Unit 2. A World of Ideas: Cultures of 6.

The religious detests politics and the

Globalization quest for power for they are the evidence of
Lesson 6. The Globalization of Religion humanity’s weakness while the globalist values
Learning Outcomes: them as both means and ends to open up further
1. explain how globalization affects the economies of the world.
religious practices and beliefs, 7. Religious evangelization is in itself a
2. identify the various religious responses form of globalization while the globalist ideal is
to globalization, and largely focused on the realm of markets.
3. discuss the future of religion in a 8. The religious is concerned with
globalized world. spreading holy ideas globally while the globalist
Religion has the most difficult contrasting wishes to spread goods and services.
relationship with globalism:
1. Religion is concerned with the sacred The missions being sent by American
while globalism places value on material wealth. Born-Again Christians churches, Sufi and Shiite
2. Religion follows divine commandments Muslim orders, institutions like Buddhist
while globalism abides by human-made laws. monasteries and Catholic, Protestant, and Mormon
3. Religion assumes that there is the churches are efforts at spreading the word of
possibility of communication between humans God and gaining adherents abroad.
and the transcendent. This link between the
human and the divine confers some social power Religions regard identities associated with
on the latter. Furthermore, God, Allah or Yaweh globalism such as citizenship, language, and race
defines and judges’ human action in moral terms as inferior and narrow because they are earthly
(good vs. bad) while globalism’s yardstick is how categories. In contrast, membership to a religious
much of human action can lead to the highest group, organization or cult represents a superior
material satisfaction and subsequent wisdom that affiliation that connects humans directly to the
this new status produces. divine and the supernatural. Being a Christian, a
4. Religious people are less concerned Muslim, or a Buddhist places one in a higher
with wealth and all that comes along with it are plane than just being a Filipino, a Spanish speaker,
higher social status, a standard of living similar or an Anglo-Saxon.
with that of the rest of the community, exposure to
“culture,” top-of-the-line education for the These philosophical differences explain
children. They are ascetics precisely because they why certain groups flee their communities and
shun anything material for complete simplicity- create impenetrable sanctuaries where they can
from their domain to the clothes they wear, to the practice their religions without the meddling and
food they eat, and even to the manner in they talk, control of state authorities. The followers of
i.e. lots of parables and allegories that are Dalai Lama established Tibet for this purpose
supposedly the language of the divine. A religious and certain Buddhist monasteries are located
person’s main duty is to live a virtuous, sin-less away from civilization so that the hermits can
life such that when he/she is assured of a place in devote themselves to prayer and
the other world, i.e. heaven. On the other, contemplation. These isolationist justifications
globalists are less worried about whether they will are also used by the Rizalistas of Mt. Banahaw,
end up in heaven or hell. Their skills are more the Essenes during the Roman-controlled
pedestrian as they aim to seal trade deals, raise the Judea (now Israel) and for a certain period, the
profits of private enterprises, improve government Mormons of Utah. These groups believe that
revenue collections, protect the elites from being living among non-believers will distract them
excessively taxed by the state, and naturally from their mission or tempt them to abandon their
enrich themselves. If he/she has a strong social faith and become sinners like everyone else.
conscience, the globalist sees his/her work as
contributing to the general progress of the Realities
community, the nation, and the global economic 1. Religions are the foundations of
system. modern republics. The Malaysian government
5. The religious aspires to become a saint places religion at the center of the political
while the globalist trains to be a shrewd system. Its constitution explicitly states that Islam
businessperson. is the religion of the Federation and the rulers
of each state was also the Head of the religion
of Islam. Ayatollah Ruholla Khomeini, the late Religious fundamentalism may dislike
Iranian religious leader bragged about the globalization’s materialism but the full range of
superiority of Islamic rule over its secular modern means of communication and
counterparts and pointed out that there is no organization associated with economic
fundamental distinction among constitutional, transformation. It has tapped fast long distance
despotic, dictatorial, democratic, and transport and communication, the availability of
communistic regimes. To Khomeini, all secular English as a global vernacular of unparalleled
ideologies are flawed, and Islamic rule is the power, the know-how of modern management and
superior form of government because it is marketing which enabled the spread of almost
spiritual. Yet, Iran calls itself a republic, a term promiscuous propagation of religious forms across
associated with the secular. the globe in all sorts of directions. It is therefore,
2. Religious movements do not hesitate not entirely correct to assume that the proliferation
to appropriate secular themes and practices. of Born- Again groups or in the case of Islam, the
Nahdlatul Ulama, the moderate Muslim rise of movements like Daesh, more popularly as
association in Indonesia has Islamic schools called Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) signals
pesantren. The students are taught not only about religion’s defense against the materialism of
Islam but also about modern science, the social globalization.
sciences, modern banking, civic education,
rights of women, pluralism, and democracy. While religions may benefit from the
In other cases, religion was the result of a shift process of globalization, this does not mean that
in state policy: its tensions with globalist ideology will subside.
1) the Church of England was shaped by the Some Muslims view globalization as a Trojan
rationality of modern democratic and Horse hiding supporters of western values like
bureaucratic culture. King Henry VIII broke secularism, liberalism, or even communism ready
away from Roman Catholicism and established to spread these ideas in their areas to eventually
his own Church to bolster his own power. displace Islam.
2) In the United States, religion and law were
fused together to help build modern secular The World of Council of Churches, an
society. Alexis de Tocqueville, a French historian association of different Protestant congregations
diplomat observed in the early 1800s and wrote has criticized economic globalization’s negative
that not only out of self-interest but they often effects. It vowed that we as churches make
even place in this world do the Americans ourselves accountable to the victims of the project
practice their religion out of self interest but of economic globalization by becoming the
they often place in this world the interest which latter’s advocates inside and outside the centers of
they have in practicing it. Jose Casanova power.
confirms this statement by noting that historically,
religion has always been at the very center of all The Catholic Church and Pope Francis
great political conflicts and movements of social condemned globalization’s “throw-away culture”
reform. From independence to abolition, from that is fatally destined to suffocate hope and
nativism to women’s suffrage, from prohibition to increase risks and threats.
the civil rights movement, religion had always
been at the center of these conflicts, but also on The Lutheran World Federation 10th
both sides of the political barricades. Assembly’s 292-page declaration message
included: 1) economic and feminist critiques of
Religion For and Against Globalization globalization, 2) sharing the voices of members of
Religion is a pro-active force that gives the Church who were affected by globalization,
communities a new and and 3) contemplations on the different pastoral
and powerful basis of identity, rather than a and ethical reflections that members could use to
regressive force that stops or slows down guide their opposition. It warns that as a result of
globalization. It is an instrument with which globalization: Our world is split asunder by forces
religious people can put their mark in the we often do not understand, but that result in stark
reshaping of this globalizing world. 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. Relationship in this world continue
to be raptured due to greed, injustices, and various
forms of violence.

These advocates 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. It was evident enough
that institutional advocates of globalization
could be responsive to the liberationist, moral
critiques of economic globalization coming
from the religious.

What the 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. 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.

Assignment 6. Answer the following questions:

1. What are the conflicting ideas
between religious thought and the ideology of
globalism discussed in Lesson?
2. Why is secularization theory
outdated?
3. How do you describe the reactions of
some religious movements to globalization?
How do others facilitate globalization?