Smart states that "throughout history we find that religions usually
incorporate a code of ethics" (The Religious Experience of Mankind, 3rd
edition, p.9). In Buddhism, for example, it is taught that one's actions
should be controlled by the Five Precepts -- refrain from killing, from
stealing, from lying, from wrongful sexual acts and from intoxicants. Judaism
has the Torah (law) which contains not only the Ten Commandments but also
many other moral, as well as ritual, prescriptions. Likewise Islam has
the Shari'a (law) prescribing various moral and ritual duties. In Christianity,
Jesus summed up his ethical teaching in the commandment "love your neighbour
as yourself." At least in some measure, the ethical dimension of a religion
may tie in with parts of its doctrinal and mythic dimensions. For example,
the Buddha's injunction to refrain from intoxicants is consistent with
his perception that such substances would obstruct self-awareness. The
Christian teaching on love toward others is consistent with narratives
of Christ's own behaviour and with the doctrine that God is love. And the
stern moral prescriptions in the Shari'a are consistent with Islamic teaching
that each person will ultimately be subject to God's judgment.