Globalization and Religion in Asia: Is Religion an Equal Competitor?

This paper begins with a discussion of how western religion was brought to Asia several centuries back by the currents of early globalization of the west and how the traditional religion of Asia is being taken today to the western world by the modem forces of the same globalization process. Subsequently it identifies two different challenges posed by globalization to religion in general and the religion in Asia in particular, namely, the need to identify a unique role in the globalized society and the need to retain its traditional position of being the source of morality that is being increasingly challenged by such secular organizations as United Nations and the conventions such as Universal declaration of Human Rights. In the course of the discussion it touches on the problems of absolutism and relativism in the context of religious truth claims.