| Topic: |
Religions > Atheism |
| User: |
"maff" |
| Date: |
15 Mar 2006 06:29:04 AM |
| Object: |
China Hails a Good Nazi and Makes Japan Take Notice |
China Hails a Good Nazi and Makes Japan Take Notice
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/15/international/asia/15letter.html?pagewanted=all
By HOWARD W. FRENCH
John Rabe, a Nazi Party member and employee of Siemens, helped shield
more than 200,000 Chinese from the Japanese during World War II.
China / Japan
http://groups.google.com/group/alt.atheism/msg/9a4257d68479713f
Japan
http://groups.google.com/group/alt.atheism/msg/69984d4c56600f09
Is the wakening giant a monster?
http://tinyurl.com/iws6
A Blueprint for the Future
http://groups.google.com/group/alt.atheism/msg/a8545c8e949926bc
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| User: "" |
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| Title: Re: China Hails a Good Nazi and Makes Japan Take Notice |
15 Mar 2006 07:28:32 AM |
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"Both the Japanese and the Chinese have clung to a sense of victimhood:
the Chinese for what happened during the war, the Japanese for what
happened after," said David Askew, a professor of law at Ritsumeikan
University in Japan. "They are not so much interested in Nanjing as
their country's place in the world."
It's always the Japan hand who ties China in with Japan as both having
ulterior motives. What about Korea? Do you say the same thing there
too? Still big liars just doing it in a sneakier way.
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| User: "ggg" |
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| Title: Re: China Hails a Good Nazi and Makes Japan Take Notice |
17 Mar 2006 12:03:16 PM |
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wrote:
"Both the Japanese and the Chinese have clung to a sense of victimhood:
the Chinese for what happened during the war, the Japanese for what
happened after," said David Askew, a professor of law at Ritsumeikan
University in Japan. "They are not so much interested in Nanjing as
their country's place in the world."
It's always the Japan hand who ties China in with Japan as both having
ulterior motives. What about Korea? Do you say the same thing there
too? Still big liars just doing it in a sneakier way.
business as usual, right?
Dear teachers, your loyalty to the flag is required
17.03.06
By David McNeill
TOKYO - Tokyo's education authorities have ordered teachers across the
capital to make sure that students stand to attention and sing the
national anthem.
The move follows a rash of protests by students and teachers since Japan
made standing for the anthem compulsory in 1999 to boost patriotism.
The directive, issued by the city's board of education to the heads of
public primary and secondary schools, says students should be taught to
"show respect" for the kimigao, a hymn to the emperor that means "his
majesty's reign" and for the hinomaru "rising sun" flag.
"Principals must thoroughly ensure all school personnel give appropriate
instructions to students based on official curriculum guidelines," said
a board official this week.
Hundreds of teachers across Japan have been disciplined in the past six
years for refusing to obey the law by remaining seated, wearing peace
ribbons or feigning sickness to avoid school ceremonies.
Many teachers in this still strongly pacifist country bitterly resent
being forced to stand to attention for symbols linked to Japan's
militarist past.
More than 300 teachers in the capital are suing the Tokyo educational
board to reverse the directive, which they say is unconstitutional.
"If Germany did this they would call it what it is: Naziism," said one
of the teachers, Eishun Nagai.
Education Ministry guidelines say that teachers who ignore orders to
stand and sing will be punished.
Officials in Tokyo, which under nationalist Governor Shintaro Ishihara
has taken the hardest line, have been dispatched to ensure the flag is
displayed prominently and the anthem sung with sufficient gusto.
In one case, music teacher Sato Miwako sued the Government after she was
suspended for refusing to play the anthem on her piano. Sato, a
committed Christian, called the 1999 directive "unbelievable" and said
when she heard she had to play the song "it was as if my life was being
crushed".
In 2004, retired teacher Katsuhisa Fujita was arrested after he hectored
parents to stay seated for the anthem during a graduation ceremony.
Tokyo alone has handed out warnings, suspensions, pay cuts and sackings
to more than 300 education staff for anthem-related offences since 2003
but the number of protests has plummeted due to the tougher measures -
50 people were disciplined last year, a figure set to fall further this
year.
Parents are also increasingly inclined to stand. Pacifists Yoshihisa and
Midori Yoshida were the only parents to stay seated during their son
Yu's primary school graduation ceremony last month.
"None of the teachers and pupils, except us, refused to stand up," said
Yoshihisa. "But we are very satisfied and proud of my son."
The anthem and flag law was introduced by the Government of Keizo Obuchi
to help restore symbols tainted by their wartime past to the centre of
national life, but it immediately ran into opposition from teachers.
Tokyo issued the latest directive after learning that some schools are
still dragging their feet.
- INDEPENDENT
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| User: "ggg" |
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| Title: Re: China Hails a Good Nazi and Makes Japan Take Notice |
17 Mar 2006 12:04:32 PM |
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Two uears ago, this was the situation:
MEDIA MIX
Freedom is flagging in Japan's public-school system
By PHILIP BRASOR
Few people are probably aware that the national flags of many countries
are not, strictly speaking, national flags. There is no law, for
example, that designates the Union Jack as the national flag of the U.K.
In most countries, the national flag and national anthem are defined, as
such, by custom rather than legislation.
No government can realistically compel its citizens to "respect" its
flag, though people with nationalist ideals often believe they should be
compelled to observe certain rites, like standing up when the flag is
raised and singing the national anthem when it's played. Such compulsion
is inherently antidemocratic and potentially tyrannical, which is why
elected governments are hesitant about legally defining flags and anthems.
In 1999, the Liberal Democratic Party got the Diet to pass a law making
the Hinomaru the national flag (kokki) and "Kimigayo" the national
anthem (kokka) of Japan. Many citizens were concerned, given that both
are holdovers from Japan's imperialist past. The LDP said that there was
nothing to fear because the new law was only a recognition of the flag
and the song.
But in the years since, the Education Ministry has compelled educators
throughout Japan to raise the flag and play the anthem at public-school
ceremonies. Exactly how they've managed to do this when there is nothing
on the books that forces schools to carry out these rites is a mystery;
or, more exactly, it's a mystery to people who did not grow up in Japan,
where ceremonies are a daily part of life.
The main instrument of this compulsion is the Gakushu Shido Yoryo, a set
of guidelines maintained by the Education Ministry for public-school
administration. The GSY contains a section on school assemblies, and the
ministry has revised this section to include the Hinomaru and
"Kimigayo." To compound the feeling of obligation, the ministry carries
out surveys to find out which schools comply.
The ministry thus pits local boards of education, which are financially
beholden to the central government, against teachers, who tend to be
more liberal-minded. The result has been turmoil. As early as 1999, the
principal of a high school in Hiroshima Prefecture killed himself
because he was caught between a board of education that demanded the
flag be observed at school events and teachers who refused to do so.
Last October, Tokyo's Board of Education issued its own manual on how to
carry out ceremonies at public schools. Since the governor of Tokyo is
Shintaro Ishihara, the most famous nationalist politician in Japan, it's
assumed the board didn't need encouragement from the central government.
The directives are detailed and mandatory. Teachers and administrators
are public servants, and those who do not comply will be punished with
pay cuts, black marks on their job records and possible dismissal.
Some have already been warned. The March 7 issue of Sunday Mainichi
reported on 10 Tokyo teachers who had received admonitions for not
standing when the flag was raised during school assemblies. Other
teachers interviewed by the magazine said that the 10 were clearly being
made examples of prior to graduation season.
According to the manual, graduation ceremonies must be held on a raised
stage and the flag must be hoisted above the stage. The anthem is to be
played right at the start with everyone standing. Each teacher is
assigned a seat beforehand and must sit only in that assigned seat.
According to Sunday Mainichi, when a teacher refuses to stand, the
vice-principal cites the teacher out loud in front of the assembly.
Representatives of the board will attend graduation ceremonies and the
seating assignments make it easier for these representatives to identify
teachers who don't comply.
There are no exceptions. On Feb. 10, the board distributed memos with
questions submitted by teachers about the directives. According to the
manual, the music for "Kimigayo" must be played live "on a piano or
other instrument" by a teacher. It cannot be reproduced by means of a
tape or CD. One teacher tested the waters by asking if it were
permissible for a brass band made up of students to play the music. It
was permissible, said the board, as long as a teacher conducted.
The strategy is clear. Though it cannot, by law, force students to stand
and sing, the board believes it can force the teachers to do so, thus
intimidating the students into thinking that they must follow suit. The
strategy is even more insidious than it seems. Mainichi told of one
popular teacher who had received a citation for not standing. Some
former students found out and said to her, "Please stand up next time so
that you can keep your job."
By using coercion to get teachers to feign respect for the flag and the
anthem, the Tokyo board shows that what it wants is docility, not
patriotism. They may not get it. TBS has just reported that so far this
graduation season about 200 Tokyo teachers have refused to stand. On
March 11, 90 percent of the students at Itabashi High School remained
seated during the anthem. And on March 12, some parents who attended the
graduation ceremony at Toyama High School in Shinjuku held aloft
symbolic yellow cards when the announcement was made to stand. They
understand that freedom of conscience is guaranteed by the Constitution,
something the board seems to have forgotten.
The Japan Times: March 28, 2004
(C) All rights reserved
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| User: "Rune B" |
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| Title: Re: China Hails a Good Nazi and Makes Japan Take Notice |
18 Mar 2006 10:00:17 PM |
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On 15 Mar 2006 04:29:04 -0800, "maff" <maff91@yahoo.com> wrote:
China Hails a Good Nazi and Makes Japan Take Notice
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/15/international/asia/15letter.html?pagewanted=all
By HOWARD W. FRENCH
John Rabe, a Nazi Party member and employee of Siemens, helped shield
more than 200,000 Chinese from the Japanese during World War II.
It's sad that these two countries still cannot move on. Look how far
Germany and it's former victims have come. Forgiven, but never
forgotten.
--
Novus Ordo Seclorum
MDCCLXXVI
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| User: "maff" |
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| Title: Re: China Hails a Good Nazi and Makes Japan Take Notice |
25 Mar 2006 08:24:15 AM |
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Rune B wrote:
On 15 Mar 2006 04:29:04 -0800, "maff" <maff91@yahoo.com> wrote:
China Hails a Good Nazi and Makes Japan Take Notice
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/15/international/asia/15letter.html?pagewanted=all
By HOWARD W. FRENCH
John Rabe, a Nazi Party member and employee of Siemens, helped shield
more than 200,000 Chinese from the Japanese during World War II.
It's sad that these two countries still cannot move on. Look how far
Germany and it's former victims have come. Forgiven, but never
forgotten.
But Germay faced upto it's recent history unlike Japan.
--
Novus Ordo Seclorum
MDCCLXXVI
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| User: "" |
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| Title: Re: China Hails a Good Nazi and Makes Japan Take Notice |
15 Mar 2006 09:17:05 AM |
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maff wrote:
China Hails a Good Nazi and Makes Japan Take Notice
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/15/international/asia/15letter.html?pagewanted=all
By HOWARD W. FRENCH
John Rabe, a Nazi Party member and employee of Siemens, helped shield
more than 200,000 Chinese from the Japanese during World War II.
Read Iris Chang's "The Rape Of Nanking". Rabe's story is told
in detail and is worth reading. Some called him the Oskar
Schindler of China.
Sadly, Chang committed suicide soon after writing her second
major work (a self-inflicted gunshot wound) leaving behind a
husband and one year old child.
Bob Dog
-----
"Easily the biggest challenge facing the ID community
is to develop a full-fledged theory of biological
design. We don't have such a theory right now, and
that's a real problem. Without a theory, it's very
hard to know where to direct your research focus."
- Paul Nelson, creationist
and anti-science advocate
"Maybe he needs a new version of the Ten Commandments
-- George W. Bush's Ten Commandments:
Thou shalt not steal...votes.
Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's...country.
Thou shalt not kill...for oil.
Thou shalt not take grammar...in vain."
- Margaret Cho
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