GLOBALIZATION OF RELIGION

LESSON 6 | THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD

With Prof. Levi CT

*Based on The Contemporary World by Claudio/Abinales

LEARNING OUTCOMES

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.
INTRODUCTION
• In Lesson 1, we encounter the words “globalization”
and “globalism,” where globalization is a process
and globalism is a belief.
• We will now contrast GLOBALISM and RELIGION
• Religion, much more than culture, has the most
difficult relationship with globalism – entirely has
contrasting belief system.
INTRODUCTION
RELIGION GLOBALISM
Concerned with sacred Places value on material wealth

Follows divine commandments Abides by human-made laws

Focuses more on how much of human action can

Religious people are less concerned with wealth and
lead to the highest material satisfaction and
all that comes along with it
subsequent wisdom that this new status produces

A religious person’s main duty is to live a virtuous and

Globalists are less worried whether they will end up
sinless life such that when he/she dies, he/she is
in heaven or hell
assured of a place in the other world

Values politics and the quest for power for they are
Detests politics and the quest for power for they are
both means and ends to open up further the
evidence of humanity’s weakness
economies of the world
INTRODUCTION
• Religion and globalism clash over the fact that religious
evangelization is in itself a form of globalization
RELIGION GLOBALISM
The globalist ideal is largely focused on the realm of
The religious is concerned with spreading holy ideas markets – the globalist wishes to spread goods and
globally. services.
• by sending of missionaries abroad • by importation / exportation
Religious 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 It’s higher than being a Filipino, a doctor, etc.
supernatural.
INTRODUCTION
Others would isolate themselves
to focus on their beliefs:
• Followers of Dalai Lama– Tibet
• Buddhist monasteries
• Rizalistas of Mt. Banahaw
• Mormons from Utah

These groups believe that living among with “non-

believers” will distract them and abandon their faith
and thus become sinners.
INTRODUCTION
• Religious communities justify their opposition
to government authority on religious grounds
• Priestesses 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.
• Millenarian movements wish to break away
from the hold of the state or vow to overthrow
rulers in the name of God, while the state also
seeks to destroy their sacred beliefs/religion to
serve non-religious goals.
REALITIES
▪ Peter Berger argues that far from being secularized,
the “contemporary world is . . . furiously religious.”
▪ Religions are the foundations of modern republics.
• The Malaysian government places religion at the
center of the political system.
• For Ayatollah Ruholla Khomeini, the late Iranian
religious leader, secular ideologies were all same
flawed, but Islamic rule was the superior system of
government because it was spiritual.
(pero tinawag nila ang Iran na “republic” – which is a secular term).

Khomeini - led the Iranian revolution that

turned the country into a theocracy.
REALITIES
▪ Religious movement do not hesitate to
appropriate secular themes and
practices:
• Nadhlatul Ulama, a moderate Muslim
association in Indonesia has Islamic
schools (pesantren) – students are
taught not only about Islam but also
about modern science, social sciences,
modern banking, civic education, rights
of women, pluralism, and democracy.
REALITIES

▪ In other cases, religion was also the

result of a shift in state policy:
• To bolster his own power, King Henry VIII
broke away from Roman Catholicism and
established his own Church.
• In the United States, religion and law
were fused together to help build
“modern secular society.”
Alexis de Tocqueville – French historian and
diplomat 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 that statement by

noting that “historically, religion has always been
at the very center of all political conflicts and
movements of social reform: from independence
to abolition, from nativism to women’s suffrage,
from prohibition to civil rights movement…”
Religion – may dislike globalization but it is using its
resources to promote its cause.
▪ Technology
▪ Modern management and Marketing tools
▪ The full range of modern means of communication

Religion may benefit from the processes of

globalization but its tensions with globalizations will
always be there.
What is religion?

Religion is a collection of cultural

systems, belief systems, and world
views that establishes symbols that
relate humanity to spirituality and to
moral values.
What is globalization?

Globalization is the networking and

expansion of local products,
beliefs, and practices into universal
products, beliefs and practices
often through technology.
Are they interconnected?
How does globalization affect religion?
The most known religions across the world are the
following:

Christianity held the belief that Jesus is God, with

2.4 billion followers
Founded: 1st A.D.
Founder: Jesus Christ
Islam is an Abrahamic monotheistic religious group
teaching that there is only one God and that
Muhammad is the messenger of God.

It is the world's second-largest religion and with

over 1.8 billion followers
Founder: Muhammad
Birthplace: Saudi Arabia
Founded: Circa 610 A.D.
Hinduism
Polytheism / many gods
With 811 million followers
➢ Indian religion or way of life
➢ No known founder
➢ 2300 BC to 1500 BC
Buddhism – the 4th largest religion
➢ with over 520 million followers
➢ known as Buddhists
➢ Siddhārtha Gautama Buddha
➢ Founded in 6th Century BC
Tools of uniting people all over the world on
religious basis:
➢ Books
➢ Movies
➢ Cell phone apps
➢ Social networks
➢ Charity funds
➢ Special internet sites
➢ Religious schools
Migration of faiths across the globe has been a
major feature of the world throughout the 20th
century - religion therefore is going global.

Religious ideas, values, symbols and rites relate to

deep issues of existence.

Thus, it should not be surprising when religion

enters the picture in times of crisis.
Religion provides answer to these problems

1. It provides a sense of identity

2. Traditional religious leadership provides a
sense of accountability.
3. Religion offers a sense of security.
Conclusion:

Globalization has a great impact on religion. As people

and cultures move across the globe, as ideas are
mobilized and transported by media technology, the
religious globalization will go on and on.

It has its pros and cons: people should cope with the
flow of information and choose their own and
peaceful way.
LEARNING ACTIVITY:

Divide yourselves into 3 groups. Each group must be

assigned with one religion (Atheism, Judaism, Islam) Surf
the web and research the history of the assigned religion.

Submit in 2 page Word document only with group member

names. – email: [email protected]

Submit on Oct. 18
Describe the following:

a. Brief description of chosen religion (2-3

paragraphs)
b. What is the religion’s concept of good
c. What is the religion’s concept of evil
d. Why does religion engage in politics?