IMPACT OF GLOBALIZATION ON RELIGIOUS PLURALISM, AND CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY IN PAKISTAN

Abstract

This study provides a critical analysis of the complicated and occasionally conflicting influence of globalization on religious pluralism and the life conditions of the Pakistani Christian community based on the qualitative and interpretive research methodology, the proposed research study includes an analysis of the existing secondary sources and personal interviews of experts from the community in question. Globalization is seen as a two-faced process that provides religious minorities with more visibility, representation, and opportunities to attract international attention. At the same time, globalization strengthens identity-related tensions and promotes the image of foreigners among the members of religious minorities, thus contributing to their socio-political vulnerability, it can deepen anxieties about identity, nationalism, and religious difference, sometimes reinforcing marginalization and social exclusion. That practice of religious pluralism in Pakistan is still nominal rather than substantive and is limited by the existence of discriminatory legislation, the lack of institutional capacity, negative stereotypes propagated in the media, and socioeconomic discrimination. The effect of globalization is seen as a factor promoting the localization of global religious conflicts and leading to symbolic persecution of Christians in Pakistan framing religious pluralism as a mediated and contentious issue, it is evident that the lives of the Christian community have been impacted not only by policies made by the government, but also through mundane processes of interaction within society. Conclusively, what emerges from this study is an argument that globalization should be recognized as neither necessarily liberating nor entirely harmful but as transformative power that both produces possibilities for inclusion as well as exclusion in Pakistan.