Saturday, November 12, 2016

“アメリカ教”というカルト洗脳と良心



昨日はアメリカで退役兵の功績を称える記念日でした。あっちこっちで星条旗が高々と揚げられていました。しかし、ちょっと思ったことがあります。

この記念日に国旗を高々と揚げながら称えられている退役兵の中には、戦地や占領地で国際法で硬く禁じられている婦女暴行殺人を犯しても軍法裁判を逃れてのこのこと英雄の仮面をつけてアメリカへ戻ってきた獣もいます。しかし、アメリカという国では、そしてアメリカの一般世論は、このような指摘をする人はまずいません。いたとしても、無視同然でしょう。しかし、アメリカでという国では、誰かがかつての日本の慰安婦がどうのこうだの、南京がどうのこうだの、と言い出すとセンセーショナルな程に厳しい対日感情が、種火の焚き火にガソリンをぶっかけたように、アメリカの世論で燃え上がります。そして、こうして感情的に旧日本軍の“蛮行”を感情的に咎めるアメリカ人達は、自分達のこうした対日発言は“正義”の為だとか、“歴史的過ちを繰り返さない為”だとかいった自己主張を伴っています。そして、今ではアメリカの学校で使われている歴史教科書にこうした旧日本軍の”蛮行“について具体的に記されているのですが、私が知る限り、最低同じ比重でアメリカ軍による似たような蛮行について具体的に書いてあるアメリカの歴史教科書にはまだお目にかかったことはありません。

今は退役兵として英雄扱いされていても、中にはかつて戦地や占領地で慰安婦の世話になった者も沢山います。更に酷いのは、戦地や占領地において女性や子供に暴行したうえ、殺害した者もいます。第二次大戦末期において上陸した沖縄の女性を強姦殺人したアメリカ兵はいなかったでしょうか? 降伏してきた沖縄の女性や子供を保護するアメリカ兵の写真や映像はあたかも正義の国アメリカを世界中にアピールするプロパガンダのように今でも出回っていますが。。。

戦後占領軍として君臨したアメリカ兵への慰安婦となった日本人女性、そして沖縄だけでなく日本各地にある在日米軍基地の周辺で米兵によって強姦、殺人された日本人女性。戦後70年以上経ってもこうした鬼畜同様のアメリカ兵によって犯され殺された日本人女性がいますね。しかし、アメリカ人で暮らす普通のアメリカ人はこうしたことについて知らずに、或いは、知っていても触れることなく敬礼します。それがアメリカではあたりまえなんです。

更に、朝鮮戦争において朝鮮人女性売春婦の世話になった米兵、そして朝鮮人女性を強姦したり犯した後殺害した米兵、ベトナム戦争中においてベトナム人女性に対して同様なことをした米兵、いったい何人いたのでしょうか?湾岸戦争においても慰安婦の世話になった米兵はいないと断言できるでしょうか?コソボ扮装においてサリエボなどで慰安婦の世話になった米兵はいないと証拠をもって言えるでしょうか? アフガニスタンやイラクで婦女暴行、殺人を犯した米兵、人権侵害をしなかった米兵、いないといえるんでしょうか? そんなことあれこれ検証するよりも、アメリカという国では、彼らも皆英雄なんです。アメリカではこうして英雄とされ敬礼される人達の中に戦犯がいてはいけないのです。アメリカという国では、そうでなければならないのです。それがアメリカ建国以来の伝統なのですから。アメリカという国の利益追求のため、建国以来、数え切れない程のアメリカ先住民や隣国メキシコの女性が犯され殺されたか。しかし、そんなことを過去の歴史の闇に葬られなければ正義の国アメリカは誇示できないのですから。そして、アメリカという国土拡張の為に“戦った英雄”の中に含まれるのです。平気で人権に対する罪を犯してきた一部の退役兵も、これと同じアメリカ独特の考え方により、“統計学的に有意に満たない”ので彼らの蛮行は無視され、英雄に含まれ、敬礼を受けるのです。

アメリカの人権団体や平和推進団体、それに女性の権利運動団体にしてもこうした一部の退役兵がやった女性や子供の人権侵害について何も声を上げません。たとえ上げたとしても黙殺されるか、圧力で潰されるだけでしょう。だから、皆一同に誇りあるアメリカ人として敬礼するだけです。アメリカ人というのは、ある意味ではカルトに洗脳された人間のように何か大切なことに完全に盲目的になるんでしょうか。彼らの良心というものの本質について懐疑的になりかねません。

それだけならアメリカの問題だからアメリカの好きなようにすればいい、と切り捨てることもできないわけではないのですが、こうしたアメリカの団体の中には昨年の戦後70周年記念にあたり安倍首相にむけて“もっと謝れ!慰安婦は政府がやったことを潔く認めろ!”といった公開書簡を世界中のマスコミに配信しまし、各国からの有識人達の賛同署名を付けていました。中には“女性の権利保護運動家”、“世界平和推進運動家”などと称する日本人もこの公開書簡に署名して日本政府への謝罪を戦後70周年記念の節目だからやれ、と言っていました。日本政府は既にかつての戦争のおいて旧日本軍が交戦、占領した地域の女性の権利が侵害されたことを公式に謝罪し、アジア女性基金という償いを行っているのですが、連中に言わせれば、そんなのは謝罪にならないとでもいう態度です。このような論調は、どうも連中が自称するような女性や平和の為の運動の趣旨から外れ、寧ろ、ある特定の政治的利害が絡んだ偽善的運動思えざるを得ない所があります。そもそも、私が知る限り、アメリカ政府が公式にかつての交戦国や占領国に対し、アメリカ兵が犯した婦女暴行などの女性の人権を蹂躙した蛮行を認め謝罪、補償した例はあるでしょうか? 

しかし、こうした在米日本人の運動家達、アメリカ兵による女性権利侵害や戦争犯罪人とされる婦女暴行殺人行為についてうんともすんとも言いません。こうした連中、ただの偽善者ですね。連中が本当に平和や女性の権利を保障する為の運動をしているならば、アメリカであれ日本であれ、退役兵の栄誉を称えようなんていう前に改めて彼らの一部が犯した人権や平和への罪という戦争犯罪について反省し、謝罪しましょう、ってニューヨークタイムズなどに寄稿すべきなんですが。。。私の30年近いアメリカ生活において今までにそのようなことをしている運動家や団体は一度も見たこと聞いたことはありません。日本に対する文句であれば数え切れないほど連中は発信していますけどね。偏見に満ちたただの偽善者でしかなく、真の意味での平和運動や女性の権利保障運動というのは名目であってただの盲目的アメリカ追従反日運動家でしかないような感じが否めません。こうした在米日本人の運動家もアメリカというカルトに洗脳され自分達の偏った良心の問題に対して盲目なんでしょう。そして、日本の女性もアメリカ兵の蛮行を受けているにもかかわらずこうした日本人の平和運動家や女性権利運動家は、日本政府へ更なる謝罪と補償をアメリカの同類の運動家同様に要求しても、アメリカ政府に対して何も言いません、というか、自分達の偽善、欺瞞と臆病さ、あるは、ただ自分達の偏見に無知だから言えないのでしょうか?

一方、日本ではまだ生存している旧日本軍退役兵の功績を称えよう、ということを提唱すれば、靖国問題同様に炎上し、“お前は軍国主義者か”、”慰安婦として苦しんだアジアの女性の苦しみを無視する非道なやつなのか!“、などと文句言われるだけですが。。。そして、国旗掲揚して君が代を皆で歌おう、といえば国粋主義者だ!といわれたり。。。“白塗り歴史修正主義者だ、というレッテルを貼られたり。。。そして、退官した自衛官達の功績を称えようなんていう国会議員すらあまりいないようですね。

ベトナム戦争末期や直後、“お前はいったい何人の‘肌の黄色い女と子供を殺したの?’と帰還兵を揶揄した時期を除き、戦争犯罪人を無視しても退役兵をただ無批判に称えることが当たり前のアメリカと、戦争は悪でありかつての軍は慰安婦ビジネスを“経営”し、兵の中には婦女暴行殺人を行ったのがいるから国を挙げて退役兵の栄誉を称えるようなことをしようとするだけで批判させる日本、一般的国民の考え方や世論が鮮明に違いますね。

こうした問題を文化人類学的、文化心理学的な観点から検証できる人ってあまりいませんね。そんなことしようとすると、日米両国の偏った“良心”を持つ偽善者達から叩かれますから。しかし、心理学を含めた行動科学や社会科学はこうしたタブーのような現実に科学的なメスを入れなければ本当の意味での正しい歴史認識とそれに基付く平和への努力はできないのではないでしょうか?

私は心理の専門、臨床家だからでしょうか、こうした現象に対し人間の心の奥、潜在意識に潜む何か恐ろしいもの、洗脳のよるマインドコントロールの恐ろしさ、人間の愚かさとそれに気付けないさらなる愚かさなどを感じます。皆さんはどうでしょうか?

在米日本人で同じように思った人は何人いるのでしょうか?在米日本人とはいえ、というか元在米日本人といったほうがふさわしい、アメリカ人と結婚して日本国籍を破棄しアメリカ国籍に乗り換え、誇りあるアメリカ人として振舞う外見と訛りのある英語だけが日本人同様の人もいますが、こうした自分の意思で日本人のアイデンティティーを捨ててアメリカ人になった人はどうなのでしょうか?

人の振りみてわが振りなおせ、ということわざがありますが、私達は今、アメリカのこうした問題を反面教師として活かして、心理学的な側面からも、洗脳や偏見といったテーマに重点をあてて、歴史を再検証する必要があるのではないでしょうか?

Thursday, November 3, 2016

The Chicago Cubs 2016 World Series Champion! – Coming Out of the 108-Year-Long Purgatory – A Catholic Perspective


On November 2, 2016, the Chicago Cubs has made it to the World Series Championship, defeating the Cleveland Indians with 8 -7!  It was back in 1908, when the Cubs was the World Series Champion last time.  It was even before the Wrigley Field, the home of the Cubs, was built. So, the Cubs has won the World Series Championship for the very first time since the Wrigley Field was built in 1914.

Imagine what it has been like to be the Cubs and the Cubs fans for these 108 years, across generations.

Some address these long difficult years with a metaphor of “draught”, while others call these years of no championship as a “curse”. Those who are biblically-inclined may have compared these difficult years of the Cubs and its fans to the 40-plus-year of the Exodus or about 25 years of journey of Abraham and Sarah from Ur to Canaan. But, to me, these long years of the Cubs and the Cubs fans have taken to the World Series Championship can be compared to Purgatory. I know, bringing up Purgatory is very Catholic. But, that is what I am and who I am. Besides, the Chicago Cubs is blessed with a Catholic chaplain, Fr. Burke Masters, who was a college baseball team star player before entering the seminary to become a Catholic priest. So, allow me to put the Cub’s long journey to the World Series Championship in light of Purgatory.


Given that Purgatory is the state of being of spiritual refinement to enter Heaven, these 108 years of no championship for the Cubs had been a long critical refining period that the Cubs and its fans have endured with hope. In a Catholic view, Purgatory is also the state where hope and faith are tested in the most critical way. For the Cubs and its fans, these Purgatory years from 1908 to 2016 have been a great test of their belief and hope for winning the World Series Championship. In this regard, it was no coincidence that the Cubs won the World Series Championship on All Souls Day (November 2), 2016.

On All Souls Day, our hearts and thoughts go out to the souls in Purgatory. These words from the Eucharistic Prayer (II), “Remember our brothers and sisters who have gone to their rest in the hope of rising again; bring them and all the departed into the light of your presence”, during Mass, reflect our hearts and thoughts for the souls in Purgatory.

The souls in Purgatory are the ones who died in the state of grace, preparing to cleanse every remnant of sins, including the Original Sin, so that they can enter Heaven as saints. While God’s grace continue to work on purification of the souls in Purgatory, our prayers for them are very important for God’s grace to work. For God’s grace to take its effect on us, it requires our faith, and our prayers are expressions of our faith. So, we pray for the souls in Purgatory to be commended to be sent to Heaven as saints on All Souls Day, while reflecting on how we will be when Jesus returns to judge who will be with him to enter Heaven and who will not.

The Chicago Cubs could not make it to the World Series Championship for the past 108 years because they had problems that kept them from playing to its best abilities. The impeding factors can be compared to the effects of sins and the remnant of the Original Sins, as these prevent us from being the state of full grace or being spiritually pure. For the Cubs to achieve the summit of the American baseball, the World Series Championship, it must be spiritually pure, free from any hindrance from winning.

Supported by loyal and steadfast prayers of the fans, the Cubs have worked hard and hard in refining its abilities, fortified with the winning spirit, for these 108 years, across generations. The supporting fans and the working players of the Cubs have been united in the same unceasing hope for winning the World Series Championship. And, this united hope of the players and fans of the Cubs sure has made God’s grace bear its tangible effect as a fruit of their faith and hard work. So, the Cubs has won the World Series Championship on All Souls Day of 2016! And this has fulfilled Harry Caray’s “prophecy” for the Chicago Cubs’ World Series Championship many years ago.

Having come out of these 108 difficult yet refining years with the 2016 World Series Championship victory, the Chicago Cubs  and its fans give a powerful testimony of enduring faith and hope, juxtaposing faith in God and faith in the Cubs, hope in God’s salvific provision and hope in the Cubs’ World Series Championship. Now, both the loyal fans and the hardworking players of the Cubs make a metaphor for the souls in Purgatory for their unceasing hope. As the Cubs has come out of these purgatorial 108 years with the World Series Championship, all souls in their final purification process will come out of Purgatory with the sainthood bound for Heaven.

These 108 years were not a curse. Those who have thought so are not for the Cubs, as those who think that souls in Purgatory are being punished, given Wisdom 3:1-9, an option for the First Reading for All Souls Day Mass. The scripture reading sends a message that those who are faithful to God believe that souls in Purgatory are being made holy to become saints. These are not punished for their sins in the past, though that is what the faithless fools may think.  To put this scripture message for All Souls Day for the Chicago Cubs and its loyal fans, these 108 years were not a curse but a refining period for the Cubs to win the Championship again. Only those who have no faith in the Cubs think of these years as a curse.

Having come out of the 108-year "purgatory" with the 2016 World Series Championship, the Cubs are no longer "cubbies". Having endured "purgatory", the Cubs have grown much stronger. But, the Cubs are still and always the Cubs as they remain as humble as "cubbies" in spirit.

                                        



May God continue to bless the Chicago Cubs and its loyal fans with His abundant grace for more World Series Championship to win! Congratulations, Chicago Cubs and fans for the 2016 World Series Championship, a fruit of your enduring faith, hope, and diligence! Cheers! 

Tuesday, November 1, 2016

All Saints Day - Connecting Ourselves Now to Our Eschatological Selves through Saints





The first two days of November put the present to the past and the future in observing All Saints Day (November 1) and All Souls Day (November 2) in the Catholic tradition. On these two days, the faithful experience ecclesiological identity: the holy apostolic catholic Church as the communion of saints. All Saints Day is to honor the souls of the holy ones, including the martyrs mentioned in Revelation 6:9, while All Souls Day is to honor the souls are in the final process to become holy, namely, the souls in Purgatory. Therefore, these first two days of November are to honor those who are ahead of us on our journey into the sainthood, which is found in the Kingdom of God that Jesus has promised for those who follow his way.



In fact, the Church has not become her fullness yet, as not everyone in the Church are saint yet. We, the living on earth, are still on a long way to have our souls purified enough to be saints, and many souls of the deceased are still in purgatory, still working hard on their final tuning in their purification process to become saints. The Church will attain her full communion of saint when all the faithful followers of Christ join the multitudes along with the one hundred and forty-four thousand to be sealed from God’s eschatological deconstructive wrath (Revelation 7:1-9). For the Church to become the Bride of Christ the Lamb of God to be in full union with Christ the King at eschaton (Revelation 19:7), the Church must be completely full of saints as all the faithful have washed their robes in the Lamb’s (Christ’s) blood and made them white (Revelation 6:11, 7:14), meaning that their souls become pure enough to be saints by the redeeming power of the precious Blood of Christ.



 The First Reading for All Saints Day Mass, Revelation 7:2-4, 9-14, certainly reflect on how we are to become as parousia draws nearer at eschaton. Through Jesus’ apparition to him, John of Patmos (John the Evangelist) saw an eschatological vision of the process of deconstruction of the whole Creation with God’s wrath upon the all anti-Christ forces in order to bring the eternal reign of Chris the King, and the First Reading captures where saints are protected from this deconstructive process of God’s wrath. The Reading also reminds that what saves us from God’s wrath during the unfolding God’s punishments on Christ’s enemies is the Blood of Christ, which makes saints robe white, symbolizing purity and holiness of their souls. This long unfolding deconstructive process, which begins with the breaking of the First Seal (Revelation 6:1), is like the pre-Pesach ten plagues in Egypt (Exodus 7:14-12:36). Therefore, just as the faithful Israelites were saved from the plagues in Egypt before Pesach to escape safely, the saints are spared from God’s deconstruction process at eschaton (Revelation 6:1-18:24). As the faithful Israelites, who were saved from the pre-Pesach plagues and endured the challenging Exodus journey all the way into the Land of Milk and Honey, the saints, whose souls are purified and protected from God’s deconstructing wrath will be delivered into the New Jerusalem, which is the eternal Kingdom of God, where Christ the King reign.



Echoing a vision of the saints, who have endured tribulations and will continue to endure through God’s deconstructive wrath against the anti-Christ, in the First Reading (Revelation 7:2-4, 9-14), the Responsorial Psalm (Psalm 24: 1bc-2, 3-4ab, 5-6) sings of them as those who long to see God’s face. This is to remind that the restriction on humans upon the loss of Eden will be wiped out. Therefore, this suggests that the saints are the ones to receive the redemption of the privilege that Adam and Eve had before the Original Sin.



The Second Reading for All Saints Day Mass (1 John 3:1-3) connects us to the sainthood, as both we and the saints envisioned in the First Reading (Revelation 7:2-4, 9-14) are the children of God, whom God the Father has bestowed His love upon. However, we, the living on earth, do not know this truth fully yet. Nevertheless, there is hope that our true identity as the God’s beloved children of God will be revealed in God’s time, as we may also see God, who has created us with His love and in His image. Furthermore, the Second Reading assures us that believing in this promise and keeping the hope on our true identity as God’s beloved children will help our souls become pure. Because pure soul is what a saint has, this is a promising salvific hope for us – to be saved from God’s wrath and to march into the Kingdom of God as the saints, upon enduring God’s wrath’s deconstruction and the heavenly matrimony of the Church and Christ the Lamb.



As the First Reading (Revelation 7:2-4, 9-14) and the Second Reading (1 John 3:1-3) call our attention to the eschatological time, juxtaposing our ultimate identity of sainthood to the saints envisioned in Revelation, the Gospel Reading for All Saints Day Mass (Matthew 5:1-12) tells us that how blessed we, the saints in the making on earth, are and what we need to strive for, in order to find ourselves in the multitudes of the saints in the First Reading. Here, Jesus, whose Blood saves us from God’s wrath and will reign the Kingdom of God, has already told how God is blessing us and  prescribed the way we strive to become saints.



Blessed are the poor in spirit,
    for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn,
    for they will be comforted.
 Blessed are the meek,

    for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
    for they will be filled.
Blessed are the merciful,
    for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart,
    for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers,
    for they will be called children of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
    for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.   (Matthew 5:3-11)


These eight beatitudes are Christian eight-fold path into the sainthood, which begins with humility – being poor in spirit. On this path, we may have to mourn. However, God, who always blesses us, will comfort us. Because we the bound for the sainthood are humble, we are also meek, like Jesus. We fight for justice and act with mercy, practicing Jesus’ new commandment of love (John 14:34-35). Because saints are holy people, we make our hearts pure as God blesses us with His grace, and work for peace. With these virtues, we can endure even persecution all the way to martyrdom.



Back in the old days, All Saints Day was like Christmas and Easter, as it had octave. Though we no longer practice All Saints octave, we can still meditate on what it means to grow into the sainthood – to be in full union with those who have already become saints and to help the souls in purgatory to become saints. This is how we shall start November, which is also the month to end this liturgical year.