Laws Against Non-Jews.” Jewish History, Jewish Religion: The

Weight of Three Thousand Years, Pluto Press, 1994,

www.cie.ugent.be/CIE2/shahak.htm.

13. Strassfeld, Michael. “Jews and Stealing.” My Jewish Learning,

www.myjewishlearning.com/article/jews-and-stealing/.

14. subcultureist. “Crime and Punishment in Japan.” Japan Subculture Research Center, 1

July 2012, www.japansubculture.com/crime-and-punishment-in-japan/.

15. “The Twenty-Third Greater Sin: Stealing.” Al-Islam.org,

www.al-islam.org/greater-sins-volume-2-ayatullah-sayyid-abdul-husayn-dastghaib-shiraz

i/twenty-third-greater-sin.

16. Weinberg, Noah, and Yaakov Salomon. “The Power of Love.” Aish.com, 28 Feb. 2009,

www.aish.com/sp/f/48971341.html.

17. “Death Penalty Database.” The Death Penalty in Saudi+Arabia,

www.deathpenaltyworldwide.org/country-search-post.cfm?country=saudi%2Barabia.

18. “Human Love.” Al-Islam.org,

www.al-islam.org/perspectives-concept-love-islam-mahnaz-heydarpoor/human-love.