Lesson 6 The Globalization of Religion

Lesson 6: The Globalization of Religion
Religion and Globalization
Religion Globalization
Religion is concerned with the sacred Globalism places value on material

wealth
Religion follows divine commandments Globalism abides by human-made laws
Religion assumes that there is "the Globalism's yardstick is how much of

possibility of communication between human action can lead to the highest
humans and the transcendent", and material satisfaction and subsequent
defines and Judges human action in wisdom that this new status produces
moral terms (good vs. bad)
Religious people are less concerned with Globalists, on the other hand, are less
wealth and all that comes along with it. A worried about whether they will end up in
religious person's main duty is to live a heaven or hell. Their skills are more
virtuous, sinless life such that when pedestrian as they aim to seal trade
he/she dies, he/she is assured of a place deals, raise the profits of private
in the other world (i.e., heaven). enterprises, improve government revenue
collections, protect the elite from being
excessively taxed by the state, and,
naturally, enrich themselves. If he/she has
a strong conscience, the globalist sees
his/her work as contributing to the general
progress of the community, the nation,
and the global economic system.
The religious aspires to become a saint The globalist trains to be a shrewd

businessperson.
The religious detests politics and the The globalist values them as both means
quest for power for they are evidence of and ends to open up further the
humanity's weakness economies of the world.
Finally, religion and globalism clash over the fact that religious evangelization is in itself
a form of globalization. The religious are concerned with spreading holy ideas globally,
while the globalist wishes to spread goods and services.
● Religions regard identities associated with globalism (citizenship, language, and

race) as inferior and narrow because they are earthly categories. In contrast,
membership to a religious group, organization, or cult represents a superior
affiliation that connects humans directly to the divine and the supernatural
● Being a Christian, a Muslim, or a Buddhist places one on a higher plane than just
being a Filipino, a Spanish speaker, or an Anglo-Saxon.
● These philosophical differences explain why certain groups "flee" their
communities and create impenetrable sanctuaries where they can practice their
religions without the meddling and control of state authorities (Dalai Lama in
Tibet, Buddhist in monasteries, Rizalistas in Mount Banahaw, etc).
● Communities justify their opposition to government authority on religious

grounds.
Realities
• The relationship between religion and globalism is much more complicated.

• The "contemporary world is... furiously religious" (Peter Berger).
• Religious fervor in Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism.
• Religions are the foundations of modern republics.
• Malaysia
• Iran
• Indonesia
• Religion as a result of a shift in state policy.
• Church of England
• Philippine Independent Church
• 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.
• Religious fundamentalism may dislike globalization's materialism, but it continues
to use "the full range of modern means of communication and organization" that is
associated with this economic transformation.
• While religions may benefit from the processes of globalization, this that does not
mean that its tensions with globalist ideology will subside.
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 a problem or potential."
• Globalization is associated with modernization.
• Religion, being a belief system that cannot be empirically proven, is therefore,
anathema to modernization.
Secularization Theory
• Secularization Theory - "modernization will erode religious practice."

• 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
worldviews.

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Lesson 6: The Globalization of Religion

Religion and Globalization

Religion is concerned with the sacred Globalism places value on material

Religion follows divine commandments Globalism abides by human-made laws

Religion assumes that there is "the Globalism's yardstick is how much of

The religious aspires to become a saint The globalist trains to be a shrewd

● Religions regard identities associated with globalism (citizenship, language, and

● Communities justify their opposition to government authority on religious

• The relationship between religion and globalism is much more complicated.

• Secularization Theory - "modernization will erode religious practice."

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