9/27/2002 10:52:00 PM

God and Globalization

AS ALWAYS, the relatively few self-styled anarchists who equate property destruction and creating a public nuisance with social change will grab the bulk of the media attention. But overlooked among the demonstrators will be another more restrained group. Its members are the sincere religious believers who feel compelled to also speak out against globalization’s more dubious results...

Members of the Catholic Maryknoll community, ALEPH: The Alliance for Jewish Renewal, the Buddhist Peacemakers Order, and Protestants as diverse as United Methodists and Mennonites are among those whose concerns about globalization stem from religious teachings relating to the repugnancy of greed, wasted or misused economic power, and disrespect for supportive human relationships....

Globalization’s secular critics, and there are many, talk about humanizing the process and reforming the markets to level the playing field to enlarge access to the pie. Essentially, they propose a materialist correction in line with a narrow, economic-focused worldview, a tinkering with globalization’s frayed edges to keep those made angry — and dangerous — by being on the losing end of the process from seeking their revenge.

Religious-based critics take a different approach. They say globalization’s overriding economic focus is the very root of the problem. The real issue, they say, is to maintain a... transcendent connection, human dignity and cultural cohesion that “money-theism” alone cannot replace.