Abstract
In the midst of globalization, religious traditions are challenged by the relativization of religious values and the predominance of other technically-oriented societal subsystems. All this carries important consequences for the discourse on social ethics in the religious context as well. From the analysis of two distinct areas related to Shin Buddhist social ethics, namely the attitude toward politics and secular education, and toward the relativization of religious values and pluralism, it is possible to trace in contemporary Shin Buddhism the presence of different attitudes toward globalization. On the one hand, there are clear signs that Shin Buddhism at the general level is mainly endorsing the "liberal option" postulated by the sociologist of religion Peter Beyer, which implies a positive attitude towards globalization. This is apparent in the case of the Yasukuni Shrine issue and the revision to the Fundamental Law of Education, in the emphasis on pluralism and peace, and in the capacity to look at the tradition in a critical way. On the other hand, in the case of the critique on "humanism," the process of globalization tends to be seen as a danger to be opposed through the strong reassertion of traditional values.
