Persecution Invisible In Japan: Fantastic Image to "join a religious body in person"

Hi! It's Shellile Linn.(^O^)

Most of you who have born in a society or area where some kind of religious culture have already settled to both with your community, family and  connected with you personally.

For example, if you born in Siena Italy or Dublin, Ireland, your community, society, cultural background and your family belong to Catholic church no matter if you like it or not. You don't have any other choice in such area where Catholic tradition is so strong and deeply rooted in her history. 

So, one born in such area receive baptism and other sacraments without having any other chance to select "something else" than Catholic church until you become an independent enough.

Most of Japanese people don't understand why a baby born in Siena Italy receive baptism in
Catholic church. 

I know most of you receive baptism to join your community you belong and accepted,  get married, have funeral and burial with your family. And many of you except some never aware why you live the way you've been.

Christianity require every one of us to have personal relationship with our Lord Christ through baptism.

The situation is similar in Jewish and Muslim. Jewish require to celebrate Bar Mitzvah for all boys and Bat Mitzah for girls if they allow like protestant Christian receive baptism. Muslims have also their initiation ritual to become a Muslim or Musulima.

I'm not sure if a Jewish can covert from the born sect to the other sect(ex: Modern Orthodox →Super Orthodox) after one become an adult by one's personal intention.

However, Muslims can convert from Shiaha to Sunni or Sunni to Shiaha in the country like Iran or Iraq without having such trouble with their family. So, there could be a Sunni father and a Shiaha son in one family hold. 

For Catholics and Christians, it might become a big big trouble if one family member whose family members are all Presbyterian convert to Catholic! It could be a scandalous matter in a small community or in a traditional family.

It is surely better to see a conversion in-Christianity than a Jewish person convert to other religion such as Christianity.

99.9% of Japanese people don't understand the point of above problem, because Japanese Buddhism and Shintoism never require to belong these religion personally nor any initial ritual to enter the religious body. Temples and Shrines just count all the family member belong to them without asking the personal will to each members. There's no such education exist on Japanese Buddhism and Shintoism, too.

 If you ask an ordinary Japanese person a common question; what is your religion?. Then this person may  get upset, and start talking about "what is religion?" or you might hear "I'm atheist!" by very sad misunderstanding of this word in Japan!

Both consequences will make you regreted and confused.

It means most of Japanese are just being safe & easy being "not religious personally". 

So, if you're a nice businessman, you better not ask any Japanese business person who claim oneself as "Buddhist" or "Shintoist" about their holidays to celebrate, initial rituals and other basic teaching of their religion. 99% of ordinary Japanese people have not much chance to learn about these professional terms in the religious studies anyway.

In other word, majority of Japanese have very grand and fantastic image to "have religious belief  in person".

Famous Catholic nun, Sister Kazuko Watanabe, the Principle of Notre Dame Seishin Women's University was condemned by her mother "you haven't become a perfect girl nor change anything even you become a Catholic! I see no improvement after you baptized in Catholic church!".

So, she had done her very best to be near-perfect Catholic. She'd been originally all A+ student, became a teacher, a novice, a nun and a famous writer although she's a daughter of a famous politician killed in 2.26 military rebel in 1935.

Holy Mother exposed by Atomic Bomb in Urakami Cathedral.

Most of Japanese people have never had a doubt if their fantastic image to be connected with a religious body personally is right or wrong, as if a man in Siena never doubt why he was baptized in Catholic church.

And the fantastic imagination on joining a religious body in person causes the persecution invisible in Japan.

I was a child who was mystically lead to Christianity. And I was in a public elementary school which was fully under control of a vice principle and a typical "Japan Conference" type.

So, there was always invisible pressure "why your school performance is so poor even you go to Christian church on Sunday? " Ijime over me was justified because I wasn't a perfect Christian type in my age about ten..

This logic is a tricky cheating one. 

I mean, have you ever seen any Catholic or Christian born as a perfect person after receiving a baptism? If there's a really faithful child or an adolescent who is seriously faithful and deeply devoted, it is especially evaluable in Catholic or Christian society or culture. 

In Japan, all Catholic and Christian or "just interested in Christianity" need to be very patient for the social pressure which is given only for very few with grace & blessed.

The social pressure in Japan is worth to scare 99% of people to stay away from anything related with Christianity except from famous mission schools and nursing home.

The persecution invisible for Christianity surely have been a critical body blow to the Japanese traditional society.

As in the old saying, when you curse someone, you dig your own grave.

Since the Japan Conference have been pooh-poohing the serious devotion and voluntary action done based on Christianity, 99% of people feel pesimistic on being voluntary or pay donation with good will.

For example, Abe cabinet had spent over two hundred thousand USD to set up a homepage to gather donation for poor children in Japan hence one out of every six children are in very poor condition.

But, since no one really trusted this crazy attempt done by Japan Conference cabinet, the donation Abe cabinet gathered was less than 1/3 of the budget spent for the homepage!

We Japanese Catholics and Christians are also being very careful for every action we take include doing volunteer or giving a small donation.

In one hand we need to stick with our Lord Christ as if each one of us are on the way to Saint, but be very careful not to get a damage or burden originated by the fantastic image for Christianity.

We also hear a good news everywhere. 

It is very common to hear about the mystical relief, healing, good death, and else on Sunday Mass every week.

The persecution invisible in Japan letting us urge to aware belonging to a religious body and seeking the religious belief is something different.

Our condition also suggest a good advice to the whole world. One maybe born to a community, society or culture, and have historical inheritance inside. But, to update the culture suitable to changing conditions and people, every one of us need to know and become a Catholic, Christian American, French, Berliner, or Irish by each of our endless effort and hand down to those who will live after us. 

May Lord bless all the people who are suffering by not knowing who one really are, Amen..