Globalization and religion

Globalization and religion. Part 3

The right to information and the hegemony of some religions

Recognizing the real Jesus

Information is not just an option but a right. Everybody has the right to be informed about everything that touches him/her; and religion is one the things which touches human souls most. So, we can not deny anybody his/her right to be informed about religion, beliefs, and options in the field of religion. To deny anybody the options in the field of religion, is a violation of human rights.

I was asked to remove the link I have in Step by Step with the Bible with the page Christianity reformed from its roots. I said no; I argued that the readers of "The Steps" have the right to be informed about other options.

The denial of the right to information has been characteristic in all forms of organized religion; they do not want to lose their followers. In each religion there are leaders and members who think that their own, is the only true one, and that there is something wrong, or false, with others. So, they do not want to give options, alternatives.

But that has changed. People know today that they have the right to be informed about religion, and they want to be. That is in part a consequence of the globalization of information.

Hegemony of some religions

Some of the problems that religion confronts, today, are what we may call the hegemony of religions. Islam wants mankind to be Muslim, and some of its followers want it even by force and terrorism. This is a provocation of all that are not Muslims. By the same token, when Christianity, or Catholicism, affirms its hegemony and the obligation of all mankind to accept Jesus the way they see him, the only one Lord for all, then Christianity is provoking Muslims and other non-Christians.

No religion has the right to claim superiority; there should be a limit to these pretenses, wherever they come from. That is wrong, and does not work constructively for the good of religion, for the good of humankind. There shouldn't be a preeminence of any religion, call it Christianity, Islam, or any other.