Globalization and Religion
James Davidson
Axia College

Globalization and Religion
In today's world of continuous growth and expansion, the lines of religious borders are becoming blurred. According to Merriam Webster, globalization is defined as the development of an increasingly integrated global economy marked especially by free trade, free flow of capital, and the tapping of cheaper foreign labor markets (2007). The exponential growth that businesses are experiencing is forcing corporations to expand into international territories at a rapid pace. With the growth of these companies comes an interesting dynamic of religious blending. During global expansion, oftentimes employees are transferred overseas, bringing their culture, …show more content…

As for our Hindu priest friend, the United States is a nation that has historically honored the one true God. Woe be to us on that day when we relegate him to being merely one among countless other deities in the pantheon of theologies.

While the current religious-based conflicts are causing significant disruptions across the globe, the future is alarming. Based on the trends of religious conflicts, the end is not in sight. Ellingsen states, "conflicts over identity are not a new, but rather a continuing trend" (2004). Religious conflicts are growing amongst nations where the government is of different religious backgrounds than the attackers. Ellingsen (2004) provides the following chart to illustrate:
Number of Armed Intrastate Conflicts by Type, 1946-2002 Society has not completely adopted a high level of tolerance for world religions. However, the effects of globalization are slowly changing the political and religious climate around the world. As nationalism and globalization progress, the unification and tolerance of blended societies will increase. Radhakrishnan states: You, and I, and everyone else have two options:
– Promote religious tolerance – the right of people to hold religious beliefs that are strange to us, without hindrance or oppression.
– To continue living in a world saturated with religious intolerance. We will then experience