Globalization and religion

Globalization and religion. Part 1

From Judaism, to Christianity, to Islam - Same root: Abraham

Christianity and Islam confront big challenges - Religion, politics and technology mixed?

We are living here in the United States in a period of very high tension; this tension is originated, mainly, by the catastrophic events of September 11, 2001. It seems that the attack to The Towers had a lot to do with religion, since the perpetrators did the attack in the name of a religion, Islam. The same is happening with the attack with anthrax; it was made in the name of Allah.

It doesn't matter that they cannot justify their actions in a genuine interpretation of the Koran, "the Bible" of the Islamic religion; the fact is that their actions were made in the name of this religion, and this simple fact put Islam in the view of the world.

Religion open for discussion

Religion is, today, a matter of public discussion instead of a more private or personal matter. The interpretation that some fanatic terrorists have made of Islam, is similar to the fanatic interpretation that some believers have made of Christianity, sometimes in history.

The two main religions of the world, Christianity and Islam, are confronted again, as they were in the Middle Ages with the "Crusades;" this time Christians are not combating Muslims, but Muslims are attacking Christian civilization.

The problem is not new, but it was greatly intensified by the events of September 11. Religions of the world have been open for discussion and confrontation in the last few decades, due mainly to the mass media, and to the worldly process called globalization.

What is globalization?

I'll shorten the long definition of globalization given by a master on the subject, Thomas L. Friedman, in his book The Lexus and the Olive Tree. He says, in synthesis, that globalization is a dynamic ongoing process of integration of the markets of the world, through the use of new technology. The driving idea is free market capitalism (9), but it is not limited to it.

It is not just money; beyond the democratization of finances, is the democratization of information and technology. This has made possible that all countries of the world share markets, information and technology, simultaneously, in a plan of equality, and that they may compete in a plan of equality.

This process has revolutionized the world, which is radically different from the world a century ago. Countries may be into this process, and progress, or may be out, and they are left behind.