Been away for a while; Japan and New Zealand. Both were fruitful and fun. Japan continues to blow me away as a country. Maybe keeping themselves shielded from the rest of the world for 200 years was one the best things they could have done. Despite there being a number of problems with the place, it seems to have escaped the worst depredations of colonialism - and the concomitant baggage of Christianity that comes with it.
Actually, that's not entirely fair - Islam, Christianity's bastard sibling - is every bit as problematic and seems to still be in that "dummy-spit" stage of killing everyone who disagrees with it that Christianity went through a few hundred years back – not that Christianity is entirely over that phase, but at least there seems to be an element of guilt about it creeping in. Seriously FUCKED UP.
The world could well have done without either of those two in its history. Both spring from the foundation of Judaism, but at least that faith has the sense to keep itself reasonably exclusive. Lack of numbers has meant that it has been unable (and is probably unwilling) to mount significant, murderous forays into the world's population, unlike its Abrahamic offspring.
Japan has two main religions – Buddhism and Shinto – along with a bewildering plethora of minor sects and cults, none of which are of much significance. Christianity is a very minor player, and as far as I know, Islam plays almost no part at all; let’s hope it stays that way. Buddhism and Shinto have co-existed quite happily since the 6th century, when Buddhism made its first appearance. It may have been simple pragmatism on the part of the Shinto priests (along with the avowed non-violence of Buddhism), but there seems to have been no conflict at all between the two faiths. Even now, all Buddhist temples and monasteries have one or more Shinto shrines in them and likewise, all major Shinto shrines have a Buddhist shrine on the grounds; why can’t the Abrahamic faiths show as much cooperation?
Perhaps it springs from the fact that neither Buddhism nor Shinto has particularly violent Gods; in fact Buddhism has no Gods at all – a point very much in its favour. Perhaps the singularly accommodating attitudes shown by both religions to one another come from the fact that they represent different, interrelated but not antithetical elements of human consciousness and belief; Buddhism deals strictly with the metaphysical, while Shinto is an earth-based, pantheist religion – essentially, the one complements the other without infringing on its “territory”.
I wonder if the Abrahamic faiths will ever manage to evolve into that level of peaceful coexistence. Somehow I doubt it. There is too long a history of aggression and violence and too many fragile human egos involved for any of them to admit error and set about developing an accommodating attitude towards one another, never mind towards those religions and philosophies that do not accord strictly with their own interpretation of their religious teachings; they can’t even manage to agree amongst themselves!
As for me; I’m off to live in Japan as soon as I can reasonably do so. I want no further part of the Christians and Islamists and their never-ending battles for supremacy. I suppose someday their poison will spread even to Japan; but by that time, I will be dead and past caring about it.
