A pagan nation with pretentious manners

Hm... Maybe you could explain it with pressure from other nations rather than Christianity? If you think about Germany, it's surrounded by other countries demanding it to come clean with its war crimes... Not quite the case with Japan, maybe...

Besides, don't many of the 'main' religions share similar thought? And Confucianism? Religion can be bent to justify a lot of thing (crusades) and Europe has been pretty much secularised since the Middle Ages :P Another example of the oddness of Christian values is sending missionaries to other countries: 'good Christians' go to to the heart of darkness ( :p ) to make it a better place - what right do Christians have to go to another continent (be it Africa or Asia) and judge people who have been living there for thousands of years and impose their own values on them? There is nothing wrong with humanitarian help but cultural imperialism is still a rather questionable concept atleast for me.
 
Tonysoong said:
Japanese [are] a pagan oriental nation who think of their own past as humble and even shameful, chose to split with its own past and to imitate the westerners.
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What then would you say about the Chinese? Would you say that they chose to completely annihilate their own past with the "Cultural Revolution" -- far more than the Japanese did -- and imitate the Soviet Bolsheviks?

My own impression is that both the Chinese and Japanese are now trying to move ahead as best they can, retaining what is good (of what is left) of the past, while trying to adapt the best ideas of the present, to make a good future.

Why all this continual badmouthing of the other's culture? Sure, the militaristic Japanese government and army of 60-70 years ago -- which no longer exist -- committed terrible atrocities in China. But those people are long gone. Why carry all the past animosities into new generations? Will that help either people?
 
Bramicus, you said it perfectly. At least, as far as I'm concerned.

Your level-headedness, I appreciate.
 
pagan nation

Hi Tonysoong,
I only come in and check posts every few days, so I found your original post in my thread on rudeness and then saw it continued here.

The Japanese are largely an oriental pagan nation who admire civilised nations and would do their best to imitate them, which is nothing bad in itself.

In ancient times, the Japanese imitated the Chinese though they now have turned their back on the oriental civilisation. In modern times, the Japanese turned to imitate the west and successfully industrialised their country, which is a good thing in itself.
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I'm staying out of that whole Chinese/Japanese hostility thing, but I would like to understand what you meant by "pagan nation". Do you mean Japan is pagan compared to China or compared to Europe and the U.S.? Do you mean religiously or in some other sense.

And if you do mean religiously, then may I ask what religion you hold in order to call Japan pagan.

Thank you very much in advance.
 
Obviously Tony's dealing with his hurt-anger and trying to make some sense of it. I hope this thread is helping him. Words can kill, or words can heal. What will it be*
 
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o_O and we are all called 'homo sapiens'... so much for that :souka:
 
Pararousia said:
Hi Tonysoong,
I only come in and check posts every few days, so I found your original post in my thread on rudeness and then saw it continued here.



I'm staying out of that whole Chinese/Japanese hostility thing, but I would like to understand what you meant by "pagan nation". Do you mean Japan is pagan compared to China or compared to Europe and the U.S.? Do you mean religiously or in some other sense.

And if you do mean religiously, then may I ask what religion you hold in order to call Japan pagan.

Thank you very much in advance.
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Do i need to hold any religion other than Christianity just in order to call Japan pagan?? What's your expectation of me to justify your pride?
 
Tony,
I didn't understand your answer, so maybe you didn't understand my question. How do you define pagan? Still curious.

Peace,
P.
 
Pagan is defined in Merriam-Webster's Collegiate 10th;

"Pagan. noun. first used in the 14th century.
etymology of pagan < ME pagan << Late Latin paganus < Latin paganus 'country dweller' << Latin pagus 'country district'; akin to Latin pangere 'to fix.'

1: heathen, especially a follower of a polytheistic religion.
2: one who has little or no religion and who delights in sensual pleasures and material goods: an irreligious and hedonistic person."

"Polytheism. noun. first used in 1613.
etymology of polytheism. < French polytheisme << Late Greek polytheos 'polytheistic' < Greek polytheos 'of many gods'
belief or worship of more than one god."

As of Oct. 17, 1992, the Yasukuni shrine has enshrined a total of 2,466,427 spirits according to Koyabu Nobukuni's account in Kokkato Saishi, Seidosha, 2004.

According to these bits of information, a worshipper participating in the Yasukuni rites is polytheistic, and a pagan. To characterize the Japanese nation as a whole in summary fashion may need some qualification.

Nevertheless a governmental head who visits the shrine in the official capacity (during normal work hours of a public servant) making offerings with taxpayer's monies makes Japan's national policy 'pagan' if we go by the books.

But everybody's entitled to one's view. It's just that objectivity seems to be what is at risk here.
 
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