Importance of Religion to Society
Senior 4 · General and Religious Studies
Importance of Religion to Society
Lesson 2 of 4
40 min
Read this illustrative case. A motorcycle-taxi driver in Musanze finds a smartphone that a passenger left behind. That evening he drives back across town to return it. Asked why, he says: "My faith says, do not steal." His passenger, a student, says she would have done the same "because my parents raised me that way". A police officer adds: "Theft is punished by law." A neighbour says: "I would want mine back."
Four answers, four sources of values: religion, family, law and reason. They often agree, and in Rwanda, where almost every family belongs to a faith community, religion is woven through the other three. This lesson analyses how religion forms values, which values Christianity and Islam teach in common, and what happens when believers fail to live them.
Definition
Value: a lasting belief about what is good, right or worth pursuing, which guides choices. Example: honesty.
Morals: the standards of right and wrong behaviour that a person or group lives by. Ethics: the careful study of moral questions and reasons.
Virtue: a good quality of character built up by practice, such as patience or generosity.
Conscience: the inner sense of right and wrong that judges one's own actions.
Sanctity of life: the belief that human life is sacred because it comes from God, so it must be protected.
Stewardship (Christian) and khalifah (Islamic, "vicegerent"): the belief that humans are entrusted by God to care for the earth, not to own and destroy it.
Divine command theory: the view that an act is right because God commands it.
Religion forms values through four channels (Figure 2). The fourth is often forgotten: values become habits through repeated practice. A Muslim who fasts each Ramadan practises self-control; a Christian who confesses wrongdoing practises honesty about oneself; believers who give alms practise generosity.
| Value | Bible (World English Bible) | Qur'an (Pickthall, 1930) |
|---|---|---|
| Honesty | "Therefore, putting away falsehood, speak truth each one with his neighbor, for we are members of one another." (Ephesians 4:25) | "Confound not truth with falsehood, nor knowingly conceal the truth." (2:42) |
| Justice | "What does Yahweh require of you, but to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?" (Micah 6:8) | "O ye who believe! Be ye staunch in justice, witnesses for Allah, even though it be against yourselves or (your) parents or (your) kindred." (4:135) |
| Sanctity of life | "You shall not murder." (Exodus 20:13) | "Whosoever killeth a human being for other than manslaughter or corruption in the earth, it shall be as if he had killed all mankind, and whoso saveth the life of one, it shall be as if he had saved the life of all mankind." (5:32) |
| Work and responsibility | "If anyone is not willing to work, don't let him eat." (2 Thessalonians 3:10) | "And that man hath only that for which he maketh effort." (53:39) |
| Care for the earth | "Yahweh God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate and keep it." (Genesis 2:15) | "Lo! I am about to place a viceroy in the earth." (2:30) |
The table shows wide agreement: both faiths ground these values in God, and both apply them even when they cost the believer (Surah 4:135 demands justice "against yourselves or (your) parents"). The differences lie more in reasons and practices than in the values: Christians point to the life and teaching of Jesus, Muslims to the Qur'an and the Sunnah of the Prophet.
Worked example: religious values and Rwanda's national values
Article 9 of the Constitution gives Rwanda's motto: Ubumwe, Umurimo, Gukunda Igihugu (Unity, Work, Patriotism). Compare it with the table.
Conclusion: in Rwanda, religion reinforces national values for most citizens, which is one reason the State works with faith communities on campaigns such as health education and unity.
The Greek philosopher Plato asked a famous question, now called the Euthyphro dilemma: is an act good because God commands it, or does God command it because it is good? If the first, goodness seems to depend on any command at all; if the second, goodness seems to exist apart from God. Christian and Muslim thinkers have answered that God's commands flow from God's own good and just nature, so they are neither arbitrary nor separate from God. The debate matters because it explains why believers and non-believers can agree on many values: both can recognise honesty and justice as good.
A value taught is not always a value lived. During the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, some clergy and church members took part in the killings, betraying the teaching "you shall not murder". In October 2026 the Minister of National Unity and Civic Engagement praised the ADEPR church for removing from ministry pastors who had taken part in the Genocide, and criticised religious bodies that still protect such people. ADEPR's leader explained that pastors who killed had broken their covenant with the nation and with the word of God. The lesson for every believer is that values must be practised and leaders held accountable; belonging to a religion does not make anyone good automatically.
Warning
Common mistakes
Important
Discuss. A classmate says: "If religion really formed values, nobody who goes to church or mosque would ever cheat in an exam." Use Figure 2 and the section on failure to respond. What makes a value move from the head to the habits?
CrashCourse Philosophy #33: "Divine Command Theory", about 9 minutes. Listen for the Euthyphro dilemma and for the answer that God's commands come from God's nature.
Practice
Key points
Sources and credits
Written by Ganzaa: the opening case, Figure 2, the tables, the worked example, the analysis and the exercises.
Quick check
Match each value to a verse that teaches it.
Tap one on the left, then its partner on the right.
