Religious Perspectives Database

Different religious traditions approach ethical and political questions in diverse but related ways. The Religious Perspectives Database allows users to compare and contrast key scriptural passages across five traditions and five themes. Behind the individual cells of the grid you will find short essays on how each tradition approaches each theme, and links to key scriptural passages.

Buddhism

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Peace/Violence

Introduction
Passages

Buddhism on Peace and Violence

The Buddhist tradition is most clearly associated with non-violence and the principle of ahimsa (“no harm”). By eliminating their attachments to material things, Buddhists are to combat covetousness, itself a source of anger and violence against others. By tradition the Buddha himself prevented a war between the Sakyas, his own clan, and the Koliyas. He went to the battlefield, found out that the reason for the war was a dispute over water, and asked the opposing rulers what was more worthy, water or the blood of fellow human beings. Another paradigmatic example is the Emperor Ashoka, who ruled on the Indian subcontinent during the third century BCE and, after his conversion to Buddhism, felt remorse for the death and suffering caused by his military campaigns and embraced the dharma (Buddhist teaching). Some Buddhist texts do sanction the taking of human lives in exceptional cases to protect the sangha or defend the innocent. But most Theravada and Mahayana Buddhists today reject even these exceptional justifications of killing. Influential proponents of an engaged Buddhism committed to non-violence include Thich Nhat Hanh (Vietnam) and Maha Ghosananda (Cambodia).

Buddhism on Peace/Violence

Dhammapada 137-40 Majjhima Nikaya I.129 Samyutta Nikaya I. 131 Samyutta Nikaya I. 222 Samyutta Nikaya III. 14 Dhammapada 197-201 Dhammapada 270 Dhammapada 3-6 Dhammapada 389 Dhammapada 399 Dhammapada 405-06 Dhammapada 103-105 Dhammapada 129-32

Wealth/Poverty

Introduction
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Buddhism on Wealth and Poverty

From a Buddhist perspective, excessive wealth and an extravagant way of life can become a source of attachment, as well as fear of loss and of ceaseless craving. However, Buddhism does not see wealth as intrinsically evil, and does not claim that nirvana – the state of being free from suffering and the attachments that cause it – is especially difficult for the wealthy to attain. On the contrary, rich people are in a privileged position to practice the virtue of generosity, and traditional Buddhism sees economic success as derived in part from acts of charity in earlier lives. Wealth itself is not the problem, as long as it is attained by honest means and used for the benefit of the wider society. Some currents in the Buddhist tradition encourage giving to the monastic community in particular, in order to accumulate spiritual merit for future lives. However, Buddhism also advocates compassionate giving to the poor and the sick as a virtue in its own right. According to one account, the Buddha walked thirty miles to teach a poor person, and first made sure he was fed before turning to spiritual matters.

Buddhism on Wealth Poverty

Dhammapada 177 Digha Nikaya III. 188 Samyutta Nikaya I. 73-4 Samyutta Nikaya I. 90-1 Dhammapada 186-187 Dhammapada 415-16 Dhammapada 62 Dhammapada 87-89 Nagarjuna's Ratnavali 315-350

Health/Illness

Introduction
Passages

Buddhism on Health and Illness

For Buddhism, physical suffering is an inevitable part of life. Like old age and death, sickness is unavoidable and bound to produce some degree of suffering. This does not mean that one should not mitigate pain through available medical means, but the suffering that remains should be accepted and mindfully endured. Within the Buddhist tradition, moreover, physical pain and illness can be the occasion for the cultivation of healthy mental states such as forbearance and patience. It is not illness per se but our response to it that has spiritual value. The Buddha condemned any form of self-mortification and mistreatment of either body or mind. Underlying this approach to health and illness is Buddhism’s view of body and mind as interrelated and interdependent. The body is a valuable instrument whose good health is indispensable for maximizing spiritual development. Meditation techniques, a core part of the Buddhist tradition, are designed in part to prevent and address physical and mental illness.

Buddhism on Health/Illness

Sutta Nipata 399 Vinaya IV. 300-1 (Mahavagga VIII.26.1-8) (1 of 2) Vinaya IV. 300-1 (Mahavagga VIII.26.1-8) (2 of 2) Digha Nikaya III. 182-3 Samyutta Nikaya I. 81-2

Justice/Injustice

Introduction
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Buddhism on Justice and Injustice

The Buddhist approach to justice begins with individual behavior. The moral law of karma, in which good actions generate positive consequences and bad actions negative ones, is at its core. Buddhism has proved historically compatible with any number of different political forms. Because it has traditionally been centered on the monastery, Buddhism has limited itself to general social prescriptions—the five precepts of good conduct (not to kill, steal, lie, commit sexual wrong, or partake of intoxicants)—and tended to acknowledge the existing political regime. Rulers, in turn, have often patronized the sangha, providing a mixture of protection and resources, in return for the blessing of the monks—and the wider political legitimacy it afforded them. These basic arrangements go back as far as King Ashoka on the Indian subcontinent in the third century BCE and continue through many contemporary democratic and autocratic regimes in Buddhist-majority countries. The last two decades have seen the growth of socially engaged Buddhism in Southeast Asia (Vietnam, Cambodia, and Burma), and support for the Dalai Lama and greater Tibetan autonomy from China among Buddhists based in North America and Europe.

Buddhism on Justice/Injustice

Dhammapada 84 Samyutta Nikaya III. 15 Dhammapada 256-57 Dhammapada 409 Dhammapada 76-77

The Religious Other

Introduction
Passages

Buddhism on the Religious Other

Buddhism was born into a context of thriving cultural diversity and has since maintained its openness to other religious and philosophical traditions. The Buddha lived and formulated his own system during a period of flourishing religious activity in northern India. He was fundamentally opposed to certain key teachings of the Vedic tradition—one of the forerunners of modern-day Hinduism—in particular its dual insistence on the individual soul and the universal soul. He insisted, by contrast, that there is no permanent self or soul and that all entities are interdependent and in flux. The existence of certain core beliefs within Buddhism has not, as a rule, translated into intolerance of other traditions or an attitude of proselytism. On the question of right and wrong doctrines, the Buddha counseled tolerance and restraint from disputation, insisting that his own dharma (teachings) were best understood as a means to the end of reducing suffering. This openness to other faith traditions is exemplified by contemporary Buddhist leaders such as the Dalai Lama, who emphasizes the importance of following the best of one’s own religious tradition rather than conversion to Buddhism.

Buddhism on the Religious Other

Sutta Nipata 796-803 Samyutta Nikaya I. 138 Anguttara Nikaya I. 188

Christianity

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Peace/Violence

Introduction
Passages

Christianity on Peace and Violence

On questions of peace and war, Christian ethics has sought to combine Jesus’ radical message with the responsible exercise of power in society and the polity. With the exception of principled pacifists most identified with the Quaker and Mennonite traditions, who take Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount injunction to “turn the other cheek” quite literally, Christian leaders and theologians have tended to sanction the use of violence in self-defense. The theory of just war, first developed systematically by St. Augustine (354-430 CE) is a shared point of orientation across the major Christian denominations. It accepts the use of force when four basic conditions are met: the cause is just (self-defense and the protection of innocent human life); the means are proportional; the authority using force is legitimate; and there is a high probability of success. The same logic of self-defense and the protection of innocent life has historically been used to support the death penalty, although the Roman Catholic Church and some other leading denominations now condemn it as unjust and unnecessary under modern conditions.

Christianity on Peace/Violence

Matthew 5:9 Matthew 5:38-41 Matthew 10:34-39 Matthew 26:47-56 Luke 12:49-53 John 14:25-31 John 16:1-4 John 20:19-23 Romans 12:14-21 Romans 13:1-7 Romans 14:19 1 Corinthians 1:10-17 Ephesians 2:15-22 Hebrews 12:14 James 1:19-21 Revelation 6:4

Wealth/Poverty

Introduction
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Christianity on Wealth and Poverty

On issues of wealth and poverty, Christianity places individual ethics within the context of the community: the well-off have an obligation to the disadvantaged. Summed up in Jesus’ advice to the young rich man to sell all he had and distribute it to the poor (Mark 10), this injunction has been alternatively pursued and neglected through Christian history. During its early centuries house churches throughout the Mediterranean helped to serve the needs of the poor. Institutionalized as the official religion in the Roman Empire and its successor states from the fourth century onward, Christian churches maintained and expanded their social services network. The overriding concern of church leaders and their political patrons, however, was the maintenance of social and political order – viewed as an ethical good in its own right. With some exceptions, the vast inequalities of wealth and power in Christian societies occasioned little criticism. This dominant attitude outlived the Catholic-Orthodox split in the eleventh century and the sixteenth century Reformation. The advance of industrialization in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries marked a turning point. The Protestant social gospel and Catholic social teaching at the turn of the twentieth century, as well as the liberation theology of the 1960s and 1970s, elevated social justice as a salient, if not universal, Christian concern in practice.

Christianity on Wealth Poverty

Matthew 6:1-4 Matthew 6:19-21 Matthew 6:24 Matthew 6:25-34 Matthew 19:16-26 Matthew 25:34-40 Mark 12:41-44 Mark 14:3-9 Luke 1:46-55 Luke 4:16-21 Luke 6:20-26 Luke 12:13-21 Luke 14:12-14 Luke 14:33 Luke 16:10-13 Luke 16:19-31 Luke 18:18-27 Luke 19:1-10 Acts 2:43-47 Acts 4:32-37 Acts 5:1-10 Acts 11:29-30 Acts 20:35 Romans 12:13 2 Corinthians 8:1-7 2 Corinthians 8:9-15 2 Corinthians 9:6-12 1 Timothy 5:17-18 1 Timothy 6:10 James 1:9-11 James 1:17-18 James 2:1-6 James 2:14-17 James 4:13-17 James 5:1-6 1 John 3:17 Revelation 2:8-11

Health/Illness

Introduction
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Christianity on Health and Illness

The history of Christianity has seen a running debate about proper attitudes towards suffering, pain, and death, and how best to confront human illness and frailty. The fact that Jesus suffered and died on the cross is viewed by some as a positive valuation of suffering. In this view, Christians are to endure pain and hardship like their savior, sure in their eternal reward. Others emphasize Jesus’ own healing ministry, his reaching out to the blind, the sick, and the lame. In a much-cited panorama of the Last Judgment, Jesus called on his followers to show the same compassion to others (Matthew 25). Efforts to link these two strands in Christian reflection and experience—Jesus’ willingness to suffer and die and his call to heal—have traditionally been expressed in an acknowledgement of the inevitability of suffering combined with a determination to alleviate it, whenever possible, through the medical arts. The experience of suffering can have a redemptive dimension; it can bring us closer to a God, who suffered with and for us on the cross. At the same time, Christians are called to embrace science and its biomedical applications in order to prevent and alleviate unnecessary suffering, whenever possible, while also respecting the sanctity of human life.

Christianity on Health/Illness

Matthew 8:1-4 Matthew 8:14-17 Matthew 9:2-8 Matthew 9:18-26 Matthew 9:27-31 Matthew 15:29-31 Matthew 17:14-20 Matthew 20:29-33 Mark 7:31-37 Mark 8:22-26 Luke 7:11-17 Luke 13:10-16 Luke 17:11-19 John 4:46-53 John 5:1-8 John 9:1-7 John 9:34-41 Acts 3:1-8 Acts 9:32-35 Acts 9:36-42 Acts 14:8-10 Acts 19:11-18 James 5:13-15 3 John 2

Justice/Injustice

Introduction
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Christianity on Justice and Injustice

The Christian approach to state power and questions of justice and injustice is complex. Christianity began as an anti-political movement – a call to join a holy community apart from the world in anticipation of the coming Kingdom of God. “My kingdom is not of this world,” Jesus reportedly told his executioner, Pontius Pilate (John 18:36). With the conversion of Constantine (ca. 312) and the patronage of the Roman Empire, the church found itself allied with and dependent on secular rulers—the dominant arrangement into the modern era in Roman, Protestant, and Orthodox Christianity. The church’s overriding concern throughout this period was its own independence in organizational and spiritual matters. While popes and bishops sometimes condemned corrupt rulers as unjust, they even more rarely criticized wider inequities in state and society. While Protestants were most open to democratic ideas in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, particularly in the United Kingdom and the fledgling United States, the Catholic and Orthodox churches roundly condemned the French Revolution and socialist movements as a break with a divinely constituted and hierarchical social order. Only with Vatican II (1962-1965) did the Roman Catholic Church embrace democracy as the most just form of government.

Christianity on Justice/Injustice

Matthew 7:12 Matthew 7:1-5 Matthew 12:9-14 Luke 5:29-32 Luke 6:37-42 Luke 10:25-37 1 Corinthians 1:26-30 1 Corinthians 6:1-9 1 Corinthians 9:3-12 James 4:11-12

The Religious Other

Introduction
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Christianity on the Religious Other

Christianity’s approach to the religious Other is shaped both by its origins in Judaism and by its insistence on Jesus’ divinity and the Gospel injunction to “make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19). The church began as a Jewish sect, and centuries of Christian anti-Semitism rested on the view that the Jews had rejected their own Messiah. Since the Enlightenment and after the Holocaust, most churches have repudiated anti-Semitism and affirmed the Jewish people’s covenantal relationship with God. Differences with Judaism—as well as Islam and other faiths—have historically revolved around two core Christian teachings: the Trinity (God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) and the Incarnation (Jesus as God). Christian proponents of interreligious dialogue, a growing movement since the 1960s and the Second Vatican Council of the Catholic Church (1962-1965), have tended to deemphasize these doctrinal features of Christianity and focused instead on shared ethical commitments to peace, justice, and human dignity across the world’s traditional religions. Another current, linked with evangelicalism, emphasizes the central role of Jesus as the way to the Father and dismisses dialogue unless it is intended to win souls for Christ.

Christianity on the Religious Other

Matthew 8:5-13 Luke 7:2-10 1 Corinthians 5:9-13 1 Corinthians 14:20-25 Colossians 4:5 1 Thessalonians 4:9-12

Hinduism

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Peace/Violence

Introduction
Passages

Hinduism on Peace and Violence

The subject of violence has engaged the best minds in India's religious history. Although Mohandas K. Gandhi has made non-violence synonymous with Hinduism, the tradition has long recognized legitimacy of violence under some circumstances. The dominant, pragmatic approach has endorsed violence when necessary to protect one's state or people from external or internal attacks. A divergent tradition, insisting on the complete renunciation of violence, was ascendant during the period of the Upanishads. It asserted that violent action must, by the law of karma, produce a violent reaction, and that any action that promotes the interest of one at the expense of another individual is rooted in spiritual delusion that obscures the single spiritual reality—Brahman. The conflict between these competing approaches to force constitutes the heart of the Bhagavad Gītā, a dialogue between the god Krishna and the mighty warrior Arjuna, who refused to fight in a righteous cause. Krishna explains that violence is not only necessary for the defense of justice, but that such violence need not conflict with the spiritual life. The contradiction between the two values is resolved by disciplined action (action without regard for its fruit), insightful action (recognizing the true nature of the self) and devotion to Krishna.

Hinduism on Peace/Violence

Bhagavad-Gita 11.32-34 Bhagavad-Gita 18.59-60 Bhagavad-Gita 2.01-03 Bhagavad-Gita 2.16-21 Bhagavad-Gita 2.31-38 Manu Smriti 10.63 Manu Smriti 4.246

Wealth/Poverty

Introduction
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Hinduism on Wealth and Poverty

On the Indian subcontinent the subjects of wealth, poverty, and charity have been governed by the overarching social values of the caste system. Within Hinduism, wealth is regarded as a beneficial and positive value, just like love and morality—if pursued within limits. Social rank in ancient India was dominated by religious prestige while economic success and the accumulation of wealth did not lead to a higher social standing. Still, especially for those engaged in commerce, generosity and hospitality were highly regarded. Traditionally, these are not only private values. Among the roles of the state, embodied in the office of the king, was the feeding of the poor and the generous support of religious institutions. Today Hindu temples continue to promote charitable and other community activities. Still, the highest praise in Hindu history has gone not so much to the generous as to those who regard wealth with indifference and are able, when the proper stage of life arrives, to renounce all their belongings.

Hinduism on Wealth Poverty

Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 2.4.1-3 Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 5.2.2 Isa Upanishad 1 Katha Upanishad 1.1.26-27 Mahabharata 13.VII Bhagavad Gita 17.20-22 Bhagavad Gita 2.47-50 Bhagavad-Gita 16.06-18 Manu Smriti 3.99 Manu Smriti 4.229 Manu Smriti 4.29 Manu Smriti 4.32 Manu Smriti 9.333 Apastamba Dharmasutra 2.4.8.14-2.4.9.1 Apastamba Dharmasutra 2.4.9.5-6

Health/Illness

Introduction
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Hinduism on Health and Illness

India is home to one of the oldest still functioning medical traditions in the world. Ayurveda medicine, dating back to the first millennium BCE, is practiced in India today as it is around the world, promoting the goal of longevity through good health. It is linked back to basic metaphysical assumptions – that the human body is homologous with the universe, and that a microcosmic and macrocosmic correspondence of elements determines our wellbeing. Health, then, reflects a proper balance and a smooth functioning of the body, and medical practice seeks to promote this balance by means of nutrition and a minimum level of invasive intervention. Other ancient healing traditions in India were more magical and recognized the work of invisible powers in the health of humans. Healing was thus a matter of incantations, sorcery, and magical manipulations—not as a replacement for but as a supplement to the use of herbs, medicinal plants, and proper nutrition. Although the doctrine of karma appeared to link illness with sin, equating bad health with the consequences of evil committed in a previous life, the pursuit of spiritual goals has never overshadowed the value of medical practice in the Hindu tradition.

Hinduism on Health/Illness

Rig Veda 7.46.2 Rig Veda 10.97.15 Atharva-Veda 3.11.7 Atharva-Veda 3.31.4 Atharva-Veda 8.7.1-2 Chandogya Upanishad 7.26 Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 3.9.26 Mundaka Upanishad 3.1.1-3 Mahabharata 12.XXVIII Bhagavad-Gita 2.14-15 Bhagavad-Gita 2.38 Bhagavad-Gita 6.07 Bhavagad-Gita 14.24-25 Charaka Samhita 1.41 Charaka Samhita 115 Manu Smriti 4.157 Yoga Sutra 1.30-31

Justice/Injustice

Introduction
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Hinduism on Justice and Injustice

Hindu scriptures reflect a deep fascination with and commitment to justice, both as a social reality and as a cosmic principle. The earliest narratives identified justice with the work of a god, such as Yama, who weighed the actions of the dead on his scale, or Varuna, who bound sinners with the fetters (of illness). By the end of the Vedic period (sixth century BCE), justice became equated with a cosmological principle, called rita, which governed nature as well as human ethical conduct. To follow rita was to act in accordance with justice, or natural law. However, it was not until the concept of karma emerged, in the early Upanishads, that justice became a logical consequence of action. Karma stipulated that good actions are rewarded and bad actions punished, if not in this life then the next. This became part of the intellectual grounding for social inequalities and an explanation for social evil. In later centuries, justice, defined as dharma, played a major role in the ordering of social and political reality. Ideally embodied in the person of the king, justice became a leveling tool, a means of protecting the weak from the strong. And although Hindu society was divided into ranked castes with distinct duties and rights, a universal respect for foundational values pervaded the entire social structure. This included the universal respect for life, truth, and elders.

Hinduism on Justice/Injustice

Rig Veda 10.90.11-12 Taittiriya Upanishad 1.11.1 Taittiriya Upanishad 1.11.4 Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 1.4.14 Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 4.4.5-6 Mundaka Upanishad 3.1.6 Mahabharata 12.XVII Manu Smriti 7.13 Manu Smriti 7.20 Manu Smriti 7.38 Manu Smriti 8.12 Manu Smriti 8.394 Kautilya Arthashastra 7.5.16-17 Kautilya Arthashastra 7.5.19-26

The Religious Other

Introduction
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Hinduism on the Religious Other

Hinduism’s long history and accumulated attitudes toward outsiders have been greatly influenced by geography. Surrounded by oceans and a vast mountain range, India's diverse cultures prospered with relatively little outside interference. Hinduism absorbed those political and cultural influence that did enter the country, forming a rich and diverse cultural tapestry of indigenous and foreign elements. At the same time, India was always conceived as a sacred land with clear boundaries that separated the pure inside from the impure outside world. Hindu views of internal and external communities were a product of this ambiguity: subtle and highly textured. Although foreigners were recognized as others, they were not marked for annihilation or subjugation. In fact, many scholars have suggested that India's complex caste system was a product of the encounter between distinct ethnic communities. This open and tolerant attitude has long fascinated students of India. As a religious philosophy, Hinduism never insisted on a unitary view of reality or truth; the earliest texts already proclaimed that although the true may be one, wise people may name it differently.

Hinduism on the Religious Other

Rig Veda 1.131.4 Chandogya Upanishad 6.8.7 Isa Upanishad 6-7 Svetasvatara Upanishad 6.11 Mahabharata 12.XVII Bhagavad Gita 9.29 Bhagavad Gita 9.32-33 Manu Smriti 10.45 Manu Smriti 2.23-4

Islam

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Peace/Violence

Introduction
Passages

Islam on Peace and Violence

Peace is associated in the Qur'an with God, making it the defining feature of the life intended for humanity, to be fully realized ultimately in the next life. Islam recognizes corruption as endemic to humanity and the need for force to maintain political and social peace, within and across societies. Early biographies of the Prophet Muhammad suggest that while he waged war, he always sought a just peace—sometimes over the protests of his companions. Considerable confusion attaches to the concept of jihad, which can be translated as either spiritual or armed struggle. During the early centuries of Islam, scholars set ethical limits on war-making. Intentions had to be pure, and not just self-interested, and the use of force had to be absolutely necessary, for example, to protect the religious community, preserve justice, or defend territory. Jihad to extend the abode of Islam was driven more by imperial than by religious considerations. The Qur’an forbids coercion in religious affairs: “There is no compulsion in religion.” (Qur’an 2:256) and killing a life without cause is equivalent to "killing the whole human race" (Qur’an 5:32). Modern calls for holy war against the infidels, articulated by Osama bin Laden and others, are at odds with the Islamic tradition and roundly denounced by leading Muslim scholars. Islam is also home to a pacifist current, most richly developed within Sufism.

Islam on Peace/Violence

Qur'an 2:8-12 Qur'an 2:84 Qur'an 2:190-193 Qur'an 4:89-91 Qur'an 4:94 Qur'an 5:27-31 Qur'an 6:127 Qur'an 8:59-61 Qur'an 8:65 Qur'an 9:4-6 Qur'an 9:85-88 Qur'an 22:39-40 Qur'an 47:4 Qur'an 49:9 Qur'an 59:23 Qur'an 97:1-5 Qur'an 36:55-58

Wealth/Poverty

Introduction
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Islam on Wealth and Poverty

For Islam, all belongs to God, who provides material sustenance for humanity. At the same time, people are morally bound to support themselves and their families; idlers and thieves are considered parasites. Islam's protection of private property is tempered by its recognition that the poor have a claim on the property of the rich, who are exhorted to give generously out of their surplus. Almsgiving is a pillar of Islam, and sharing one's wealth with the poor has been recognized as an effective means to atone for sin. Within this broad framework, differences of opinion abound. For example, demanding interest on loans used for meeting basic necessities of life, defined as usury, is roundly condemned, while debate continues on the status of modern banking practices, even as their potential contribution to social prosperity is recognized. With the emergence of oil wealth, especially in the Gulf, great energy has been devoted to reviving the financial norms of Islam, evident in the emergence of an influential international Islamic banking system. Today, robust national and transnational Islamic social institutions provide poverty relief, education, and health services, often more effectively than the state.

Islam on Wealth Poverty

Qur'an 2:155-157 Qur'an 2:273-280 Qur'an 5:38-39 Qur'an 2:177 Qur'an 2:255 Qur'an 11:85-86 Qur'an 17:26-27 Qur'an 18:46 Qur'an 24:22 Qur'an 30:39 Qur'an 34:37 Qur'an 36:71-73 Qur'an 51:15-19 Qur'an 59:7 Qur'an 76:8-9 Qur'an 90:12-18 Qur'an 107:1-7

Health/Illness

Introduction
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Islam on Health and Illness

The belief that body and soul belong to God and will return to him grounds Muslim recognition of the sanctity of human life and of the need to ensure both physical and spiritual well-being. The Qur'an speaks of God's revelation as healing for the illness of the human heart, and the Prophet is reported to have exhorted treatment of the sick. His statement that for every illness God gives a cure has inspired Muslims through the centuries to pursue medical knowledge. Notwithstanding a minority view that true faith requires total reliance on God, recourse to medical treatment is not viewed as a weakness of belief, even if illness can also be seen as a trial by God meant for atonement and spiritual progress. During much of the Middle Ages, Islamic medicine was more advanced than in the West. In more recent centuries, Muslims have sought to harmonize advances in medical science and technology emanating from the West with religious values around issues including the beginning and end of life, such as abortion and artificial life support.

Islam on Health/Illness

Qur'an 2:168 Qur'an 2:173 Qur'an 4:43 Qur'an 5:4 Qur'an 5:6 Qur'an 5:32 Qur'an 5:90-91 Qur'an 6:151 Qur'an 7:157 Qur'an 9:91 Qur'an 9:125 Qur'an 10:57 Qur'an 10:60 Qur'an 17:31 Qur'an 17:33 Qur'an 24:61 Qur'an 26:75-82 Qur'an 48:17 Qur'an 23:12-16

Justice/Injustice

Introduction
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Islam on Justice and Injustice

Justice in Islam is owed to God by recognizing the duty to worship him and to others by treating them fairly and truthfully. In the end, ultimate justice will be meted out on Judgment Day, when God exercises his exclusive right to judge humans and to reward and punish them. Indeed, it is God who commands justice and forbids injustice, delegating to humans, as His representatives on earth, responsibility for "commanding the right and prohibiting the wrong." Sharia was never conceived as state law; its supervision was the purview of religious scholars, whereas the duty of sultans, shahs, and other rulers was to abide by it, if not actively enforce it. Religious and political establishment have never overlapped completely; they have traditionally been seen as complementary, working together for the welfare of Muslim society. Since independence from colonial rule, most Muslim-majority nations have tended to adopt laws of European origin in all areas except family life. Influential exceptions are the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Islamic Republic of Iran, which reserve a much larger role for Islamic law.

Islam on Justice/Injustice

Qur'an 3:104 Qur'an 2:155-157 Qur'an 5:8 Qur'an 3:108 Qur'an 4:3 Qur'an 4:10 Qur'an 4:58 Qur'an 4:129 Qur'an 4:135 Qur'an 5:42 Qur'an 6:115 Qur'an 6:131-132 Qur'an 6:152 Qur'an 7:8-9 Qur'an 11:117 Qur'an 16:90 Qur'an 40:17 Qur'an 25:4 Qur'an 49:7

The Religious Other

Introduction
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Islam on the Religious Other

The overriding message of the Qur'an is total submission to the one God, creator and master of all things. The Qur'an speaks against those who deny the one God, sow corruption on earth, and lead sinful lives—but it does not reject other religions. Indeed it is remarkably uninterested in confessional affiliation so long as people believe in God, express gratitude to Him in all things, and lead lives in anticipation of a final day of judgment. The Constitution of Medina, a document composed by the Prophet Muhammad for organizing life under his leadership, mentions Jews and a non-descript category of believers alongside Muslims. History attests to examples of communalism in the name of Islam, although openness to other communities is enshrined in sharia, awarding legal status to "the people of the book," a category that has been flexibly defined even if normally associated with Jews and Christians. Over the past two centuries, the experience of colonialism has hardened Muslim attitudes towards Jews and Christians. However, in two historically sensitive areas - intermarriage and apostasy—some prominent Muslim commentators have sought to loosen traditional blanket prohibitions in recent years.

Islam on the Religious Other

Qur'an 2:62 Qur'an 2:111-113 Qur'an 2:120 Qur'an 3:64-68 Qur'an 3:113-116 Qur'an 4:116 Qur'an 4:124-125 Qur'an 4:163-165 Qur'an 5:5 Qur'an 5:48-49 Qur'an 5:51 Qur'an 5:65-69 Qur'an 7:172 Qur'an 8:29 Qur'an 9:28-29 Qur'an 9:71 Qur'an 10:94-98 Qur'an 17:70-71 Qur'an 24:62 Qur'an 29:46 Qur'an 42:15 Qur'an 49:13 Qur'an 109:6 Qur'an 4:34 Qur'an 32:9

Judaism

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Peace/Violence

Introduction
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Judaism on Peace and Violence

Peace is a central value within Judaism. The Hebrew scriptures oscillate in their accounts of the legitimate use of force. In some cases, Israelite violence against others is sanctioned by God, most notably in the Book of Joshua. Elsewhere in the scriptures, peace is held out as the most desirable of social norms, the ideal state to which all human social action must be geared. The prophetic books, most known for their apocalyptic predictions, also include powerful evocations of a future era of social peace and harmony (for example, Isaiah 2:4). Moses Maimonides (1135-1204 CE) drew on the Talmud and ancient Greek philosophy to argue that violence is justified for self-protection and for the maintenance of political order, but a ruler should seek a peaceful resolution before engaging in military action. In the contemporary era, Jewish reflection on matters of war and peace is shaped by the historical legacies of Zionism, the Holocaust, and of multiple wars between Israel and its neighbors. Peace remains the core value, even as security and survival are overriding concerns in Israeli politics and foreign policy.

Judaism on Peace/Violence

Genesis 9:5-6 Exodus 20:13 Leviticus 24:17-22 Numbers 21:2-3 Deuteronomy 20:11-14 Joshua 8:1-2 Joshua 11:10-12 Judges 5:31 Psalms 120:6-7 Isaiah 2:4 Ezekiel 23:22-25 Amos 2:1-3 Micah 4:1-4 Micah 4:5-8

Wealth/Poverty

Introduction
Passages

Judaism on Wealth and Poverty

Judaism is generally supportive of the pursuit of wealth, as long as it is combined with generosity to the poor and less fortunate. The Book of Genesis relates how Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph amassed and administered wealth. The Book of Proverbs seems to laud hard work and material productivity, and Job is rewarded by God for his travails with twice his original fortune. This positive valuation of material wealth should be read against other biblical verses which demonstrate a marked concern for the plight of the poor and other groups on the margins of society, including slaves, orphans, and widows. The condemnation of wealth pursued without concern for the good of the community and the wider society is a theme of rabbinic law (Halakha). With the advance of industrialization and widespread poverty and social inequality in the 19th century, many Jewish intellectuals and labor leaders took up socialist ideas. Today, Jewish charities are active inside the Jewish community and around the world, and Jewish citizens in Israel, the United States, and Europe tend to be supportive of a robust welfare state.

Judaism on Wealth Poverty

Leviticus 19:9-10 Deuteronomy 15:11 Job 42:12-13 Psalms 9:18 Psalms 72:12 Proverbs 10:14-15 Proverbs 13:18 Proverbs 14:31 Proverbs 20:13 Proverbs 23:21 Proverbs 30:8 Ecclesiastes 3:12-13 Isaiah 11:4 Jeremiah 22:15-16

Health/Illness

Introduction
Passages

Judaism on Health and Illness

Human health and flourishing are core values in the Jewish tradition. At times the Hebrew scriptures suggest that illness is the result of sinful behavior; lepers, for example, are sometimes depicted as afflicted with their illness because of ethical shortcomings. The much greater emphasis, however, is placed on God as healer. The Psalms describe a Yahweh who cures the ill and looks after those who are sick. The history of Jewish medicine and its codification in rabbinic law (Halakha) is grounded in an ethic of healing; physical suffering is considered an evil to be combated through the use of reason and specialized knowledge, understood as gifts of God and products of human ingenuity. Contemporary Jewish medical ethics draws on rabbinic law and adapts it to contemporary issues ranging from stem cell research and abortion to organ transplantation and artificial life support. A common thread linking Jewish reflection and action around medical questions is the command to “heal the world” (tikkun olam).

Judaism on Health/Illness

Genesis 18:10-14 >> full text

Genesis 29:31 >> full text

Leviticus 13:45-46 >> full text

Numbers 12:10-15 >> full text

Deuteronomy 7:15 >> full text

2 Kings 5:9-14 >> full text

Job 2:7-10 >> full text

Job 42:11-12 >> full text

Psalms 6:2-10 >> full text

Psalms 38:1-3 >> full text

Psalms 41:2-4 >> full text

Isaiah 38:1-5 >> full text

Justice/Injustice

Introduction
Passages

Judaism on Justice and Injustice

A tradition organized around the idea of God’s law for humankind, Judaism has a long history of reflection on justice in social and political affairs. The Hebrew scriptures emphasize again and again that God seeks justice and is himself just. Rulers are to be held to a high standard, as when Nathan the prophet rebukes King David for a glaring ethical lapse (2 Samuel 12). The 613 commandments (mitzvoth) given in the Torah encompass both religious rituals and binding ethical norms for a just society. After the destruction of the Second Temple (70 CE), rabbinic reflection in the Diaspora on the law as a guide to human affairs continued in the Talmudic tradition. Maimonides (1135-1204 CE) acknowledged established teachings about limits on state power, but posited greater discretion for rulers. With the transition to modernity it becomes more difficult to identify particular Jewish approaches to social and political justice; a tremendous diversity of religious, social, and political views proliferates under headings including assimilationist reformist, conservative, orthodox, religious Zionist, and non-religious Zionist. Common to most all is an embrace of democracy and human rights growing out of the historical idea of a covenant that binds rulers and ruled through fundamental norms of justice. Today, debate ranges inside and outside Israel on what constitutes just treatment of its Palestinian citizens and those living in the occupied territories.

Judaism on Justice/Injustice

Genesis 18:23-25 >> full text

Leviticus 19:15 >> full text

Deuteronomy 10:17-19 >> full text

Deuteronomy 16:18-20 >> full text

Psalms 9:8-11 >> full text

Psalms 85:11-13 >> full text

Proverbs 2:5-9 >> full text

Isaiah 51:7 >> full text

Jeremiah 5:26-29 >> full text

Jeremiah 22:15-16 >> full text

The Religious Other

Introduction
Passages

Judaism on the Religious Other

Judaism is home to many different perspectives on relations with non-Jews. From biblical times the Jewish community was defined both through kinship ties and through a shared covenantal relationship with God, expressed in the law of the Torah. The ancient experience of war and exile reinforced this communal identity and frequent denigration of foreigners, although the Hebrew Scriptures also counsel hospitality to strangers. The theme of universality is also very prominent. God is the God of all, and the prophet Isaiah, in particular, shares a vision of universal human brotherhood. The Talmud is the site of debates between rabbis for whom Jews are God’s chosen people surrounded by enemies and idolaters and others for whom that chosen status is compatible with God’s saving plan for all humanity. For much of Jewish history, the experience of discrimination and persecution, particularly in Christian Europe, strengthened support for the more exclusivist position. In the contemporary era, Judaism’s diverse branches—Reform, Conservative, Orthodox, and their many variations—have differed on the proper approach to interfaith dialogue. Some see it as a potential threat to Jewish identity and tradition, while for others it is a way to communicate God’s will and call to justice and service to a wider circle of humanity.

Judaism on the Religious Other

Leviticus 19:33-34 Leviticus 25:35-36 Deuteronomy 23:15-16 Ruth 1:14-17 Ezra 9:1-3 Nehemiah 13:23-28 Isaiah 11:11-14 Ezekiel 47:21-23 Amos 9:7 Zechariah 7:10