june 9th
http://www.economist.com/world/asia/displaystory.cfm?story_id=7041189
buddhist/atheist japanese getting married to the trappings of a white christist ceremony!
this is what christism is best at: elaborate and meaningless spectacles, as in the made-up rituals regarding the royalty in britain (these, contrary to myth, are not ancient, and date back only a century or two to the height of their empire).
there is no more 'beef' to it.
this is sweet ironic revenge for those 'abhasa' spectacles we see of kathakali and traditional balinese dance and kabuki being watered down for white tourists!
8 comments:
I do not understand. dont the
buddhist/atheist japanese have
wedding ceremonies of their own ?
japan has its own rich culture.
why are they borrowing ceremonies ?
if their ceremonies are too
elaborate, cant they just simplify
them ?
i couldnt make sense out of this.
and no, it is not something to
celebrate. :-) it is yet another
cultural loss, taking place
somewhere in the world. methinks.
_
Japan is the country to imitate
Iemitsu Tokugawa was the grandson of the unifier of Japan Ieyasu Tokugawa (one of the greatest kings in the history of the world)
"announced the Christian Expulsion edict, in which the practice of Christianity was banned, and all Christians were expelled from Japan."
"Nonetheless, Iemitsu was still brutal. In 1633, he officially isolated Japan from the rest of the world, banned Christianity and ordered the entire Japanese population to register at a shrine or temple. Christians were then persecuted, and many fled to the Spanish Philippines or went underground. In 1635, Shogun Iemitsu set up the (Sankin Kotai) or Hostage System, where the families of daimyo would live as hostages in Edo for half the year to assure loyalty.In 1637, a rebellion arose in Shimabara, known as the Shimabara Rebellion, organized mainly because of Iemitsu's anti-Christian policies. Thousands were killed in the revolt and countless more executed after. In 1639, Iemitsu officially closed off Japan from the rest of the world."
Essentially the Xtian missionaries were doing what they usually do - constantly creating problems for everybody - forced conversions, treason to the nation etc. etc. - From what I read Iemitsu Tokugawa gave them two options - reconvert and become Japanese or get wiped out. Whoever reconverted was accepted back rest were wiped out.
This I believe is one of the critical reasons that Japan did not end up like East Timor/Phillipines/India
Unfortunately Hindu leadership because of completely self centredness can never look beyond their noses.
I remember reading somewhere that some mullahs also reached Japan and demanded that they convert to Islam - the Japanese said no thanks, gave them some gifts, put them on a boat and said Buh Bye.
About the ceremonies - it is just a form of fashion/style
" brides and grooms can “do” Shinto on the morning of their wedding day, change into Buddhist garb for the afternoon, then finish off with a Christian church ceremony, without experiencing either internal conflict or social disapproval."
Why isn't there much outcry about the Lahore temple? and also temples in Malaysia (1 demolished every few weeks for last few months)? Is it only because Indian media is secular? or is it because there is something basically wrong about the way Hindus are conducting themselves?
In case of Hindus there is no fear of **consequence**. At best we Hindus will fret and fume and at worst take out a yatra. There is only one Man amongst us. Modi. I sometimes feel he is fighting a lonely battle. But he IS fighting. I guess most of us have already resigned to our fait accompli
Kaunteya is right, there is no fear of consequence from Hindus. When hindus commit suicide they self immolate but when Muslims commit suicide..well... I don't have to tell you what they do!
On second point, it is sickening to see east asians of Korea, China and Japan, adopting cult of christ and giving up their culture.
"In case of Hindus there is no fear of **consequence**. At best we Hindus will fret and fume and at worst take out a yatra."
-- My feeling is that there isnt enough awareness yet, and whatever strong sentiments there are, it hasnt reached critical momentum. It will at some point, and in the meantime, there will be colossal losses, inevitably.
I am beginning to understand why Francois Gautier brought up the idea of "fatwas". Although the very idea is an abomination for Hindus, I guess what he really meant was, we need to stand together for certain things, to combat this systematic destruction
of Hinduism.
I think with increased awareness, it will be possible to take concrete action.
_
IAmForDemocracy,
"is it because there is something basically wrong about the way Hindus are conducting themselves?"
Here are some ideas I thought up FWIW
1. Political evolution in the World went from Kingdoms - Nation States (from Treaty of Westphalia)
2. State "evolution" (more like devolution) went from just aristocrats/elites/zamindars ruling over masses to Religious clergy ruling over masses (at least in West and Islam) to 2 somewhat different paths (In the West)- Path 1: French revolution - destruction of religious clergy/religion/militant secularism (french style) to Marxism to Communism - Path 2:Magna Carta, representative democracy (as compared to Panchayat Raj type direct democracy) to American revolution - american system.
3. various ideologies - communism, capitalism etc.
3. Evolution of financial systems - banks, checks,loans, stock markets, derivatives etc. and also Bretton Woods agreement with IMF, World Bank
4. Evolution of media - manuscript,printing press, pamphlets, newspapers,telegraph,telephone,radio,movies,tv,cable tv/satellite tv etc.
4. In the West this went along with a technological revolution.
Different parts of the world (outside Asia) went through these two trends at different time with different combinations.
One of the characteristics of these "movements" was that the masses were "ORGANIZED around a POLITICAL IDENTITY" and thus were POLITICALLY AWAKENED (Islam is a weird shortcut in a way - it starts off as a Political/Military/Totalitarian movement and remains exactly the same to this day)
I believe that Hindu society got "frozen in shock/went into its shell" at the vicious/ferocious/continuous/never ending onslaught of Jihad. We are just now coming out of our shells - since our (Hindu/Jain/Buddhist/Sikh) "cultural foundation" was very SOUND and STRONG we are having absolutely NO problem adapting to the modern world "technologically and financially and culturally(music/dance -classical not filmy)".
THIS is the key - In all other respects POLITICALLY, MEDIA SAVVY, SOCIALLY (In terms of manipulating rulers, forming networks), SECURITY (understanding policing/military structures),IDEOLOGICALLY (understanding capitalism/communism/xyzism - no it is not ALL BS) Hindus are STILL LIVING in the 10th CENTURY (sorry if this offends anyone - not trying to bash just trying to understand) - that is why most Hindus think only of themselves and their family - they are unable to form a connection between their current condition and all the social/media/ideological/other system which are formed outside the family circle.
This has created the weird situation wherein Hindus succeed very well in certain fields and are totally at sea or completely ignorant or have blind spot (all three have same end result) in other fields.
People like Rajeev Srinivasan/Rajiv Malhotra et. al (you know the rest) are doing a VERY good service to try and awaken the Hindus in all these OTHER fields. The problem at this point is the excessive passivity, too much distraction (movies/cricket), lack of time, lack of access to internet (Indian media is not doing anything anyway) and biggest problem too much ego - this creates a barrier to learning these subjects. But they can only do so much - the AVERAGE Hindus need to awaken and organize politically and fight back with an organized identity and an awareness and understanding of the outside world (Most Hindus - even the ones living in the west are utterly ignorant - quick question - What is the Bill of Rights - right answer first 10 amendments to US constitution - think about its impact)
This is why Hindus do not know how to handle media, do not realize that they need to control the media at home, do not realize that they should have corrected Indian constitution, should have fixed legal system, should have fixed police system, should have shut down communism etc. etc. etc.
As an average Hindu it should be your DUTY to try and bone up on these subjects FAST - learn from others wherever possible - lower your ego - get a group of people in your town to hold a regular GITA reading and understanding for 1 hour a week (and 1 hour of socializing very imp -so 2 hours a week say) - also if in US listen to talk radio (both left wing and right wing - listen calmly and unemotionally and try to start thinking about your own opinion on various issues - and STOP listening to NPR)
I have talked to people from different parts of the world - even Africans are more politically aware than average Hindus in India. I realize that this is a lot of stuff to know and average people in other countries might not know these things either but then for them their systems are already put in place by their ancestors - we have to construct new systems so we would have to put in that extra effort. In order to fight back you have to have a lear mind and clear CONCEPTS and clear knowledge of why and for what you are fighting back this can only happen after some knowledge base about the CURRENT world is accumulated
habc, thanks for some useful analysis. The Hindus are so much in disarray that a mass killing of Hindus (Godhra) can be labled as an accident. People and parties who do that go scot free.. (Some of them must be worshipping Hindu gods even as they do the bidding of Hindu killers).
Add one point to your analysis. Whoever raises questions gets censured... Foolish Hindus continue to subscribe to newspapers and websites that are out to kill them and fill the coffers of those media houses. The media houses know that they cannot take the same liberty with Muslims or Christains..
Perhaps, the word HINDU has lost meaning, and lost its ability to be a platform for the society.
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