tsurara

I notice that there are quite a few passionate, even conservative Christians here... which brings me to an interesting question:

Assuming you are from a faith in which it is laid out that there is only one true God and one true religion (Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Catholocism, etc) and that the worship of "idols" or "pagan gods" is forbidden: how have you responded to elements in anime and Japanese culture that may not gel with your religion?

Less than 1% of the Japanese culture is Christian. They worship at shrines, buy good luck charms, believe that magic is a part of every day life and believe in multiple Gods (if any at all). It's a culture where abortions are currently more common than births and the national age of consent is 14... It's a nation in which Christians were persecuted, told to stand or spit on bibles and even executed for their beliefs.

Media created in Japan, for a Japanese audience obviously often contains reflections of the belief systems and culture of those who made it: so how do you feel about anime in this reguard? What do your parents think? What does your church think? Do you think anime promotes pagan practices?

Hassun

I do have to put the persecutions of Christians in perspective here. There have been more and more gruesome persecutions of Christians in other places throughout history. Japan had a violent spike of Christian persecution of course but it wasn't that long or bad when you put it in perspective.

That being said this is an interesting topic I have wondered about as well.
Usually I get the answer that they see it as a fantasy story and therefore have no problem with it but I imagine some of the more conservative Christians would have problems with it.

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divine_punishment

I am a very devout Roman Catholic. I practice tolerance. In fact, I love other religions. It's fascinating to learn about them. If you don't explore other venues of faith, your own will never be tested and you will simply be following your religion blindly . . . that borders on moronic.

My mother thinks I should spend my money on school rather than books, but she doesn't complain too emphatically.

Anime/Manga does not promote pagan practices and anyone who tells you it does obviously doesn't know what he or she is talking about. True, it's a different religion . . . it's also a work of FICTION.

I love manga and anime and I feel in no way at all does it affect my faith in a negative way. Rather, learning about different belief systems (Shinto, Buddhist, etc.) enhances my faith and me as a person.

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Miroku4444

I'm with divine_punishment on this. If you can't practice tolerance, what does that say about you, or your religion. The only people that have problems with Anime are the same wierdos who want to ban Harry Potter.

Couldnt have said it better myself, ditto for me.

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overload

wow I could not have said it better myself and I was planning to.
(but you beat me to it)
people need to practice tolerance not just for other cultures but for the rest of us as well.
I myself believe like the buddist monks do, God is one river and the other religions are riverlets from that one river.

divine_punishment

Right. A lot of religions believe that if you're not one of them you're going to Hell.

One of my priests once said this: "Heaven is like a great mansion. It has many doors. If you are a good person, you have a key. But why not use the front door?"

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ice viper

This is a very intresting topic. With that said I'm with divine_punishment on this subject he took the words right out of my mouth. I do know some of my elders from my church think that anime/manga and all the other kinds of magic explain the good vs. evil thing very well. I did have a problem with this situation with my own parents I just wound up not listening to them and just keep an open mind about everything.

ILikeApples5520

I am also a Roman Catholic, but I still incorporate other religions into what I believe.

Like Shintoists, I still believe I should be at one w/ nature and consuming food from it should be received with reverence.

And sometimes I don't listen to some ridiculous rules at all. I believe that a woman can have an abortion if she truly wants to, gay marriage be legalized, and that post-marital sex doesn't protect you from AIDS any more than pre-marital sex does.

Some people I know say I am unfaithful to God and I'll go to hell for including other religions.

But God doesn't care, as long as you are at peace with others, yourself, and Him; He will know you are a good soul.

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Thanks to _gwenibe_ for this awesome sig!