Transcript Culture & Religion - Mr. Hughes' Classes

Globalization & Religion
Religion
• Religion
• A particular system of faith & worship in
a Supreme being
• Religion
• Seeks to embody certain truths that are
applicable to all mankind\
• Transnational - spreads & be politicized
• Culture - constantly evolving
– Religion? Does it evolve?
• Religion & Revolution
• Market Revolutions; World Wars; =
insecurities/conflict in beliefs
• Percieved threats caused reactions
• Religion is threatened by globalization
Globalization & Religion
• Positive Globalization
• Helped rebuild poor countries (FDI, World
Bank)
• Acceleration of social mobility (Davos Culture)
• Increased communication/ technology
• Negative Components of Globalization
• Environmental degradation (invasive species,
bio-diversity, rain forests)
• Economic disparities (parts of a country that
are rich)
• Popularized pop culture (changing of cultural
values)
• Challenge:
• Globalization (religious) perspective = harmful
• Injustices of economic distribution; attack of
pop culture on traditions;
• Globalization is the greatest perceived threat
Religion & Globalization
• Religious strategy?:
• Globalization has some good; no need
to reject the influence
• Creation of a happy medium between
religion & globalization
• Religious Values
• Let values/beliefs guide the
globalization process
– Provide internal cultural
checks/balance
• Religious centered individuals =
• focus on community, harmony, justice,
respect, etc…
– Provide globalization panacea
• Internal change
• Narrow thought = limits cooperation
• Internalization of moral values
Two Perspectives on Religion
• Modernist Lens
• Early modernists (18th-19th) believed all
religion would be secularized (worldly)
– Look more like philosophy;
rationalization; believe the same
– Disseminated from elite to outer fringes of
society
– Simple view: secularism rules
– All fundamentalists (religion) would be
exceptions
» Fundamentalists may come into
conflict with others or globalization
• Modernist perspective: conflicts are
temporary; unimportant
• Religious Fundamentalism
• Reaction to secularism; which is
supported by globalization
– Leaders and elites of the religious culture
are irrational; unreasoning
• Ultimate view is that secularism will
convert the fundamentalist
Modernist Lens
• Religion corrects Global impurities
• Failure of markets; or over aggressive
authoritarians change with religious back
lash
– Corrections are useful and necessary but
eventually die out
» E.g. failure of communism
• Post-Modernists
• Core value: expressive individualism
– Limited religious constraints; natural
worshipping (football, nature; etc)
• Highly secular: awaits the disappearance
of traditional religion
– Globalization will help bring about
expressive individualism
• U.S. the new post-modernist nations
– Sole super power; high tech economy;
– Broken down barriers; IMF, WTO, World
Bank
Religion Challenges
• Opposition; globalization
• The religions of the world oppose
– Revivalists, fundamentalists,
– Globalization = threat to religious
prosperity
– Eliminated religions doctrines &
principles
• Protestant deformation
• Protestantism guiding U.S.
globalization;
– Rejection of hierarchy = no
traditions
– Rejection of hierarchy
(monopolies/oligopoly) & community
(guilds)
» Lead to a free market economy
» American creed –
globalization/secularism (liberal
democracy, constitutional law)
– Newly found rights; choice;
expressive individualism
Islam
• In three minutes –
• Brainstorm and write down
everything you know about
Islam
• Sharing of what you know:
Major Beliefs of Islam
• Oneness of God
• God creator of all things, omniscient,
omnipotent,
• God has no race, gender, no body, & is not
affected by human characteristics
• Angels of God
• unseen beings who worship God
• carry out God's orders throughout the
universe.
• Gods Holy write
• Revealed holy books or write to messengers
of God (Several)
• Quran (Muhammad), Torah (Moses), Gospel
(Jesus), Psalms (David), Scrolls (Abraham)
• Only the Quran is in original context
Beliefs of Islam
• Prophets of God
• Gods will given through special messengers;
starts with Adam
• Shared person: Noah, Moses, Abraham,
Jesus
• Muhammad is the last of the line
• Day of Judgment
• Humans judged and sentenced according to
their actions
• Those who follow God; will be saved; those
who reject go to hell
• Divine Decree
• God's will.
• It can be expressed as the belief that
everything is governed by divine decree
– namely that whatever happens in one's life is
preordained
• This concept does not negate the concept of
"free will”
• Since Gods will is not know; humans can
choose
Major Islamic Practices
• Five Pillars acts of Worship
• Declaration of Faith (Shahada)
• “There is no deity except God and
Muhammad is the messenger of God”
• Muslims repeat this statement many times a
day during their prayers
• To be Muslim; One must make this
declaration
• Prayer (Salat)
• brief prayer or ritual worship five times a
day:
– dawn, noon, late afternoon, sunset and night
• Muslims perform ablution; brief washing;
hands, mouth, nose, face, arms, feet
• The Friday noon prayer is special to
Muslims
• Face in the direction of Mecca when they
pray
Muslim Islamic Practice
• Charity (Zakat)
• Required to give to the poor and needy
• Obligatory charity, known as zakat, based
on two and a half percent of one's income
• Encouraged to give as much as charity
through out the year
• Fasting (Swam)
• Required to fast from dawn to sunset
during the month of Ramadan (July)
• People gather in the evenings for a
festive breaking of the fast
– Eid al-Fitr
• Muslims refrain from food, liquid, and
sexual activity
• Abstain from negative behaviors such as
lying, gossip, petty arguments, and
negative thoughts or behaviors
– Ramadan was the month in which the
revelation of the Quran to Muhammad
Muslim Islamic Practice
• Pilgrimage to Mecca (hajj)
• Every Muslim is required to make the
pilgrimage to Mecca
• Mecca is home to the first house of
worship of God, the Kaaba.
• Face towards the Kaaba when they pray
• Outward symbols of rank and wealth are
erased during the pilgrimage
• Eid al-Adha
• "Festival of the Sacrifice," is the second
major holiday in Islam.
• It falls on the tenth day of the month at the
conclusion of the pilgrimage
• Celebrated by all Muslims with special
prayers, feasts, gifts and the sacrifice of
an animal
Muslim Daily Life
• Prohibitions
• Everything considered harmful either to
the body, mind, soul or society is
prohibited
– gambling, killing, lying, stealing, cheating,
oppressing or abusing others, being
greedy or stingy
• Role of clergy
• No hierarchy of clergy in Islam; Leaders
cannot forgive sin
• Direct relationship with God without any
intermediary; no authority
• Scholars – open to interpretation
• Conversion to Islam
• Encouraged to share their faith with others
• not to attack others' beliefs or engage in
conflicts or debates about matters of
religion
Roles of Women in Islam
• Muslim Woman have many rights
• Including the right to inherit, to work outside
the home, and to be educated
• Women often have a strong influence in the
family, the workplace, the religion and
society in general
• Marriage
• Men and women are not supposed to date;
parents arrange marriages in some Muslim
countries
• The ultimate decision lies with the
prospective couple
• Often choose their partner on their own
– But seek approval of parents
• Mutual contract between a man and a
woman to live together according to the
teachings of Islam
• Man responsible for caring for family
– Woman’s earnings are her own
Roles of Women in Islam
• Family is important to Islam
• Obligations to parents and other relatives are
strongly stressed.
• Extended family often live in the same house or
neighborhood
• Public Life
• Muslim women are permitted to participate in all
walks of life.
• Muslim women have the right to be educated,
work outside the home, and contribute to society
• Modesty
• men and women are to present themselves in
modesty
• Covering are worn so that women's sexuality will
not become a source of temptation
– Muslim women view the hijab as liberating
• Muslim men and women must observe modesty
in their interactions
• Avoid any interaction that might lead to sexual or
romantic activity
THE QUESTION OF HIJAB
• "Why do Muslim women have to cover their
heads?"
• “O Prophet, tell your wives and daughters
and the believing women to draw their outer
garments around them…”
• Requirement for modesty
– Women will then be evaluated for intelligence
and skills instead of looks and sexuality
• A woman who covers herself conceals her
sexuality & allows femininity to be brought out
• “Hijab“
• Arabic word "hajaba" meaning to hide from
view or conceal
– And say to the believing women that they
should lower their gaze and guard their
modesty; and that they should not display
their beauty and ornaments except what must
ordinarily appear thereof; that they should
draw their veils over their bosoms and not
display their beauty except to their
husbands..." (Qur'an 24:30-31)
Women & Dress
• Hijab
• Islam has no fixed standard as to the
style of dress or clothing that Muslims
must wear
• Requirement –
– Certain parts of the body which must be
covered
– Clothing must be loose enough so as not
to describe the shape of the woman's
body
• Not excessively fancy and also not
excessively ragged
• Women should not dress in a way similar
to the unbelievers
• The basic requirement of the Muslim woman's
dress apply to the Muslim man's clothing
• Modesty requires that the area between
the navel and the knee be covered
• Clothing of men should not be tight or
provocative
• No gold or silk on clothing