> Freedom is the default nature of man There's nothing natural in modern society. The only natural freedom is the freedom to survive.
The lion cared not for our "freedom to survive", indeed I doubt the lions cared about property rights or the 2nd amendment either. Freedoms, even when they are freedoms FROM a state entity, only exist because society came together, usually in the form of a state entity, to set norms and expectations and promises.
This sounds like an argument that could be used to justify slavery.
It could be controversial because it's a Korean sect and Abe was a nationalist hardliner whose image was that he would make Japan "proud" again by refreezing relations with China and Korea. So if he had connections to a Korean sect, and knowing what sects do, the next logical step would be to assume that he was controlled by or at least open to Korean interests, which is the opposite of what people elected him for, a…
Haha, yes, and that would be pretty deranged given that the Korean ultra-right/fascist movement is very supportive of Japanese fascism, no matter how loudly it denies, downplays, or asks to be thanked for atrocities committed against Koreans. And that includes the vast majority of nutty religious sects. Edit: or to translate, the scandal would be "concern that fascist politician, might not be fascist enough" with an…
Very rare to meet someone who has a realistic view on modern Japan and calls these people what they really are. Nice to meet you!
Have you by any chance ever heard of Ryōichi Sasakawa? The man who created the „Nippon Foundation“ which runs a lot of „cultural exchange“ Institutes like Language schools etc. in Europe and maybe elsewhere.
His Wikipedia says he was a self-declared fascist. Can’t make it up.
If the cult ruined his life and he took it out on the first politician he could somehow link to them, the problem is not whether such politician really had such relationship, but the fact that such idea was credible in the first place. Are cults in Japan tolerated a bit too much, leaving them free to ruin's people lives? Are politicians just sitting by, or even enabling such cults? Those should be the questions peopl…
>Are cults in Japan tolerated a bit too much This one is still around, albeit at the fringes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aum_Shinrikyo " Shoko Asahara, the leader of the Aum Shinrikyo doomsday cult, was hanged after being sentenced to death in 2004" For real cult tolerance look no further than S.Korea. Any innocent social gathering has >50% chance of being cult recruitment gathering.
Also the „Happy Science“ cult which has racial segregation and Japan ruling the Earth as its ulterior motives.
As an incidental remark: I find it remarkable that on the surface I now know of three G7 countries / liberal democracies where the PM/President is the (grand)son of a PM/President himself. Bush Sr - Bush Jr Pierre Trudeau - Justin Trudeau Nobusuke Kishi - (Shintaro Abe; FM) - Shinzo Abe [Honorary mention: France with "Le Pen" both father & daughter made it to the second round in the presidential elections (2002; 2017…
In Japan, anything but political dynasties would be seen as „not normal“ by the voters. Politician is a family business like an Udon restaurant - the eldest son of a politician is expected to become a politician, too.
And many of these dynasties go back to feudal times or earlier. In Japan, I heard more that once about some scandal-addled politician that „he comes from a samurai family“. That means he’s above law in the Western sense. What ever bad thing such a person does - a showy apology and a deep bow will heal all wounds with the majority of voters.
As an incidental remark: I find it remarkable that on the surface I now know of three G7 countries / liberal democracies where the PM/President is the (grand)son of a PM/President himself. Bush Sr - Bush Jr Pierre Trudeau - Justin Trudeau Nobusuke Kishi - (Shintaro Abe; FM) - Shinzo Abe [Honorary mention: France with "Le Pen" both father & daughter made it to the second round in the presidential elections (2002; 2017…
It's a disturbing trend and indicative of failing health / vibrancy of political systems. Same with running Hilary Clinton. Half of the entire point of the democratic turn in western states after the enlightenment and the French revolution was to attempt take power away from powerful families and abolish heritable power. I found it very alarming when Trudeau Jr was plucked out of relative obscurity and turned into a…
In Japan, feudalism never really ended, at least not in the hearts and minds of people. They love their „upper caste“ regardless how much it hurts their lives.
Moonies used to be a big deal at college campuses in California. When my husband and I went to Berkeley in the 1970s, the Moonies were everywhere. They did many questionable things before fading away. My husband is 4 years older than me - so he was not as aware of their recruitment practices. He said he was invited to dinner by a very attractive young woman who kept flirting with him all through dinner. She then invi…
What happened at the retreats? Quick search gave no answers...
Moonies used to be a big deal at college campuses in California. When my husband and I went to Berkeley in the 1970s, the Moonies were everywhere. They did many questionable things before fading away. My husband is 4 years older than me - so he was not as aware of their recruitment practices. He said he was invited to dinner by a very attractive young woman who kept flirting with him all through dinner. She then invi…
What would happen at the retreat? Just indoctrination?
Very heavy pressure to join and indoctrination. The pressure tactics were very coercive. Essentially thought reform via a high control group/environment. Eventually people would think they made the choice to join themselves and had come to their own conclusions but in fact it was essentially are manipulation.
Japanese people I know are adamant that Abe had no ties or did ever voice support for the Moon sect, ever. I am now wondering if Abe had kept it secret and the shooter somehow found out.
I know loads who know about this. The guy was in a publicly published video last year, it’s not a massive secret.
Ah, interesting. I suspected that I got a "save face" answer from them because they always err on the side of "Japan and Japanese people can't be criticised by Western people".
So, I'm not alone in wondering if they should be treated like bible thumpers, or not. Good to know. Also good to know they aren't bible thumpers, and just happen to be 'Christians' monitoring science, as per the name implies.
That would be wrong too. I don't know who said it, but a well known quip about them is that they are neither Christian nor scientific. (It may actually have been Mark Twain for once, he had a brief disappointing interaction with them). They believe Jesus (but mostly the founder, Mary Baker Eddy) came with secret knowledge of how you can heal by thinking the right thoughts. This is possible because, basically, objecti…
How are you calibrating that scale and where would Seventh-Day Adventists be on it
Fair enough. Though I do want to say anecdotally at least that mind over matter can be pretty powerful stuff... Placebo's and Nocebo effects wouldn't exist without it.
True. I'd still rather listen to what my oncologist has to say, though.