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 Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara in 2009.
March 15th, 2011
02:23 PM ET
Tokyo governor apologizes for calling quake divine retributionBy Dan Gilgoff, CNN.com Religion Editor The governor of Tokyo apologized on Tuesday for saying the earthquake and resulting tsunami that left thousands dead were divine punishment for Japanese egoism, a leading Japanese news service reported. "I will take back (the remark) and offer a deep apology," Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara said at a Tuesday news conference, according to Japan’s Kyodo News. On Monday, Ishihara had told reporters, "I think (the disaster) is tembatsu (divine punishment), although I feel sorry for disaster victims," according to Kyodo News, which translated Ishihara's remarks from Japanese. “Japanese politics is tainted with egoism and populism,” Ishihara had said Monday, according to Kyodo News. “We need to use tsunami to wipe out egoism, which has rusted onto the mentality of Japanese over a long period of time." Read about how Japan's religions respond to tragedy The death toll from Friday's 9.0-magnitude quake off the east coast of Honshu grew to 3,373 on Tuesday. John Nelson, the chair of theology and religious studies at the University of San Francisco, said Ishihara’s remarks about divine retribution hark back to Japanese Buddhist ideas that fell out of favor decades ago. He said the Japanese term “tembatsu” could also be translated as heavenly punishment. “The way [Ishihara] used it was a prewar understanding of the will of heaven or the gods to discipline the Japanese people,” Nelson said. “That understating of the gods having an agenda was instrumental to the ideology of the prewar years, when it was said to be Japan’s divine mission to conquer Asia and establish an empire," Nelson said. Ishihara, 78, had said he was leaving politics but announced after the earthquake that he will seek a fourth term as governor in this year's elections.
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The CNN Belief Blog covers the faith angles of the day's biggest stories, from breaking news to politics to entertainment, fostering a global conversation about the role of religion and belief in readers' lives. It's edited by CNN's Daniel Burke with contributions from Eric Marrapodi and CNN's worldwide news gathering team.  |
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like this guy had any idea what the great spaghetti monster in the sky is thinking...
His noodly goodness knows all!
You may have noted in the article that he is Buddhist – which doesn't posit the existence of God. Its rather more like the supernatural seeming power that human love and compassion can have. The idea is that forces of great suffering can sometimes break through our long held patters of though and functioning that mislead and harm us. This expression of religion is ONLY about what humans experience. So in that sense people can be quite aware of the 'will of the divine' – a western phrase used loosely to translate a foreign concept and hugely misinterpreted because we tend to think of 'divine' only in terms of "God'.
This notion of compassion over self-service/greed would actually be more akin to Liberal thinking than Republican.
Let us wallow freely in thy divine meat sauce!!
Please help those in need and stop exchanging negative words among each other.....
Thanks, I needed that.
Finally... a religion I can sink my teeth into.
the guy played the religion / myth card and it got tossed back at him... the fools who use myths to explain the world.. usually get what they deserve... discovered to be fools who want to fool other fools..
This is not the first time that he gave out stupid speech (but he still elected). I believe a lot of Chinese agree with his point of view. People who believe nuclear power is safe is too simple and naive.
nuke power can be safe.. it is done RIGHT and in the RIGHT place...
you don't build an atomic bomb over a fault line...and gamble the fault line will NEVER fault..
no different than if they built it on a volcano... Ya got to think before you... do crazy stuff.. or you lose.. not if but just a matter of when... Fault lines are not foundations for reactors.. you don't build a house in quick sand, or in a low area that can be washed away in a tsunami..
just another lesson learned the hard way...
it is safe to the limits of the intelligence of those who designed and built it... this little piggy failed.
The strange thing is that the Tokyo Governor is right!
The strange thing is that you can feed yourself.
It's interesting that when man acts like God, it's okay. When God acts like God, it's not okay. Saying there is no God does not make it a true statement, regardless of how many times you say it. And if He does not exist, why is there such effort made to discredit Him?? For those who say He is a myth, I defy you to open your mind and actually seek Him out. Or are you afraid to find Him??
You have it all wrong. God is not being discredited. It's the people who presume to speak for Him. If you are THAT secure in your faith, I dare you to read up on Mithras.
We spend time trying to educate delusional believers because religion is becoming more and more dangerous as it tries to take over secular governments. For the umpteenth time, believers are the ones making the extraordinary claim that god exists and the burden of proof is upon them. The natural position is to say "there are no gods" until it is shown that there are. Believers have not made their case even after thousands of years of trying. I am not afraid of any god – they are all bullish!t. If god exists, he knows exactly who I am and how to find me – that he has not is just one more data point saying he does not exist. Waiting for the "how arrogant to think god would waste time on me" responses... And if I am wrong, what would I say to god? "You are the worst communicator of all time and a ruthless piece of sh!t not worthy of anyone's devotion!", not that I would need to say this, or anything else, to an omniscient being...
Your god is not the problem, it's you and your fellow believers (whatever you believe). You presume to know the mind of a being that, by your own accord, is beyond comprehension to the human mind. Further, you presume to tell others what that "mind" wants me (others) to do; by that reasoning, you imply that you are better then others because you know "god's wishes" but I do not (according to you).
I do have a problem with "men acting as god"; the problem for me, specifically, is the arrogance of humans to believe they can do whatever they want without consequences. Any individual that acts in a manner that is reckless and then turns toward the heavens and asks "why me, God?" when the whole thing turns south is such a person and I don't want anything to do with it. The problem with that is that we are forced by your kind to endure your reckless behavior. That's why we are against religion.
But when woman acts like god, men are insecure? We are the bringers of life. They don't search because the truth is that woman was written out of the bible to "keep her bound and in her place". How suppressive is that?!? Don't want to know the truth??
"A worthy woman who can find? For her price is far above rubies." Proverbs 31:10....that doesn't come off as "bound and in her place" to me....just sayin'
SASHA....I LOVE YOU VIOLENTLY! Excellent
Must be related to Pat Robertson
No one knows God's intentions. Period.
God's intentions are to drive home from work, have a poo, eat some dinner, watch V and The Good Wife and go to bed...
It is right there in the bible.
He's speaking out about egoism and then announces that he will seek a fourth term as governor?! I guess hypocrisy is a common theme that binds all politicians no matter which country they're in.
Excellent point!!!
I believe God is sending us a "wakeup" call! The human race has moved a long way from religion and worshipping our Maker. We need to move back to church, worship & prayer and give more love to our fellow human beings. God loves us, his children, but he needs to have our love in return. After all, He created us!
..which particular church did you have in mind for me?................
...............there are so many.....i get confused....
........
i do not want to be in one that has earthquakes just for thr #ell of it
........and please ask him to quit loving us so d@mned hard...
.....
Bullish!t. Natural disasters have happened throughout history – before and after your fictional god was created.
How can any god that is good kill 3,000+ people, many of them children and elderly, as a wakeup call? That's just sick. If there is a god, I can't believe he/she/it would cause earthquakes just to make a point.
God, by his very definition, doesn't "need" our love or anything else for that matter. You appear to have a very provincial and limited view of the Almighty. Have you ever heard of unconditional love? If we are, indeed, God's "children", doesn't that mean he loves us unconditionally? You need to yank yourself out of the Old Testament, sweetie.
Well then, there's your answer: If you start praying, earthquakes will stop.
Take no heed to the fact that natural phenomena such as earthquakes have always existed and helped create the world as we know it.
No, no, just pray to the invisible man in the sky and everything will be OK.
Susan you illustrate perfectly that god was created by man.
....but JohnR...he "created us in his image and likness to adore him"
........................
that is vain glory..... god is therefore imperfect......
........
and why in the #ell did he make such a large universe when only this solar system was required....
.....and sh!tting....can't we do better than that
I like "Timothy C's" response... I agree. It is amazing though how mankind associates these things to God's punishment; psychologically that is acting like guilty children to associate a geographical tragedy to something mankind is doing wrong. All I know is that we all are sinners, and a better thing to do than point fingers is to work together for GOOD AND PEACE... have you contributed to the USDA recommended daily allowance of GOOD AND PEACE???
The same god who keeps 7 billion alive to find him.
you madam, are an uninformed zealot! you really believe that "god" (small G is on purpose) would kill all of those people because the world is not paying enough attention to his imaginary a$$? read up on history (not the bible, that is historical fiction) and you will realize that things like this have happened for as long as the earth has existed (that's billions of years not thousands as the bible would have you believe).
This is one of the most hilarious exchanges ever. Spaghetti monster. Epic quote. I'm hungry. I hope I see Jesus in my garlic bread.
Was that the same message that was sent to the dinosaurs? I heard they were all non -believers and infidels... now they are being burned in our combustion engines and turned in to plastic and thousands of other chemicals we are now fighting for.
don't believe in the gods and someday you will be recycled as another specie you never knew.. as a limited and polluting energy resource...
yep those gods do have a sense of humor and nice combustion engine for you to be burned in millions of years later, by their true believers...
Todays.. carbon units.. tomorrows energy source... conversion is hell...
I agree with part of your statement but God does not want us to worship "Him" he wants us to "worship" each other and love violently! 🙂
Do atheists realize the proselytism of the non-religion is just as big of a waste of time as other religious followers proselytizing theirs?
No one really knows what's going to happen when we die. While you're all waisting your breath arguing about it, there are people dying alone, hungry and unloved in this world. If you really want the world to be a better place, then step away from your computers and start working for the greater good of humankind. Quit being part of the problem and start being part of the solution.
love how some people just can't help writing book-reports for their comments.
tards
On st patricks why does everybody want to be irish but on mlk day nobody wants to Be black?
Compassion?
ooops, you said NOboday wants to be black... I misread... Hmmm, I would'nt mind
Do you know hqw many people go to tanning salons in this country? Alot of people want to be black. Besides, there is no white panthers, chickens...
Praying for the day the world is rid of religion and belief in imaginary invisible men in the sky.
...they are in the sky?.....
.............can they see us all the time?..............
That's the word on the street.
They also helped me find my car keys twiced and cured my sister-wife of twitches from the debil.
..........i am totally scr#wed now...i...
...i thought they could only see you if you believed?......
.....i am not going outside anymore...
Incredible!!!! What if you are wrong. Why do you have trouble with faith
History0625: you wrote "Why do you have trouble with faith?"
Well, for one thing, organized religion has been the principal promoter of ignorance throughout the history of mankind.
The spread of ignorance has often led to abuse of those who actually use their brains... just read a bit about how innovators (including religious ones) have been (mis)treated...
He didn't ask why you have a problem with organized religion....he said faith
As long as the myth masters can make money off the gullible, there will be gods and their dogma to sell.
Legacy of the Age of Mythic Stupidity...
The bible foretells of the day that false religions will be no more, but it also foretells terrible things that are to happen around that time. It goes on to say if God does not cut those days short no soul will make it.
Given that I believe there are no gods, I do not agree with this man's views. That being said, given the stress Ja-pan is under, it is somewhat understandable that some will fall back onto childish mythological beliefs. That cannot be said for America's #2 idiot Glenn Beck, who also seems to think that his god isvsending a message.
Now he must immediately commit ritual suicide ~ new method ~ hari kiri butter knives
I'm willing to bet he isn't getting re-elected.
He might get re-elected because of his radicalism... "sometimes a little revolution is a good thing" ... let us hope he applies it like Thomas Jefferson and NOT like Brittany Spears!
Karl – Thomas Jefferson didn't revolt because he thought god was peeved. He did it to be a free man. Get off the Tea Party train and learn some history. And stop using the names of founding fathers as if you had a close relationship with them and knew their inner most thoughts and beliefs.
LOL Hope palin runs, he'd be a shoe in!
Can't tell what kind of movies Dave watches...lol
Yeah.. I'm sure he made a lot of people happy with his comment and a lot of people will trust him...NOT!
The same can be said towards the leaders in Republican states, but the people get dumber and dumber.
I thought that kind of stupidity was purely American (i.e. Pat Robertson, Jery Fallwell and others). I simply do not understand how people can form these linkages. Too bad God can't be here to defend his reputation against such absurdity.
And the sad part, at least to me, is that some will become very excited about the deaths and destruction because it means "their" god is coming. The rest of the world is going to suffer but they'll be taken away and live in joy. Such a religion, regardless of which one, isn't worth it and the god of said religion is hardly any better than its human worshipers.
It's truly sad that others think people are so disposable. Personally, I them as smaller version of the American Society.
Yes, Steve, I believe that about the goodness in God, but man decided to put himself in this position, ergo the "Adam", and a TRULY loving God would let us have our way; just think of that dynamic as applied to raising our children! Hard to see your children hurt themselves, but to love them is to respect them as individuals with inalienable rights (easy to say, hard to do... which can only come from a wise and loving individual)
Amen
It's just his opinion and it's not bad at all. Take it as punishment or not, whether it's a retribution or not, does it MATTER? The answer is, really it doesn't matter. One must continue on and apologies for past crimes and repent. Then move on. Disaster happens to both evil and good. It doesn't choose who to take.
It must be acknowledged that natural disasters can strike without warning. “Time and unforeseen occurrence befall [us] all,” says Ecclesiastes 9:11. Often, though, there is some indication—natural or official—that trouble is looming. Hence, when people know the signs, they can improve their prospects of survival.
God is beginning to kick the nards of the unrepentant nonbelieving. .it will only get worse for those left behind
Go Away...
Did you mean "nads"?
silence yourself, you disgusting nutjob. SHow some hunaity for once. It's no wonder you christian loons get such a bad rap. The truth is, you are evil and rotten to the core. You are so evil, that you need an all powerful invisible man in the sky to justify your cruel hatred. I pity you, and will pray for you.
Choke on this.
yea it's zeus. He's upset that all these christians stopped believing in him and you're all going to rot in the pits of tartarus now
I can't wait to be left behind. Traffic on the 405 will be soooo much better...
Dave I can't either! Then we won't have to see these dumbshlts posting comments "OMG REPENET REPENT THE END IS NIGH!" on every fcking message board I read.
I recommend that you rent the movie "Rapture". You might learn something from it.
No. You go away Realist!
No thanks JohnRJ I've already played Biohazard.
Nards? Seriously, that was so elementary school and so eighties. And seriously... are you really bringing religion into this? Every just think of the term... mother nature?
@ Realist says "go away" on a Belief blog. Who is the one worried about wasting their time?
Amen
Ben.. did the praying for the priests to stop molesting children, stop them? no...
So why did god just sit by as watch as thousands of priests reaped thousands of kids...
What more proof do you need to prove there are no gods?
God did not do this, but rather the question should have been why ddi he allow it?
So, people of small means in northern coastal towns get wiped out, while tech and finance and politics folks are shaken but alive in Tokyo and other large centers. That'd be some nastily cynical divine retribution...
So many skeptics. Look around, Look at the world without your hopes and dreams of the future, without the lives of your children, tax returns, college degrees and box office hits. This is cyclical. We've never seen it before though, it's a big cycle. Hope is an amazing thing, though it is still a faith based product. Why can't the world change? Why must it be the same? Why does anyone who believes something that may appear a wee bit far fetched be wearing a tinfoil hat? You that cast stones at those that think this is it will remember your remarks as you pull your dead, dying, elderly and children from heaps of rubble, this isn't a punishment per se, but a cycle, this is just what happens, we have no records, unless you research Summarian text, tablets, scrolls and petroglyphs. There are accounts of this system, however the naysayers seem to have the voice for now, soon you will all come to questions lifes intent, and that is the purpose of this all, to learn. So we should open our minds and hearts to discover what this life things is truly for, not merely to perpetuate the species, purchase new inventions or adorn our bodies and homes. Quite the opposite in fact.
I find it disturbing that you feel the need to take the scrolls of religious texts from 8000 year old civilizations as fact
4000 years from now someone is going to dig up a spiderman comic and think he's real simply because new york exited...
what you believe is as far fetched as me saying there are unicorns. Can you PROVE there are no unicorns? no. so why don't we all believe unicorns exist? because it is most likely not the case
a logical, rational human being doesnt believe in things that aren't very likely. Faith is for the weak who can't accept the fact that death is final, that there is no life after death, that nature and the universe is quite random, and so called "order" only exists fleetingly due to the inherent properties of matter.
It's a scary thing to realize there is no invisible skydaddy looking out for you. Some people are just too weak to accept that
Actually "H" – Jesus can be factually traced and is commented on by other historical figures (Roman) of the time, regardless of the fact if they believe in Christanity or not.
However, to equate this to something *devine* is completely horrible.
Also, if *faith* is something you are so dead set against, why the he** are you on a Belief blog???
Belief and faith are in separate realms of reality. I've got faith your asinine comments.
You sound terribly secure in your beliefs. Are you? If you are, I dare you to read about Mithras. If you're not, then you're just another religious hypocrite walking around like you know something others don't.
Unicorns aren't real??!!
Do you know what the Annunaki are? They're ancient aliens who came to Earth and engineered humanity. What are you using that as your username?
Of course I know. Just throwing some ideas out there. Is this some high brow heresy I've committed ?
Happy now?
Or this?
so who is right? Jews don't believe in jesus, but there are a lot of brainers on here that do? what about allah? buddha, etc. Figure it out: it's all made up to entertain and make $$$$$$$$$
Hey Catholic mom....are you a CMILF?
Catholic Mom stay the course......they're just bigger bullies on a bigger playground.
I'm amused at the atheistic Christian bashers who have no foundation for their beliefs whatsoever, while the bible has been proven 100% accurate over and over...every prophecy and prediction fullfilled and still coming to pass before our eyes! 2000 years ago John the Apostle who was one of Jesus' twelve disciples wrote the book of Revelation which God showed him a vision of the days we live in. Everything is being fullfilled....politically, which countries were going to rise on the world scene, the european union, the middle east situation, the technology...RFID chips...mark of the beast coming, the weather patterns, and of course the huge antichristian sentiment which has to grow in order for the Antichristian one world govt to achieve it's goal of world domination. All the christian bashers are simply fullfilling bible prophecy....these things were written about in the new testament. NO BODY is ahead of God Almighty...the Lord Jesus Christ. Scripture states, "The Fool has said in his heart...there is no God."
I have to point out that most who replied to the first post did so out of EGOTISM...
@h
Well said.
@Catholic MOM and Wife
Please provide your source for the 'factual" existence of jesus. I’ve heard this many times. But not once has someone been able to do so.
Also, you do realize the link to this story is on the main page and NOT listed under belief blog there?
@Reality Check
As with the Catholic above you. Proved your 'factual' source.
@Pinga Muy Grande
Jews do believe in Jesus. They believe is a prophet, not the son of god.
@OMG
Yes, there are Unicorns… it can be factually traced and is commented on by historic figures (Greeks) of the time, regardless of the fact if they believed in Greek mythology or not.
@Reality Check I love the way you summed it all up.My you are a great theologian. Words well spoken!