Personal Explain: How Globalization Affects Religious Practices and Beliefs

How does globalization affect religion? (essay)

To explore how globalization affects religious practices and beliefs, this essay will explain by discussing the ways in which contemporary spirituality has evolved into a more personal and individual experience, leading to the emergence of pilgrimage sites like Glastonbury that attract people from around the world seeking a deeper spiritual connection.

First of all, Spirituality is a very individual and deeply personal matter involving the mind, body and spirit, which in recent years has evolved from the traditional church setting into the natural world, becoming more “personal not communal”. Graham Harvey discusses spirituality as'it seems likely that many people will associate being spiritual with seeking to improve themselves'. Providing people with a sense of connection to something outside the physical world, involving a search for the meaning of life. Sharma claims “spirituality makes a person more open to positive emotions and feelings”. Spirituality is a human experience that touches everyone in some form or other being described as a “feeling of aliveness or interconnectedness”. People may find prayer or having a personal relationship with a God as their form of spirituality. Spirituality can provide spiritual connections without having to enter a religious building or even believe in a God, focussing on experiences and feelings, 'not rules and scriptures'. Therefore, we can determine that spirituality is important for many reasons whether it be meditation, prayers, yoga or simply journaling one's life.

Contemporary Spirituality of the 21st century has changed the way humans experience religion and spirituality, speaking directly to the times we live in and to ever evolving human beings. Take for example the town of Glastonbury which is known as the cradle of Christianity in Britain. A prehistoric centre of Goddess and Druid worship and a place to connect with the earth, giving a deeper spiritual experience, “a place of pilgrimage and a significant local economic force”. As the economy declined from the 1970's, Glastonbury developed a distinct “spiritual and sacred status”, becoming one of the most “popular and multivalent pilgrimage sites” within Britain. We must be aware of the differences between religion and spirituality.

Religion being a certain set of beliefs and practices normally shared within a community or group, whereas spirituality is more recognising a feeling or belief that there is something that connects them to the universe, “they are spiritual not religious”. Today Glastonbury is a multi fascist multicultural contemporary pilgrimage centre attracting visitors from around the world. With webpages encouraging tourists with its “sacred place, energy field, a crossing of paths and karma-exchange” advertisements. Bowman records that “a number of entrepreneurs felt called or drawn to Glastonbury”. Without a doubt people have been drawn to Glastonbury because of its “powerful spiritual forces that promote healing and personal transformation”.

The relationship between spirituality and money changed Glastonbury. The 1960 spiritual seekers or pilgrims began a trend that changed the face of Glastonbury's high street. The high street developed many alternative shops, around 40% that cater to the spiritual consumers who frequently come to Glastonbury, for its rich spiritual service industry, “offering a business with a purpose”. The attraction for many varied spiritual seekers has brought a diverse cultural mix “of a massive tourist trade” to Glastonbury. Thousands visit Glastonbury every year, with the “Spiritual Industry” booming. These shops bring employment and make locals money, “relying on those people, who couldn't survive without them”. There is also a confidence that the “trade in spirituality could be recession proof”. We must accept that money is an aid that will allow human beings to have life experiences, as Hopkins states “wealth is not confined or defined by anything except its own internal drive for more wealth”. People can think of money as the “root of all evil”, but people need money to give them the financial resources and the opportunity to have various life experiences. As Glastonbury has proved, that thanks to the unique economic bubble that evolved out of all those spiritual transactions, many unrelated trades benefit from the rich land of spiritual services that interconnect with businesses on the high street, “there's no point being spiritual and bankrupt”.

One of the greatest challenges of religion has been the privatization of religion in the modern world. This privatization consists with the reduction of religion's leaders influence and power, thereby there can a feeling that cultural support is removed from the Christian life. The sense of community and identity has certainly changed over the past generations. Small communities that may have once been surrounded by a church have long since reduced in size with an unflagging desire to enjoy more of contemporary spirituality. This changed along with the secularization of western culture after World War II which had a profound change in mainstream and media-generated values. For many Spirituality is linked to questions about their lives and identity. Am I a good person? What is the meaning of life, my connection to the world, how can I live my life the best way possible? With the trend of contemporary spirituality the soul is driven to expand and grow, 'values such as integrity, honesty and compassion'.

Global capitalism has become a dominant economy throughout the world, creating what we know as the consumer society. Even a little Church of Scotland in Luss has adopted the consumer society to make money for it to survive, “If the Church doesn't make enough revenue it would die”. There are many ways you could talk about how spirituality has been shaped by consumer society. Luss, once a destination for pilgrims, is now popular with tourists and many shops and restaurants targeted at the tourist trade, as Hopkins states “God in the religion of Globalisation”. The modern world has been deeply influenced by the development of globalised capitalism, King makes a statement in his 2005 book “God is not dead, but has been resurrected as ”Capital'. Globalisation has moved the cultural makeup of the world “the ideologies of consumerism and business enterprise” and created a normalised global culture “infiltrating more and more aspects of our lives”. The globalisation of economics and politics has made some people feel very insecure, 'we are seeing an attempted takeover by a specific economic agenda' as the life they once led is being changed and challenged. Therefore, for human beings to feel a sense of well-being and mindfulness they may turn to stories, teachings and scripture that provide contentment and peace, 'the desperation of the human condition is drawn to the living God'. As they are part of an everchanging world, “we must learn to deal with the organizational structures looking to exploit the turbulence and the spirits working behind them”. New possibilities and furthering challenges are caused by the relationship between globalization and religion. Globalisation stimulates greater religious tolerances across areas of politics, economics and society, bringing into contact cultures, identities and religions, which has enabled contemporary spirituality to embrace the concept of unity and equality. “It is no longer the different Christian cultures that shape capitalism - it is consumer culture that shapes Christianity and religion”. Despite many religions preaching about simple living and the impact of consumerism. The culture of consumption and luxury are widening, goods are used as a status symbol. Even a little Scottish church in Luss which was falling down because of lack of money was transformed in 1998 by Rev. Dane Sherrard, into a financial achievement. Local goods and services are acquired in the hope of a good life, with “tens of thousands of pounds directed into the local economy”.

Luss developed a shop and pilgrimage path where tourists could celebrate the historic links with Christianity. The biggest earner for the Church being weddings, over a hundred every year, “without weddings, local businesses would not survive”. People try to improve their social status and social recognition with the hope and idea “you can live a spiritually and materially blessed life”. For many people, consumerism gives them a meaning and an assurance. Even pilgrimage sites like Luss “spiritual tourism has been developed on the theory of spiritual tourists'. They seek spiritual gratification through expenditure. Some people have even called consumerism “the religion of the masses”. Consumerism can even encourage non-believers to wear religious symbols made of jewels and gems, “you pay for the physical feel of the crystal, the actual healing is free”. Or by simply wearing “The Mackessog Tartan” as away to create a spiritual bond with Luss.

Here I was trying to explain how globalization affects religious practices and beliefs, essay where I stated that religion definitely is not what it used to be. Britain remained largely Christian up until the 1960's and Christianity and Christian values have still driven much of our political and secular culture. If we adopt a more narrow interpretation then it's fairly obvious there has been a decline in religious affiliation and an inheritance to religious values from the end 19th and beginning of the 20th century. What has really happened which is quite interesting and exciting, there has been the emergence of what I think is a fundamental reassessment of the relationship between religion and society in Britain in the 20th century, this is to do with us moving on and being in the 21st century. Contemporary political events have brought to the fore the issue of religion and politics in a way that people hadn't considered before because what it brought to the fore was the question: does religion necessarily have to decline when a society becomes more modern. Historians have always recognised that the continuing relevance of religion in society was a particular result of historical background. While there has been a definite shrinkage of the infrastructure of religion and church numbers reduced. Rather than this being a collapse of religious faith, we should be talking about believing without belonging. Religious beliefs remain strong and high even although institutional affiliation has collapsed. there has been a proliferation in new religious movements which are far more informal and less hierarchical. To conclude globalization of religion essay, religion has clearly survived in new, interesting and in different ways than we have seen before. We could look at the persistence of personal belief on a range of different moral codes, and suggest as well a reconfiguration of our perception of what it actually means to be religious.

Bibliography

• Bowman, M. (2013) Chapter 2: Consuming religion; materiality, markets and spirituality shopping around, in A332 Book in Beattie, H. (eds) Controversial Futures, Milton Keynes, The Open University, pp. 45-89.
• Carrette, J. and King, R. (2005) Selling Spirituality: The Silent Takeover of Religion, London, Routledge, pp.