The Globalization of
Religion
Contemporary World (HUM104C)
What is globalization of religion?
Are they interconnected?
How does the globalization affect religion?
Religion vs.
Globalism
Religion, much more than culture, has the
most difficult relationship with globalism.
Globalism vs Globalization: Globalization
is the development of an increasingly
integrated global economy marked
especially by free trade, free flow of
capital, and the tapping of cheaper
foreign labor market. In other words, it
revolves on the economy. While
Globalism is a national policy of treating
the whole world as a proper sphere for
political influence; an ideology, in short.
Religion
First, the two are entirely contrasting belief
systems.
Religion is concerned with the sacred, while globalism
places value on material wealth.
Religion follows divine commandments, while globalism
abides by human-made laws.
Religion assumes that there is a “possibility of
communication between humans and the transcendent
(God)”. While globalism is focused on how much human
action can lead to the highest material satisfaction and
subsequent wisdom that this new status produces.
Religion
Religious people are less concerned with
wealth and all that comes along with it
(higher social status, a standard of living
similar with that of the rest of the
community, exposure to “culture”, top-of-
the-line education for the children).
A religious person’s main duty is to live a
virtuous, sin-less life such that when
he/she dies, he/she is assured of a place
in the other world (i.e. heaven)
Globalism
Globalists are less worried about whether they
will end up in heaven or hell. Their skills are
more pedestrian as they aim to seal trade
deals, raise the profits of private enterprises,
improve government revenue collections,
protect the elites from being excessively taxed
by the state, and, naturally, enrich themselves.
If he/she has a strong social conscience, the
globalists sees his/her work as contributing to
the general progress of the community, the
nation, and the global economic system.
In other words, the religious aspires to become
a saint; the globalist trains to be shrewd
businessperson.
Religion vs
Globalism
The religious detests politics and the quest for power for they
are evidence of humanity’s weakness; the globalist values them
as both means and ends to open up further the economies of the
world.
Finally, religion and globalism clash over the fact that religious
evangelization is in itself a form of globalization. The globalist
ideal, on the other hand, is largely focused on the realm of
markets. The religious is concerned with spreading holy ideas
globally, while the globalist wishes to spread goods and services.
Also, religions regard identities associated with globalism
(citizenship, language, and race) as inferior and narrow because
they are earthly categories. Therefore, being a Christian, a
Muslim, or a Buddhist places one in a higher plane than just
being a Filipino, Spanish speaker or an Anglo-Saxon.
However, is it
possible that
religion and
globalism can go
together?
Religion and
Globalism
Yes! Other examples of this is when communities
justify their opposition to government authority
on religious grounds. Priestesses and monks led
the first revolt against colonialism in Asia and
Africa, warning that these outsiders were out to
destroy their people’s gods and ways of life. (i.e.
Saffron Revolution)
Similar arguments are being invoked by
contemporary versions of these millenarian
movements that wish to break away from the
hold of the state or vow to overthrow the latter
in the name of God. To their “prophets”, the
state seeks to either destroy their people’s
sacred beliefs or distort religion to serve non-
religious goals.
In Reality . .
In actuality, the relationship between religion and globalism
is much more complicated. Peter Berger argues that far from
being secularized, the “contemporary world is . . furiously
religious. In most of the world, there are veritable
explosions of religious fervor, occurring in one form of
another in all the major religious traditions – Christianity,
Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and even Confucianism
– and in many places in imaginative syntheses of one or more
world religions with indigenous faiths.”
Religions are the foundations of modern republics. (i.e. the
late Iranian religious leader, Ayatollah Ruholla Khomeini,
bragged about the superiority of Islamic rule over its secular
counterparts. He lead the Iranian revolution that turned the
country into a theocracy (system of government in which a
priest/religious rule in the name of God)
Moreover, religious movements do not hesitate to
appropriate secular themes and practices. The
moderate Muslim association Nahdlatul Ulama in
Indonesia has Islamic schools (pesantren) where
students are taught not only about Islam but also
about modern science, the social science, modern
banking, civic education, rights of women,
pluralism, and democracy.
In the United States, religion and law were fused
together to help build this “modern secular
society”. Not only do the Americans practice their
religion out of self-interest but they often even
place in this world the interest which they have in
practicing it.
Jose Casanova confirms this statement by noting that
“historically, religion has always been at the very
center of all great political conflicts and movements of
social reform. From independence to abolition, from
nativism to women’s suffrage, from prohibition to the
civil rights movement, religion had always been at the
center of these conflicts, but also on both sides of the
political barricades.
Religion for
Globalization
Globalization has “freed” communities from
the “constraints of the nation-state”, but in
the process, also threatened to destroy the
cultural system that bind them together.
Religion seeks to take the place of these
broken “traditional ties” to either help
communities cope with their new situation or
organize them to oppose this major
transformation of their lives.
It can provide the groups “moral codes” that
answer problems ranging from people’s health
to social conflict to even “personal happiness”.
Religion is thus not the “regressive force”
that stops or slows down globalization; it is a
“pro-active force” that gives communities a
new and powerful basis of identity.
It is an instrument with which religious people
can put their mark in reshaping of this
globalizing word, although in its own terms.
Religion against
Globalization
Some Muslims view “globalization” as a Trojan horse hiding
supporters of Western values like secularism, liberalism, or
even communism ready to spread these ideas in their areas
to eventually displace Islam.
The World Council of Churches — an association of different
Protestant congregations — has criticized economic
globalization’s negative effects.
It vowed that “we as churches make ourselves accountable to
the victims of the project of economic globalization,” by
becoming the latter’s advocates inside and outside “the
centers of power.”
The Catholic Church and its dynamic leader, Pope
Francis, likewise condemned globalization’s “throw-
away culture” that is “fatally destined to suffocate
hope and increase risks and threats.”
The throw-away society is a human society strongly
influenced by consumerism. The term describes a
critical view of overconsumption and excessive
production of short-lived or disposable items over
durable goods that can be repaired.
The Lutheran World Federation 10th Assembly’s 292-page declaration message
included economic and feminist critiques of globalization, sharing the voices of
members of the Church who were affected by globalization, and contemplations on
the different “pastoral and ethical reflections” that members could use to guide
their opposition.
It warns that as a result of globalization: “Our world is split asunder by forces we
often do not understand, but the result in stark contrasts between those who
benefit and those who harmed, especially under forces of globalization.
Today, there is also a desperate
need for healing from ‘terrorism’,
it causes, and fearful reactions to
it.
Relationships in this world
continue to be ruptured due to
greed, injustices, and various
forms of violence.”
Conclusion
Religious leaders have used religion to wield influence in the political arena, either
as outsiders criticizing the pitfalls of pro-globalization regimes, or as integral
members of coalitions who play key roles in policy decision-makings and the
implementation of government projects.
Despite the inflexible features of religion – the warnings of perdition (“Hell is a real
place prepared by Allah for those who do not believe in Him”), promises of
salvation (our citizenship is in Heaven), and their obligatory pilgrimages (visits to
Bethlehem or Mecca) – religions are actually quite malleable.
Their resilience has been extraordinary that they outlasted secular ideologies (i.e.
Communism). Globalists, therefore, have no choice but to accept this reality that
religion is here to stay.
