Globalization and the Church

                In a time where the world is becoming further and further globalized politically, economically, and culturally, institutions across society have been forced to adapt and change to stay viable. One such institution is the LDS church. Since its establishment by Joseph Smith, Jr. in 1830, the Church of Jesus Christ has grown to have a membership of over 14 million in at least 162 countries (Facts. As global society becomes increasingly globalized, the LDS Church has been affected positively.

                Globalization can be defined as “the spread of political, economic, and cultural dynamics among governments, groups, and individuals beyond the borders of any one particular country.” (Samuels) Out of the three categories of globalization – political, economic, and cultural – cultural is most applicable to the effects of globalization on religion. Cultural globalization is defined by the McWorld trend – “the idea that globalization homogenizes and Americanizes different cultures.” (Samuels) The effects of globalization on the LDS church extend into the areas of media-technology and missionary work.

                As new technologies, including the internet and satellite television, have spread across the world, so has the extent of church news and broadcasts into members’ homes. Church buildings all over the world can view General Conference, a semiannual broadcast in which the leaders of the church speak to the members, via modern technologies. With the internet widely available, investigators can visit websites such as lds.org or Mormon.org to find answers to questions they may have. The church has surely taken advantage of technological globalization within culture.

                With cultural globalization, growing acceptance of different religions has allowed missionary work to become more accepted by both governments and societies of foreign countries. Because the LDS Church doesn’t send missionaries into countries that don’t formally permit missionaries within their borders, religious acceptance due to globalization is a key part of spreading missionary work. As the government of a country becomes more globalized, they become more accepting of other cultures and religions, which leads to missionaries being permitted within the country. However, the effects of globalization on missionary work don’t end there; as societies and cultures become globalized, they become increasingly ready to accept missionaries from other countries that don’t share their culture or history, but have brought the gospel message to share. The statistics show this: in 1950, 90% of LDS Church members lived within the United States; by 1997, in a far more globalized world, over half of all Mormons lived outside of the US and Canada (Global).

                As the world has become increasingly globalized, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has indeed benefited. With technologies available throughout the world and various societies warming up to foreign religions and cultures, the LDS church has been able to enhance communications, teaching, and missionary work.

SOURCES CITED

"Facts and Statistics." Www.mormonnewsroom.org. Web. 04 Dec. 2012. 

Samuels, David. Comparative Politics. New York: Pearson Education, 2012. Print.

"Global Mormonism." Global Mormonism. Web. 04 Dec. 2012. 

The Gospel of Globalization

Blog 10: Globalization

My favorite dessert ever, is tirimusù, from Italy. Right now, if I could choose any band to listen to, it would be “Of Monsters and Men”, who hail from Iceland. The computer sitting on my lap was conceived of in the US, produced in China, and named for a Frenchman from a French book (Porthos from The Three Musketeers). I am an American girl; born and raised in Washington State, who hasn’t been to New York let alone out of the Continental United State, yet somehow I consume products and ideas from all around the world. Thank you globalization. However, I should probably take that back when I think about how globalization has also helped exploit resources and peoples in less developed countries, and how it has helped to bring about large scale conflicts involving all parts of the world, like WWII, and the Cold War. Globalization has even taken the revolution in Syria, and made it a worldwide issue because everyone is allied with one side or the other—a local conflict as become global. Looking at both sides of this equation, I have to ask, are my favorite things worth such destruction?

            It is true that as the world continues to create new mechanisms for communication, and information sharing, that we will become more connected economically, politically, and culturally. That is what it means to be globalized; it does not mean that globalization is good. Because of this we can share ideas and technologies for bettering mankind; countries can produce to their comparative advantage and trade. The Golden Arches theory teaches us that countries that have McDonald’s don’t go to war with each other because they are too economically interconnected (Friedman). Yet at the same time as globalization has increased so has ethnic conflict. In the Middle East in particular, the Jihadist movements against westernization—the sensation that is sweeping the “internation”—has caused increased fighting and terrorist activities (Barber). Given, all there factor, how can one decide if globalization is a good thing?

            What if we take a look at the world from a different perspective: how does globalization affect the LDS church? Since its birth, the LDS church has swept through 162 of the 214 countries in the world. Currently, there are 14,441,346 members of the church. The church has demonstrated a pattern of exponential growth that correlates closely with the growing interconnectedness of the World. It took 117 years for the church to reach the 1 million member mark, sixteen years later, in 1963, it had reached 2, million, and another eight years after that, 3,000,000 (“Growth of the Church”). Now there are over 14 million members. As members of this church we are taught that the Gospel will spread throughout the world. Globalization spurs the work of the Lord. It is my firm testimony that as the church continues to grow and proliferate, it will bring with it peace and prosperity to all nations. So, is globalization good thing or bad thing? I argue that it is one of the greatest phenomena to sweep us yet.  

Barber, Benjamin R. "Jihad vs. McWorld." The Atlantic. The Atlantic, Mar. 1992. Web. 05 Dec. 2012.

Friedman, Thomas L. "Foreign Affairs Big Mac I." The New York Times. The New York Times, 08 Dec. 1996. Web. 05 Dec. 2012.

"Growth of the Church." Www.mormonnewsroom.org. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, 2012. Web. 05 Dec. 2012. <http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/topic/church-growth>.

The LDS Church and Globalization

Emily Bashaw

Blog Post #10

            Although the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints only started out in upstate New York in the United States, it has spread with relative rapidness across the entire world. It has become what one would consider globalized. Because the Church of Jesus Christ is for all people no matter where they live or come from, the globalization of the church has been a good thing.

            Globalization is defined by Samuels as “the spread of political, economic, and cultural dynamics among governments, groups and individuals beyond the borders of any one particular country,” (Samuels 346). But more specifically, in the book Unto Every Nation written by LDS authors, globalization is talked about as, “Globalization is an oft-mentioned, all-important matter in today’s world… For the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, globalization is more than just an interesting topics; it is an urgent priority. The mission of the Church is to bring all people everywhere to Jesus Christ so that they might enjoy the eternal fruits of His gospel. A worldwide Church is certainly in a better position to accomplish this mission than one that is only local or even regional” (Cannon). The growth of the church since its very beginnings pushed for globalization. An idea that was founded in New York quickly made its way throughout the United States and over to Europe in a matter of years. Along with its religious forefathers, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints became globalized at a quicker rate than many other things in the world and continues to at a faster and faster rate as more and more missionaries go to all corners of the earth to preach the gospel. Globalization can sometimes dilute and change ideas so that people are eventually all speaking the same languages, listening to the same music, eating the same food, etc, but that is exactly what the church wants.

            Globalization sometimes results in the dissolving of some cultures and this is exactly what the LDS church does not want. To prevent this as much as possible, the Book of Mormon has been published in 107 different languages so as to reach people around the world in their own language and culture. The church is in over 162 countries going straight to the people, not just operating from Salt Lake City (Richman). Because of its now global nature, the size of the church in even just the past 30 years, with the use of new innovative technologies, has tripled (Statistical Reports).

            Although sometimes globalization is viewed as a bad thing in the world, it is the churches goal so that all people can have the opportunity to hear the good news that the gospel is. The LDS church does its best to preserve the cultures that it comes across all over the world so as to not bring with it the damaging effects of globalization. The church’s whole goal is to spread beyond the borders of one country and be proclaimed throughout all the world; because of that, in the eyes of the church, globalization is a miracle.

Bibliography

Cannon, Donald Q., Richard O. Cowan.  “Unto Every Nation”.  Deseret Publishing, 2003

Richman, Larry. "Translations of the Book of Mormon." LDS Media Talk. WorldPress Admin, 30 2010. Web. Web. 5 Dec. 2012.

Samuels, David J.  “Comparative Politics”.  Pearson Education,  2012.  p. 346 

Statistical Report.  Ensign, May 1981.  Web.

Statistical Report.  LDS Newsroom, April 2012.  Web.

Blog 10

Blog 10: Globalization and the Church

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is worldwide church that continues to grow more and more each year. Being that it is a global church, what affects does globalization have on the church and what affect does the church have on globalization? The church is spreading into new countries and cultures every year. The spreading of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its teachings has a positive effect of globalization upon the church and world.

Globalization is “the spread of political, economic, and cultural dynamics among governments, groups, and individuals beyond the borders of any one particular country” (Samuels pg. 346). Samuels categorizes globalization into three categories: political, economic and cultural. As the church spreads throughout the world, people of different cultures become members of the church. The church takes into account the cultural history of these individuals and the celebrations in which they have and encourages them to share their cultures with those around them. The spreading of religion among groups, individuals and beyond state borders can also be considered part of cultural globalization.

Missionary efforts have been a part of the church since its beginnings in the 1800’s. In its beginning stages, most members of the church lived within the United States where it began. However, “beginning in 1997, half of Latter-day Saints lived outside of the United States and Canada” (Global Mormonism). This shows how the church is spreading throughout the world. “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the fourth largest Christian church in the world and of its 14 million members, over half of them live outside of the United States” (Mormonism 101). This shows how globalization has positively affected the church. It also shows how the church itself is becoming more accepted across the world; this is another sign of positive globalization. The fact that the church is able to send missionaries into countries throughout the world is also a positive sign of globalization. Countries are becoming more open to the thought of having the church in their countries. This is significant because that means they are open to allowing the “culture” of the church within their own country. Also, in Minnesota, the church has sacrament meetings in English, Spanish, Hmong and Korean. This shows how globalization has affected the church within the United States.

Another way that they church is affectively using globalization to spread the gospel is through the media, specifically, the Internet. Recently, the church has launched a large add campaign on the Mormon.org website that features different individuals from around the world. Often times these individuals talk about their specific culture or where they are from and how gospel has greatly blessed their life despite the different circumstances.

Globalization can occur in many different ways. Globalization affects the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in many ways. Globalization has had a positive affect on the church and the church has had a positive affect on globalization. Globalization has played a key role in the spreading of the church and its teachings and will continue to have a positive affect on the world.

Sources

Global Mormonism. Global Mormonism RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Dec. 2012. <http://globalmormonism.byu.edu/?page_id=899>.

Mormonism 101. The Church Of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, n.d. Web. 4 Dec. 2012. <http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/mormonism-101>.

Samuels, David. Comparative Politics. New York: Pearson Education, 2013. Print.

         

Blog 10

Blog 10: Globalization and the Church

            Globalization is increasingly prevalent in today’s world culture. Globalization is essentially the interchange of political, economic, and cultural dynamics between different nations all over the world. There are both risks and benefits that accompany increasing globalization as countries become more involved with and dependent on one another. I believe globalization has both positive and negative impacts on our country. However, when it comes to the LDS Church I think globalization has a very positive impact and very minimal, if any, negative impact.

            As members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints we are familiar with our own worldwide missionary efforts, especially with the announcement made this past October lowering the age requirements for those young men and women wishing to serve. As a Church we emphasize missionary work and particularly encourage young men to serve. However, as was stated in a Church Newsroom article covering the change in age requirement, “missionaries receive their assignment from Church headquarters and are sent only to countries where governments allow the Church to operate” (“Church Lowers Missionary Service Age”). With increased globalization comes increased foreign relations and foreign cooperation in our own country. These new relationships often times open the door for the Church to create its own relationships with these same countries. This in turn helps the Church to be able to send missionaries to more places around the world to preach the Gospel safely.

            In addition to better foreign relations, globalization also enables more cultural diffusion between countries across the globe. In places like China they are extremely proud and protective of their culture and are thus slow to be open to new ideas and religions. “The Chinese government recognizes only five religious groups: Catholics, Protestants, Buddhists, Muslim and Taoists” (Fletcher). This is part of the reason the Church has not been able to send proselyting missionaries into China. However, with the increased diffusion of cultures and with the continual global encouragement to accept other cultures China is growing less and less prejudice to different ideas and religions. As they become softened in this way due to globalization, the Church has more of an opportunity to persuade China to allow missionaries into the country to preach the Gospel.

            Through globalization resources and technology are also shared worldwide. With increased access to and use of the internet the Church has a unique opportunity to share the Gospel through its websites. Virtually anyone curious about the LDS Church with internet access can find the Church’s websites and learn the truth for themselves. There they can find testimonies of other members, videos, scriptural resources, and so much more. As the internet becomes more and more popular across the globe more people have access to the Church’s information and are more likely to want to know more. That is where more missionaries come into the picture.

            Globalization does some great things for the Church, especially in regards to the great emphasis placed on spreading the Gospel to the entire world. Globalization allows us as separate nations to connect and share ideas, technologies, information, etc. This makes the mission to spread the Gospel more feasible as other nations and cultures become more accepting of one another and as information becomes more accessible. The more people we are able to share the truth with the better the world will be. Globalization has helped and will continue to benefit the Church immensely.

Sources

"Church Lowers Missionary Service Age." Newsroom. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 6 Oct. 2012. Web. 04 Dec. 2012. <http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/church-lowers-age-requirement-for-missionary-service>.

Fletcher, Peggy. "China a Prize in LDS's Eyes." The Salt Lake Tribune. N.p., 9 Sept. 2010. Web. 04 Dec. 2012. <http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/home/50189317-76/church-china-chinese-lds.html.csp>.

            

Brittney Griffith

      Globalization and the LDS Church

At this point and time in our world globalization is in an integral part of survival for organizations such as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, or Mormons. The boundaries that separate the people of the world have started to fade due to factors like interdependence of states through the economy and politics, as well as the advancement of technology. The affects felt from the globalization of the LDS church have been, as I see it, a very positive one, however there are some negative effects of globalization in general that cannot be ignored. But I do believe globalization has ample more positive affects than negative ones. Because of this I believe the efforts of the church to increase globalization is a good thing and will aid in its continued success.
In David J. Samue'ls book Comparative Politics he defined globalization as, "The spread of political, economic, and cultural dynamics among governments, groups, and individuals beyond the borders of any one particular country" (Samuels). Starting in 1830 at the founding of the LDS church there were six members in one country. Today there are members in over 162 countries and had over 11 million members in the year 2000 (Goodman). The church globalizes through a common topic, the gospel in which it teaches. Because of this many other products from the spread of the church have become clear but not all of them necessarily positive.
Although it was very hard to viable negative points against globalization of the church I did find one major problem that should be noted. The biggest issue I saw with globalization of the lds church which was founded in one county, the United States, is that it may have the tendency to blend cultures. Although the work the church does for other countries as well as missionary work is very beneficial to the country itself and its people, it also meshes cultures and takes away the uniqueness that cultures are valued for (Stief). This is a very troubling issue because with a world progressing so fast to becoming unified as a human race and world through our social, economic, political, and technological advancements, we run the threat of losing everything has makes us different, so that we don't all become the same. Even though this causes concerns however, I happen to be a member of the LDS church and know they are intent on keeping cultures alive and stable. They don't want to tear things down they want to enrich lives and build things up.
On the other hand, I found multiple positive effects of LDS globalization. The most prominent effect was one, the ability to give almost all people the ability to hear and learn of this gospel and its Savior Jesus Christ. This gospel gives hope and faith to not those who just need it but to everyone no matter race, ethnicity, gender, political affiliation, past transgressions,  or future ones, it is a church for everyone. The second thing that came to mind was the church's humanitarian services system  The system set up by the church has done extraordinary things for the world and not just for its members. The church has set programs up all over the world to teach the people self-reliance so they can have a better quality of life, they're giving people meaning. They're also setting up insensitive to bring areas that are lacking things lack drinkable water, infant care, and food production, as well as immunization (Wrigley). Along  Another benefit is where the church goes technology goes. The church is bringing new ways to survive and learn through its technological fields and it is benefiting many countries and peoples who have not had the benefits of what technology can do, especially through medical and science advancements. We are able to save many lives as well as increase quality of life for people all over the world (Wrigley).
In my opinion, the positives out way the effects that are negative. So much benefit has come from the globalization of the church, not just for those who believe and become or already are members of the church. The LDS church helps everyone and that is amazing. Putting the temporal needs aside, I feel the spiritual benefit that people have profited from the globalization of the church is astounding, it is changing the world in so much of a good way.


Works Cited
Goodman, Kristen L., and Douglas A. Hooper. "Global Mormonism." Global Mormonism RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Dec. 2012.
Samuels, David J. Comparative Politics. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Education, 1967. 343-73. Print.
Stief, Collin. "Globalization." About.com Geography. N.p., 7 July 2008. Web. 05 Dec. 2012.
Wrigley, Heather W. "Church Makes Immunizations an Official Initiative, Provides Social Mobilization." - Church News and Events. N.p., 13 June 2012. Web. 05 Dec. 2012.

Globalization and the Church

The world is more connected today than ever before, globalization is bringing the world together in several ways. Globalization is the spread of political, economic, and cultural dynamics among governments, groups, and individuals beyond the borders of any one particular country (Samuels.) One cultural effect of globalization is the spread and transfer of religion. The LDS church positively benefits from globalization by more effectively being able to expand their church through missionary work.

Missionary work has been an essential piece of the LDS church since it was first established. “In 1950 nine out of ten members lived in the United States; 40% lived in Utah. Since then, conversion outside the United States has changed the distribution dramatically. Beginning in 1997, half of all Latter- day Saints lived outside the United States and Canada.” (Global Mormonism) In 1950 there were 1,111,314 members of the LDS church, and by 1997 that number grew to 10,071,783 (Almanac.) Globalization and the spread of this religion across the world have helped increase membership in the LDS church. Spreading the gospel to the world is an important part of the LDS religion and globalization has helped make that goal easier.

Globalization has allowed the LDS church to get missionaries into various countries around the world. Governments have become more closely linked and international relations are increasing. The LDS church has been able to take advantage of transnational government participation and send missionaries to spread the gospel in over 150 countries (Facts and Statistics.)

Cultural Globalization is a very important aspect of the globalizing church. With advancing technology people are able to know what is going on in the world around them. The internet is a major cause of “global homogenizing” and people are being exposed to different cultures, seeing what other places are like. The LDS church has taken advantage of technology; they have several websites like Mormon.org and lds.org to inform people around the world about the church and its beliefs. They have used technology to broadcast general conference and other church news to members and non-members around the world. The church sends missionaries from different cultures to new countries. These missionaries are trained to learn the language of the country they are serving in. Often these missionaries come back with a piece of the culture of the country they served in, perhaps an accent, way of dress, or recipes. These missionaries also bring part of their culture to the country they are serving in. People in Brazil may be drawn to an American looking missionary because they know and most likely participate in different aspects of American culture.

The LDS church greatly benefits from globalization. Through globalization they are able to spread the gospel through missionary work, as well as run a worldwide church. We can learn from the example of the LDS church to use globalization for good. The LDS church provides welfare and aide to various countries around the world. They use the world’s connectedness to know what is going on, and are aware of how they can help out. Globalization has allowed the LDS church to spread the gospel and serve around the world.

Bibliography

Deseret News 2012 Church Almanac.

"Facts and Statistics." Www.mormonnewsroom.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Dec. 2012. <http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/facts-and-stats>.

"Global Mormonism." Global Mormonism RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Dec. 2012. <http://globalmormonism.byu.edu/?page_id=899>.

Samuels, David. Comparative Politics. New York: Pearson Education, 2013. Print.