Cedric Wilson, Guest Columnist
IN MARTIN Scorsese's controversial film The Last Temptation of Christ, there are several scenes in which Jesus, while suspended on the cross, drifts into a dreamlike state and envisions things as they would be without the crucifixion.
In one of these dreamlike episodes, he travels through time and sees the Apostle Paul preaching to a crowd the message of redemption through the death and resurrection of Christ.
Jesus confronted him, pointing out that the crucifixion never happened. And Paul simply shrugged him off suggesting that it was not important whether it occurred or not because the idea of liberation through the cross was mightier than historical truth.
There are some theologians who argue that the gospel of Christian redemption was the invention of the Apostle Paul. However, while that issue will always be contentious, very few will dispute that it was the lucidity of Paul's preaching and his unflagging devotion to the gospel that transformed Christianity from a parochial Jewish sect to a powerful world religion.
Indeed, it was while he was on the road to Damascus, intent on eradicating the notion of Christianity from the face of the earth, that he was struck by the potency of the faith.
That was the turning point in the Christian religion. The fearsome antagonist became the foremost apostle, consumed by a majestic vision that transcended the divide of nationality, class and gender: "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: For ye are all one in Christ Jesus."
GENESIS OF GLOBALISATION
This was the genesis of a globalisation based not on military force but on the strength of an idea. And Paul was the first to articulate it with such clarity.
Globalisation is essentially about the bringing together of people and the forging of relationships in countries all over the world in a way that will enhance their well-being. Today, this phenomenon is happening through the expansion of trade and financial flows, the movement of people and the spread of technology across international borders as well as via access to information networks and the dynamics of cross-cultural flows.
The evidence of it is everywhere, from the rising price steel caused by China's rapid economic growth to low-paid Asian factory workers producing Nike footware; from the furore in the United States Congress over a firm owned by the Dubai government operating six American ports; to the deepening disarray in the Jamaican sugar industry like it or not. Globalisation is unavoidable and real.
Over the last century, the world economy has seen unprecedented economic growth and a confluence of geo-political events and economic factors has accelerated the pace of globalisation within the last decade. Yet, as an economic phenomenon, globalisation has been decisively shaped by Christianity over the past 500 years.
The colonial adventures of the Western European countries into the Americas, Asia and Africa, which comm-enced towards the end of the 15th century, represented the move from continental isolation.
It combined materialistic greed with religious fervor in the most ruthless and bigoted fashion imaginable. When Cortez conquered the Aztecs in Mexico and stripped the temples of its gold which he sent back to Spain, he saw himself a soldier of the cross. Colonialism created a two-way channel which allowed the flow of wealth from the colonies to Europe and the flow of a submissive version of Christianity to the colonies.
UNDERDEVELOPMENT OF COLONIES
There is a parable (which some attribute to Bishop Tutu) that succinctly captures the essence of colonialism. According to the parable, when the Europeans went to Africa, they went with bibles and said to the Africans "Let us pray." And when the Africans opened their eyes, they had bibles and the Europeans had taken their lands.
Christianity coupled with colonialism resulted in a skewed form of globalisation that saw the development of Europe and the underdevelop-ment of its colonies.
Another way in which Christianity contributed to globalisation came by what is called Protestant Christian ethics.
According to Max Weber, the German sociologist that coined the term, Protestantism instilled the values of thrift, hard work and efficiency in believers and that turned out to be the force behind capitalism.
Consequently, hard work was not seen as a curse and prosperity was not considered as an obstacle to get through heaven's gates. On the contrary, hard work was viewed as a blessing and prosperity as a sign of salvation.
Weber used this theory to explain the accumulation of capital and the amazing economic success experienced in a number of Protestant regions in Europe. Today, while the children of the early Protestants may have shed much of the spiritual devotion of their fathers, the core of the ethics still continues to fuel capitalism.
GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTS
The acceleration in the forces of globalisation in recent years owes much to the revolution in electronic communication and greater openness worldwide to liberal economic thought. In addition, the maturity attained in the markets of many developed countries has placed limits on the capacity for growth of businesses within these economies.
Consequently, investors in the U.S. and Western Europe are being forced to look outside of traditional markets for opportunities to increase revenues and cut costs. Therefore, the present flow of capital from developed countries into emerging markets is not driven by Christian kindness but by capitalist self-interest.
Most critics of globalisation will concede that some developing economies have benefited from global developments. However, they will point to the increasing gaps between very poor countries and rich countries. The critics accuse Western economies of hypocrisy, since Western economies have pressured developing countries to remove trade barriers, but have kept their own.
If the Apostle Paul should by some miracle visit the world today, surely he would say that the prevailing materialist version of globalisation is not the one that captured his imagination on the Damascus road.
Without a doubt, the new apostles of globalisation would retort: 'It doesn't matter. What is happening is inevitable and irreversible.' And perhaps they might even add a bit of 'Scorsesian' irreverence to it by quoting Jesus: 'The poor you will always have with you.'
Cedric Wilson is an economics consultant who specialises in market regulations. Send your comments to: conoswil@hotmail.com.
