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• Religion


  A collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and world views that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and to moral values
• Religion


  The belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, especially a god or gods
• Religion is the foundation of modern republics
• Religion may be defined as cultural system or designated behaviors or practices even morals, prophecies, ethics, organizations that relates humanity to supernatural transcendental or spiritual elements
• Malaysian government places religion at the center of their political system
• Christianity


  The largest religion in the world, started 2000 years ago in Palestine with Jesus of Nazareth, a charismatic leader who taught his followers about caritas (charity or treating others as you would like to be treated yourself)
• Islam


  A monotheistic religion that follows the teachings of Prophet Muhammad born in Mecca, who is seen as a Prophet not a divine being and the messenger of Allah (their god who is divine)
• Hinduism


  The oldest religion in the world, originated in the Indus River Valley with roughly 1 billion followers, Hindus believe in divine power that can manifest different entities, and believe in karma and reincarnation
• Buddhism


  Founded by Siddhartha Gautama, who gave up a comfortable life to follow one of poverty and spiritual devotion, at age 35 he meditated under a sacred fig tree and achieved enlightenment, becoming known as Buddha or the enlightened one, his teachings encourage followers to lead a moral life
• Confucianism


  The official religion of China until 1949 when Communist leadership discouraged religious practice, developed by Confucius who taught about self-discipline, respect for authority, tradition and Jen (kind treatment of every person), his teachings were collected in the Analects
• Taoism


  The purpose of life is inner peace and harmony, "Tao" means way or path, founded by Lao Tzu, emphasizes the virtue of compassion and moderation, the concept of Ying yang symbol came from Taoism
• Judaism


  After their exodus from Egypt in the 13th century, Jews became a monotheistic society worshiping only one god, Yahweh, their sacred text is the Torah which Christians also follow as the first five books of the Bible, Jews emphasize moral behavior and action over beliefs or personal salvation
• Religions epitomize the definition of globalization due to the fact that it can be spread more efficiently than ever before through the use of different technological tools, allowing even small new religious movements to engage in overseas activities and leading to new religious developments, which are also spreading thanks to celebrities advertising them
• 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
• Cults


  Sometimes used interchangeably with the term new religious movement (NRM), these groups are often disparaged as being secretive, highly controlling of members' lives, and dominated by a single, charismatic leader, but almost all religions began as cults and gradually progressed to larger organizations
• Sects


  Breakaway groups that may be in tension with larger society, sometimes claiming to return to "the fundamentals" or contesting the veracity of a particular doctrine, when membership increases over time a sect may grow into a denomination
• Denominations


  Large mainstream religious organizations that do not claim to be official or state sponsored, one religion among many, e.g. Baptist, African Methodist Episcopal, Catholic, Seventh-day Adventists
• Ecclesia


  Originally referring to a political assembly of citizens in ancient Athens, now refers to a religious group that most or all members of a society belong to, a national recognized or official religion that holds a religious monopoly and is closely allied with state and secular powers
• Cults, sects, denominations, and ecclesia represent a continuum with increasing influence in society, with cults being the least influential and ecclesia the most influential
• The 21st century is a hub for the closer relation of states and for a wider perspective in technological development, making the world a web where people can witness the inter-connectivity of nations, it is globalization that made nations closer to each other
• Global city


  Also called world city or alpha city, serves as a hub for production, finance, and telecommunications
• Characteristics of a global city


  • Cultural diversity of the people
  • Existence of a center of economy
  • Geographic dispersal of economic activities that marks globalization
  • Global reach performance
• Indicators of a global city


  • Seats of economic power
  • Centers of authority
• Seats of economic power


  New York has the largest stock market in the world, Tokyo houses the most number of corporate headquarters, Shanghai plays a critical role in the global economic supply chain and has the world's busiest container port
• Centers of authority


  Washington DC is the seat of American state power, with major landmarks like the White House, Capitol Building, Supreme Court, Lincoln Memorial, and Washington Monument, while Canberra is a sleepy town compared to the more wealthy Sydney and Melbourne
• Global cities


  • Tokyo
  • Singapore
  • Seoul
• Cities are the engines of globalization, growing faster and faster
• In 2000, there were 18 megacities (over 10 million) such as Mumbai, Tokyo, New York City/Newark and Mexico City
• Greater Tokyo already has 35 million people
• The Hong Kong/Guangzhou area is even larger, perhaps 120 million
• Demography


  A field in statistics concerned with births, deaths, income, or the incidence of disease, which later illustrates the changing structure of human population
• Global Demography


  The study of the trends and practices in world politics, the issues and developments of the global population
• Demography is currently in transition; the mortality rate declined followed by fertility, causing population growth rates to accelerate and then to slow down again
• This demographic transition leads to low fertility, long-life, and an old population
• Global demography is a series of events in population growth, fertility, and mortality rate for the past years, decades, and centuries
• The demographic transition is an ongoing event in history that will end in 2100
• Global issues and trends


  • Economic bubble
  • Wars
  • Transnational crimes
  • Climate change
  • Migration
• Global Migration


  A situation in which people go and live in foreign countries, especially to find work
• Types of migration

  • Internal migration (within one country)
  • International migration (across country borders)
• Groups of international migrants


  • Permanent immigrants
  • Temporary workers
  • Illegal migrants
  • Family migrants
  • Other migrants