THE

GLOBALIZATION
OF RELIGION
OVERVIEW
 WHAT IS RELIGION?

the belief in and worship of a superhuman

controlling power, especially a personal God or
gods.
Religion may be defined as a cultural system of
designated behaviors and practices, morals,
worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies,
ethics, or organizations, that relates humanity to
supernatural, transcendental, or spiritual
elements.
 Religion

There are many different religions, each with a

different set of beliefs. ...
Each religion has different ideas about these
things. ...
The largest religions are Christianity, Islam,
Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, Sikhism, Judaism
and Jainism.
 WHAT IS GLOBALIZATION?

A process refers to a larger phenomenon that

cannot simply be reduced to the ways in which
global market have been integrated.
Is usually refers to the integration of the national
market to a wide global market signified by the
increased free trade.
 Globalization refers to the historical process by
which all the world's people increasingly come to
live in a single social unit. It implicates religion and
religions in several ways. From religious or
theological perspectives, globalization calls forth
religious response and interpretation. Yet religion
and religions have also played important roles in
bringing about and characterizing globalization.
 The Globalization of Religion

LEARNING OUTCOMES
At the end of this lesson, you should be able to:
1. explain how globalization affects religious practices and
beliefs;
2. identify the various religious responses to
globalization; and
3. discuss the future of religion in a globalized world.
 Religion much more than culture, has the most
difficult relationship with globalism.
 First, the two are entirely contrasting belief system.
 Religion is concerned with the sacred, while
globalism places values on material wealth.
 Religion follows divine commandments, while
globalism abides by human-made laws.
 Religion assumes that there is “the possibility of
communication between humans and the
transcendent.
 Globalism’s yardstick, however, is how much of
human action can lead to the highest material
satisfaction and subsequent wisdom that this new
status produces.
 Religious people are less concerned with wealth and
all that comes along with it.
 They are ascetics precisely because they shun
anything material for complete simplicity from their
domain to the clothes they wear, to the food they eat
and even to the manner in which they talk.
 religious person’s main duty is to live a virtuous, sin-
less life such that when he/she is assured of a place
in the other world.
 On the other hand, 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 profits of private enterprises, improve
government revenue collections, protect the elites
from being excessively taxed by the state and
naturally enrich themselves.
 Religious aspires to become saint; the globalist trains
to be a shrewd business person.
 Religious detects 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 globalization 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.
 Religious is concerned with spreading holy ideas
globally, while the globalist wishes to spread goods
and services.
 Religions regard identities associated with globalism
as inferior and narrow because they are earthly
categories.
 In contrast, membership to a religious group,
organization, or a cult represents a superior
affiliation that connects humans directs to the divine
and the supernatural.
 These philosophical differences explains why
certain groups “flee” their communities and create
impenetrable sanctuaries where they can practice
their religions without the meddling and control of
state authorities.
 Priest and monks led the first revolts against
colonialism in Asia and Africa, warning that these
outsiders were out to destroy their people’s gods
and ways of life.
 Realities
 In actualization, the relationship between religion
and globalism is much more complicated. Peter
Berger argues that far from being secularized, the
“cotemporary world is … furiously 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
 The Malaysian government places religion at the center
of the political system. Its constitution explicitly states
that “Islam is the religion of the Federation,” and the
rulers of each state was also the “Head of the religion of
Islam.”
 The late Iranian leader Ayatollah Ruholla Khomeini,
bragged about the superiority of Islamic rule over its
secular counterparts and pointed out that “there is no
fundamental distinction among constitutional, despotic,
dictatorial, democratic, and communistic regimes.”
 To Khomeini, all secular ideologies were the same-
they were flawed- and Islamic rule was the superior
form of government because it was spiritual. Yet, Iran
calls itself a republic, a term that is associated with the
secular.
 Moreover, religious movements do not hesitate to
appropriate secular themes and practices.
 The moderate Muslim association Nahdlatul Ulama in
Indonesia has Islamic Schools where students are
taught not only about Islam but also about modern
sciences, modern banking, civic education, rights of
women, pluralism and democracy.
 King Henry VIII broke away from Roman Catholic
and established his own Church to bolster his own
power.
 In United States, religion and law were fused
together to help build this “modern secular society”.
 Alexis de Tocqueville who wrote, “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 civil rights
movement, religion had always been at the center of
these conflicts, but also on both sides of the political
barricades.
 Religion for and Against Globalization

 There is hardly a religious movement today that does

not use religion to oppose profane globalization. Yet,
two of the so - called “old world religions” -
Christianity and Islam - see globalization less as an
obstacle and more as an opportunity to expand their
reach all over the world, Globalization has freed
communities from the constraints of the nation-
state, but 1n 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 peoples 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 the
reshaping of this globalizing world, although in its
own terms.
 Religious fundamentalism may dislike globalizations
materialism, but it continues to use the full range of
modem means of communication and organization
that is associated with this economic transformation.
It has tapped fast long distance transport and
communications, the availability of English as a
global vernacular of unparalleled power, the know-
how of modern management and marketing which
enabled the spread of almost promiscuous
propagation of religious forms across the globe in all
sorts of directions.
 It is, therefore, not entirely correct to assume that
the proliferation of Born-Again groups, or in the
case of Islam, the rise of movements like Daesh
(more popularly known as ISIS, or Islamic State in
Iraq and Syria) signals religions defense against
the materialism of globalization.67 It is, in fact, the
opposite. These fundamentalist organizations are
the result of the spread of globalization and both
find ways to benefit or take advantage of each
other,
 While religions may benefit from the processes of
globalization, this does not mean that its tensions with
globalist ideology will subside. 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,?8 The World Council of
Churches - an association of different Protestant
congregations - has criticized economic globalizations
negative effects. It vowed that we as churches make
ourselves accountable to the victims of the project bf
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 globalizations
throwaway culture that is fatally destined to
suffocate hope and increase risks and threats. 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 that result in stark contrasts between those who
benefit and those who are harmed, especially under
forces of globalization. Today, there is also a
desperate need for healing from terrorism, its causes,
and fearful reactions to it. Relationships in this world
continue to be ruptured due to greed, injustices, and
various forms of violence.”
 These advocacies to reverse or mitigate economic
globalization eventually gained the attention of globalist
institutions. In 1998, the World Bank brought in religious
leaders in its discussions about global poverty. leading
eventually to a cautious, muted, and qualified" collaboration
in 2000. Although it only yielded Insignificant results (the
World Bank agreed to support some faith based anti poverty
projects in Kenya and Ethiopia), it was evident enough that
institutional advocates of globalization could be responsive
to the liberationist, moral critiques of economic
globalization" (including many writings on social justice)
coming from the religious."
 With the exception of militant Islam, religious forces are well
aware that they are in no position to fight for a comprehensive
alternative to the globalizing status quo. What Catholics call the
preferential option for the poor is a-powerful message of
mobilization but lacks substance when it comes to working out a
replacement system that can change the poor’s condition in
concrete ways. And. of course, the traditionalism of
fundamentalist political Islam is no alternative either. The
terrorism of ISIS is unlikely to create a Caliphate governed by
justice and stability. In Iran, the unchallenged superiority of a
religious autocracy has stifled all freedom of expressions,
distorted Democratic rituals like elections and tainted the
opposition."
 Conclusion

 For a phenomenon that is about everything, it is odd that

globalization is seen to have very little to do with religion. As
Peter Bayer and Lori Beaman observed, Religion, it seems, is
somehow outside looking at globalization as problem or
potential? One reason for this perspective is the association of
globalization with modernization, which is a concept of progress
that is based on science, technology, reason and the law),With
reason, one will have to look elsewhere than to moral discourse
for fruitful thinking about economic globalization and religion;
Religion, being a belief system that cannot be empirically
proven is. therefore, anathema to modernization. The thesis
that modernization will erode religious practice is often called
Secularization theory.
 Historians, political scientists, and philosophers have now
debunked much of secularization theory. Samuel
Huntington, one of the strongest defenders of globalization,
admits in his book, The Clash of Civilizations, that
civilizations can be held together by religious world views.
This belief is hardly new. As far back as the 15th century,
Jesuits and Dominicans used religion as an ideological
armature to legitimize the Spanish empire. Finally, one of
the greatest sociologists of all time, Max Weber, also
observed the correlation between religion and capitalism as
an economic system.
 Calvinism, a branch of Protestantism, believed that
God had already decided who would and would not
be saved. Calvinists, therefore, made it their
mission to search for clues as to their fate, and in
their pursuit, they re-defined the meaning of profit
and its acquisition. This inner-worldly asceticism
as Weber referred to this Protestant ethic
contributed to the rise of modern capitalism.
 It was because of moral arguments that religious
people were able to justify their political involvement,
When the Spaniards occupied lands in the Americas
and the Philippines, it was Done in the name of the
Spanish King and of God, for empire Comes from God
alone."83Then over 300 years later, American
President William McKinley claimed that after a night
of prayer and soul-searching, he had concluded that it
was the duty of the United States to educate the
Filipinos and uplift and civilize and Christianize them,
and by Gods grace do the very best we could by them.
Finally, as explained earlier, 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.
 In short, despite their inflexible features the warnings
of perdition (Hell is a real place prepared by Allah for
those who do not believe in Him, rebel against His
laws, and reject His messengers), the promises of
salvation (But our citizenship is in Heaven), and their
obligatory pilgrimages(the visits to Bethlehem or
Mecca)-religions are actually quite malleable. Their
resilience Has been extraordinary that they have
outlasted secular ideologies (e.g., communism).
Globalists, therefore, have no choice but to accept
this reality that religion is here to stay.