GLOBALIZATION AND RELIGION

The intersection of domestic and international politics is often influenced by supra-state religious communities -- this has long been true, but in our times globalization has strenghened this connection. The unprecedented recent trip by the Catholic Pope to Orthodox Athens and Muslim Damascus highlights this fact -- as does the White House audience for the Dalai Lama. A growing number of faith-based communities post complex nets on the Web, reflecting the influence of the Internet on their work, and expanding their capacity to affect world affairs. Globalization reflects not only the power of multi-national corporations but also expanding global networks of non-governmental organizations, including religious communities of all kinds. Their influence sometimes sharpens conflict and leads to violence, but more often, it may contribute to peace and reconciliation. Sites where the views and activities of many such communities can be found at THEO-LOGIC . Go directly to abstracts posted by paper-writers: Tetrault, Teske, Riggs and Hussain.

Organizer: Fred W. Riggs, University of Hawaii

Chair: Jeffrey K. Hadden, University of Virginia,
Home: 1975 Pheasant Lane Charlottesville, VA 22901
email: jkh8x@cms.mail.virginia.edu, Web Site: Religious Movements

Mary Ann Tetreault, God and Mammon in an Era of Globalization.

ABSTRACT: Following an almost forty-year hiatus, the pace of globalization began to pick up during the 1970s and has continued to rise at an accelerating rate. By the end of the 1970s, religious revivalist movements were noticeably prominent in the politics of nations around the world, including in developed countries such as the United States. The major monotheistic faiths are not the only ones to have generated substantial "fundamentalist" movements: Hinduism, Falun Gong, and Shinto-rooted movements in Japan are among the many religiously oriented social movements that are active currently. The rise of religious revivalism during an era of globalization could be coincidental: Both phenomena might be products of other social forces such as massive demographic changes. Yet the coincidence of religious and socio-cultural crises in the past suggests that the relationship between them is less than coincidental. This paper reviews evidence showing that prior periods marked by religious upheaval were also marked by political and/or economic crisis, and discusses how globalization might be fueling contemporary communal conflicts.

Una Chapman Cox Distinguished Professor of International Affairs, Trinity University, San Antonio, TX 78212
Tel.: 201 999 8339, FAX: 210 999 8320, email: moontyger@earthlink.net, or moontyger@earthlink.net

Robin L. Teske: Reconciliation and Community: Feminist Theology, Spirituality and International Law.

ABSTRACT: Can we bring together feminist theology/spirituality and the issue(s) of reconciliation, forgiveness, justice? What role can religion play as international lawyers, and others, work toward building Martin Luther King's "beloved community" on the global level? A standard definition of theology is "the study of the nature of God." I am rather partial to Thomas Merton's definition. Merton said simply that "theology really happens in relations between people." Feminist theology puts a great deal of emphasis on love, mutuality, relationality, interconnectedness (among human beings, other species, and the earth itself, as well as the larger universe). Much of feminist theology is moving toward a common goal, and that goal is transformation into a new community, a genuine community of mutuality.

But what would this mean in practice? For example, how do we forgive, and love, someone like Pinochet, and at the same time promote justice? What is a "genuine community of mutuality" in a world of ongoing and seemingly unending conflicts? These are some of the issues I will explore in this paper. I am a political scientist and an attorney specializing in international law. I also have a longstanding interest in theology, and I believe feminism has much to offer as we confront the challenges of globalization. In the paper I hope to integrate insights from each of these fields.

Professor, Department of Political Science, James Madison University MSC, 1101 Harrisonburg, VA 22807
Tel. (540) 568-6149; Fax. (540) 568-8021; Web: Bio-note
E-mail: teskerl@jmu.edu

ABSTRACT: The Internet poses both challenges and opportunities for faith-based communities that can be observed on their Web Sites. Some of them are posted at: THEO-LOGIC These sites provide data for the analysis that follows. In the modern age, secularism and empiricism prevail as established wisdom, but many believers trust in God or no-God, in the Earth (Gaiea) or psychic wisdom, based on revelations or personal experiences that are profoundly rooted in human history. For thousands of years this knowledge evolved on the basis of oral tradition, to be succeeded by written and printed records. Just as the publication of the Bible by Martin Luther brought profound changes and a Reformation to Europe, so the Mass Media, the Internet and the World Wide Web now challenge both old and new religious communities to defend and propagate their visions and seek to affect the world, often with unanticipated results.

The Amish community, which rejects all modern technology including the Internet, is "served" by their defenders and by promoters of Amish artifacts who publicize Amish quilts and other handicrafts on the Net for all the world to enjoy. The Zoroastrians, among the oldest of all the major Faiths, perpetuate endogamy by using the Internet to recruit marriage partners and perpetuate their community. Methodists are truly methodocal in their action for peace and justice and their struggle against racism and sexism. The Roman Church, led by a pontif willing to apologize for past wrongs, seeks reconciliation with the Orthodox and Islamic communities. Tibetan Buddhists, led by the Dalai Lama, spread the teachings of Buddhist masters of ancient India and Tibet, bringing them to the West and adapting them for western culture. A service listing hundreds of Muslim sites claims that, Through the net, we could influence those who never would have encountered Islam or only received their information from the media, Orientalists or anti-Islam propagandists. Atheists promote free thought and the separation of church and state. The Bahai community, holding that The earth is but one country, and mankind its citizens, preaches the unity of all prophetic religions based on all their contributions to enlightenment.

A wide range of views permeates the religious pages found on the Internet -- they deserve serious attention because, for better or worse, they will assuredly reach many people around the world who yearn for sanity and justice in a time of global uncertainty and turmoil. We may hope that their efforts to promote peace, love and sanity will prevail over those who seek revenge or domination.

Professor Emeritus, Political Science Dept., University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI 96822
Tel: (808) 732-5308; email: <fredr@hawaii.edu>; Web: Snake and Prism

Elsa Maria Dias Political Science, Purdue University
1851 Peacock Ln, Holland, Ohio 43528 U.S.
Tel: (419) 861-1933; E-mail: <dias@polsci.purdue.edu>

Background Readings: For comprehensive coverage of the world's faith-based communities see Religious Movements compiled by Jeffrey Hadden and his students at the University of Virginia.

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Posted 20 May 2001