Lesson 6 - Globalization of Religion

• Religion

  It is an organized collection of beliefs, cultural system and world views that relate humanity to transcendental existence.
• Globalism

  An ideology that focus on the material world rather than spiritual. It concerns on creating a unified material world.
• Isolationism

  An act of seclusion from the world. Usually done by monks or cults.
• Trojan Horse

  Originated from the Trojan war. It was a gift given by Greeks to conquer the city of Troy. It has hidden agenda/people inside of it.
• Profanity

  An act of irreligiousity which is connected with blasphemy or cursing. It could also refers to bad or dirty.
• Materialism

  It is a tendency to consider material possessions and physical comfort as more important than spiritual values.
• Islamic Schools

  Or commonly known as Madrasa. It is an educational system which focuses on the teaching of Islamic faith and the Qur’an.
• Modern Republics

  Literally referred to the kind of political system now-a-days.
• Religious Fundamentalism

  It is a belief on the superiority of religious teachings and strict division between the righteous people and evildoers.
• Religion is concerned with the sacred, while globalism places value on material wealth.
• Religion follows divine commandments while globalism abides by human-made laws.
• The religious is concerned with spreading holy ideas globally, while globalists wish to spread goods and services.
• Religious

  regard identities associated with globalism such as citizenship, language and race as inferior and narrow, membership to religious group, organization or cult represent a superior affiliation that connects humans directly to the divine
• The followers of Dalai Lama established Tibet
• Buddhist monasteries are located away from civilization so that Hermits can devote themselves in prayer and meditation.
• The Rizalistas isolate themselves in Mount Banahaw
• The Essenes hid themselves in the dessert during the Roman-controlled Judea
• The Mormons of Utah also isolate themselves in sometime
• Peter Berger argues that far from being secularized, “the contemporary world is…furiously religious.”
• The Malayan 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 Islam”.
• The late Iranian religious leader Ayatollah Ruholla Khomeini bragged about the superiority of Islamic rule over its secular counterparts
• 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 sciences, modern banking, civic education, rights of women, pluralism and democracy.
• Church of England was shaped by the rationality of modern democratic and bureaucratic culture. King Henry VIII broke with the Roman Catholic Church and established his own Church to bolster his own power
• Observed in the early 1800s by French historian and diplomat 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.
• Religion is FOR Globalization

  -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 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 organized them to oppose this major transformation of their lives.
• 2. Religion is AGAINST Globalization

  -Some Muslims view globalization as Trojan Horse hiding supporters of Western values like secularism, liberalism or even communism ready to spread these ideas in their areas to eventually displace them. The world council of Churches has criticized economic globalization’s negative effect. It vowed to make themselves accountable to the victims of the project of economic globalization by becoming its advocates inside and outside the centers of power.
• Who defines and judges moral behavior?

  Social Authority
• They shun anything material for complete simplicity, they are?

  Ascetic