ABSTRACT
Society faces crises and challenges of global proportions, including pollution of the ecosystem, widespread hunger and homelessness, and escalating incidents of violence, terrorism and warfare. As H. M. Bahr and B. A. Chadwick have noted, Christianity and Judaism have explicitly linked religion with marriage and family life. Exactly what is meant by religion, religious practice, and religiosity varies from one person to another and has varied significantly in different literatures. Formal organized religion has a history of supporting contrasting positions and behaviors on each of these values, some that contribute to responsible global citizenship and some that detract from it. Religious guidelines may be counter to responsible global citizenship when individual denominational or sectarian creeds or traditions focus on exclusiveness, domination or aggressive conversion of others, or assignment of worthiness by age, gender, race, or other inherent characteristics.
