Quote:
Carsten Möllering wrote:
Hm, I don't think that Jesus can be described as a pacifist in the sense we understand it today.
eg. one possible interpretation of "turn the other cheek" just means a simpel historical thing:
Don't accept to be seen as a slave, an unfree man (... Jew) who is hit with the back of the hand by a free man ( ... Roman). But turn your head, present your other cheek and make the aggressor hit you like a free man. ... Stand up for your rights.
Ever heard that?
(There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. Gal 3, 28)
The beliefs inherent in aikido don't clash with christian theology. They would, if it was necessary to believe in the world view of oomoto kyo. But that's not the case.
I worked a lot about the theories of aiki compared to the christian beliefs during my academical training. Very interesting! But no clashes. 
What would you understand then as the pre-existing beliefs inherent in aikido?
Or what you understand as the teachings of Christ?
It's a pity that "christian beliefs" are often defined by fundamentalists.
Well there are some pastors like me doing aikido here in Germany. We have teachers of religious education here and so on. |
I understand your interpretation - but i'm not aware of anything the character ever does which vindicates violence - or even self-defence.
It's an interesting quote - saying that the differences between us, such as nationality, and gender, are illusory and inconsequential - but the history of Christianity is one in which such differences have been emphasised; and the fact that there's the part in the story where god shows up, sees that everyone's acting a fool and killing the non-human animals, tries to commit an act of genocide against the human race (a blanket judgment against 'sinner' and non-sinner, guilty and innocent alike), fails to get people to change, and then goes 'I am sorry I have created them'...i've forgotten what my point was. Apologies.
You misunderstand me: by 'beliefs inherent in aikido' I meant such a belief as that you should not tolerate someone hitting you, and should defend yourself.
For instance, one of the times when the Germans were attacking my country, there were these Christians over here who refused to be conscripted/fight; a tribunal was called, and they were questioned on their beliefs: they said that Christ would not fight under any circumstances; they were asked 'Well what if a German was killing your mother - would you not step in and protect her?' they said that Christ would not, and so neither were they; henceforth they were excused from fighting the Germans.
Obviously their Christian beliefs directly clash with those of aikido.
Well my understanding of the character is that he was a communist, and a pacifist: the story goes that he had no interest in wealth, and didn't run away or fight when they came to kill him. I also understand that as 'the church' grew in power, those true Christians - hermits, who lived in the wilderness with no possessions; monastic orders whose sole concern was 'the life hereafter' - were either declared heretics, and persecuted/murdered; or incorporated into 'the church'.
There's also the fact that people in the west have sold out their antiquated beliefs in certain respects - e.g., hating gays; hating women; hating themselves - but hold onto the vague notion of an afterlife, etc. - they're on easy street, and I have no respect for people who don't want to take the rough, but are perfectly happy to take the smooth.
If I had such an extreme belief that there was some dude with a beard, floating about on clouds and stuff, making people, midgets, and magnetic fields, I would devote so much time to investigating it...
My apologies for going off on a tangent.