The Prophecy of Max Weber

(Tokyo Bay and the Artificial Island and the attached Half Bridge
- about 100km on the side;
Click to Enlarge.

Source: NASA
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=10786 )


The Prophecy of Max Weber


One ordinary American, European, or Japanese must be surrounded in his or her home by "hundreds of thousands" of items produced in factories and plants through industrial processes.

Even a TV set includes "hundreds" of components each of which includes "tens" of technological elements and methods to realize it, including hardware and software.

In this environment full of artificial materials, it would be very difficult to associate oneself with the whole social systems in a meaningful and humane manner.

The more you are given useful industrial products, the more you are required to exercise your love to the society and other members of the society that provide goods and products for your convenience.

But, a weird fact is that consumers have become more alienated and separated from one another and the core of the social system.

The Internet and TV may be regarded as narrowly functioning to connect essentially isolated citizens to the social system and the national system with whatever human senses.

That is why I am concerned with the words of Max Weber concerning true key players in this high-tech global society and that half-naked commercialism:
“Specialists without Spirit, Sensualists without Hearts” ( Weber, 1958: 182 )

Let’s check contents of a non-nonsense discussion:
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The Secular Mirage:
Modernity, The Postmodern Turn, and Religious Revivalism

Manochehr Dorraj
Texas Christian University

…
Therefore, the vengeful return of religion as a major social force in the last four decades and its forceful intervention in this secular age poses major political and philosophical questions.

Some of the statistics in regard to global scope of religious revivalism is startling indeed. In 1970, Barrett and Johnson estimate, there were 1.2 billion Christians, today, they count 2 billion; and Barrett believes there will be 2.6 billion by 2025. The World of Islam is going to grow even faster. In 1970 there were 553 Million Muslims, in mid 2001 there were about 1.2 billion, and Barrett's projection is that by 2025 there will be 1.8 billion Muslims. In 1970 there were 463 million Hindus, by 2003 this number reached 824 million, by 2025 there will be about 1 billion Hindus. The number of Buddhists has increased from 233 million in 1970, to 363 million in 2003, and it is projected to reach 418 million in 2025.However, the rate of the people who identify themselves as non-religious and secular have expanded from 532 million in 1970 to 774 in 2003and it is projected to reach 875 million in 2025. Meanwhile, the number of professed atheists declined from 165 million in 1970 to 150 million today ( Martin, 2003: 44 ).

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The reduction of individuals to passive consumers, caught in a march of fungible commodities that constantly transform and mediate their lives imbues them with a feeling of powerlessness. Moreover, the logic of the market- place is one of pleasure and plurality, of the ephemeral and discontinuous, of a great decentered network of desires of which individual consumers are the passing functions ( Eagleton, 1996 ). By providing permanently valid values and continuity with the past, religious faith enables individuals to connect themselves to their past in a world of constant change and turmoil. In a society where individuals are rendered as passive consumers, by allowing the faithful to actively participate in their faith either through the practice of religious rituals or social and political activities, religion imbues the believer with a sense of control and empowerment.

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The unprecedented decline of community and civic engagement and civility ( Putnam, 2000 ), has intensified a longing for community and connection. As Hannah Arendt has observed, “the collective loneliness” which has become explosive in modern society leads the uprooted to total, unrestricted, unconditional and unalterable loyalty to the “organization” that would lend him/her a sense of mission and belonging ( Arendt, 1960 ). Arendt’s perceptive analysis partially explains the appeal of political religions in the modern and the postmodern era.

Observing the universalization of instrumental rationality and its social impact, the premier sociologist of modernity, Max Weber, characterized institutionalized bureaucratic domination as an “iron cage”. Pondering a possible path for the future, he asserted:
“No one knows who would live in this cage in the future, or whether at the end of this tremendous development entirely new prophets will arise, or there will be a great rebirth of old ideas and ideals” ( Weber, 1958: 182 ).

The Weberian prophecy has materialized in the postmodern era. The last two centuries have had more than their share of charismatic leaders purporting to be new saviors. While some prophets of revolution became the source of inspiration for new sacred initiations, and their ideas created new political faith, thus molding national identities, others left behind profound disillusion and permanent disenchantment.

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In other words, the scientific revolution has spurred tumultuous social transformations that we have not yet been able to fully understand their meanings and ramifications, let alone to be able to control their unintended consequences. Hence, the technological revolution appears as unconscious and out of control, and its prodigy, the postmodern society, stands as something alien dominating human life. As Weber puts it, the result is the creation of “specialists without spirit, sensualists without hearts” ( Weber, 1958: 182 )…

As Marxism is stripped from its messianic mantle and is relegated to the level of other secular ideologies, new opportunities have opened up for religious organizations to assume an even more overt and assertive political roles. This is particularly true in the Third World where economic, social and cultural polarizations are more pronounced and distinct. Due to the fragile nature of their socio-economic systems, the global South responds to the social and cultural dislocations of postmodernity more intensely and vibrantly. It may well be that the volcanic eruption of the religio-politics in the Third World, may tell us something about the genealogy of the crisis that plagues the global North; but also as to what might emerge to resolve it.

http://lass.calumet.purdue.edu/cca/jgcg/2007/sp07/jgcg-sp07-dorraj.htm
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Last Sunday, as the God told me to check the field He loves, I went to the field of seawater, namely Bay of Tokyo.

Yet, there may be another holy field to check before the August of 2008 has gone.




Joh 8:30 As he spake these words, many believed on him.

Joh 8:31 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;

Joh 8:32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

THE CULTUAL BASICS OF JAPAN

(Click to enlarge)

(After a long submarine tunnel a huge parking area extends a long bridge crossing the half of Tokyo Bay...)


THE CULTURAL BASICS OF JAPAN


I know there are many Japanese speaking fluently on money in English, working in Tokyo, New York, and London in addition to Shanghai and Singapore.

But, 999 out of 1000 Japanese citizens well educated and disciplined, if not in school, do not speak and write well in English.

I mean that they can only express less than one percent of their wisdom and knowledge in English if they try, since Japan is a separate world where only the Japanese language is daily used by 120 million people, even from kinder gardens to higher education institutes with rare exceptions.

Of course, French is a kind of luxury since it is students mostly from the middle class that would try to study the French literature or art in universities in Japan.


SECTION I: RACES

(Click to enlarge)
(http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%A2%E3%83%B3%E3%82%B4%E3%83%AD%E3%82%A4%E3%83%89 )

From various studies, including those based on DNAs, it is now known that there are some types of people in the Japanese race who are very unique even among the globally unique Japanese people.

They seem to have specific unique traits any other races share from a perspective of genes. They are even very different from those now living on the Asian Continent, including the Korean Peninsula, and the Pacific islands.

Nonetheless, even Japanese people cannot see physical difference between those inherent and unique Japanese and other "ordinary" Japanese, a mix of various origins in Asia.

(It seems that almost 60% of the contemporary Japanese share many traits with either typical Koreans or typical Chinese, though not in terms of language.)

Anyway, it is still a mystery what language the greatest grand-ancestors of the Japanese people who were living on the Japanese Islands, at least 35,000 years ago, were using.



SECTION II: LANGUAGES

Everybody knows American English is an extension of British English.

British English is part of the Germanic language group.

The Germanic language group is a subset of the Indo-Aryan language system.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indo-European_languages

In East and Central Asia or the world of the Mongoloid race, there seem to be four original language groups according to the regions: North, Central, and South East-Asia and the Pacific Area.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Language_families_and_languages

For example, the Chinese and the Tibetan belong to one group, namely Central East-Asia, in my term.

The Japanese language is unique in that it is based on both the North and South East-Asian language systems.

Accordingly, the Japanese language has the grammar akin to that of the Korean and Siberian languages; but it has many basic words remotely associated with those of South East-Asian languages or even the Pacific languages.

Nonetheless, Japanese 2000 to 1500 years ago adopted letters and many abstract words and concepts from ancient China so as to use the Kanji letters, roughly speaking a classic style of contemporary Chinese letters.

Yet, the inherent basic Japanese words are the core of the Japanese spiritual culture, since those basic words might reflect the heart and mind of the greatest grand-ancestors of the Japanese people who were living on the Japanese Islands at least 35,000 years ago.



SECTION III: BASIC JAPANESE WORDS

To study the pure and original Japanese language, you must do away with Kanji characters or the ideogram system imported from China.

You have to simply use Hiragana letters which are Japanese phonograms derived from Kanji letters.

http://www.tsutaya.co.jp/item/book/view_b.zhtml?pdid=40286163

(1) Happiness (Koufuku, Shiawase, or Saiwai)

There are three ways to mean happiness in Japanese: Koufuku, Shiawase or Saiwai.

The pure and original word is, however, “Sai-Wai.”

“Sai” is originally “Saki” which means to blossom.

“Wai” is originally “Hahi” which means a state of continuation, like in a case of “Keha(h)i” meaning a sign of continued existence of something.

Therefore, "happiness" was originally expressed as a state of flowers continuing to fully blossom by ancient Japanese people.

Even today, “Saiwai” is used and regarded by the Japanese as a decent and classic way of expressing happiness.


(2) East (Higashi)

In Japanese, the right is “Migi”; the south is “Minami”; and Migi is regarded as meaning Minami, too.

In Japanese, the left is “Hidari”; the north is “Kita”; and Hidari is regarded as meaning Kita, too, while even in English the east is also expressed with “orient,” since the east is the direction a man should stand, be oriented to, and be directed to.

Yet, “Higashi” meaning the east is originally “Hi-Mukashi”; “Hi” is the sun and “Mukashi” is to face.

( http://gogen-allguide.com/hi/higashi.html )



(3) God (Kami)

There are so many theories as to why the Japanese people have called a God or the God “Kami” since the ancient times.

The northern tribe of the Japanese Island, the Ainu people, calls God “Kamui” which also means a bear.

The Korean people call a bear “Komu” which also meant a God in ancient times.

Even in English, a “bear” also means a God, originally.

Celtic people also like bears, since “Arthur” of King Arthur means a bear.

In ancient China, it was said that a son of Holy Prince “U” changed itself to a yellow bear.

In Japanese, a bear is called “Kuma,” too, since there are bears on the Japanese Islands since far before the human history began.

So, it is natural to think that ancient Japanese people found extraordinary strength in a bear which looked like coming directly from a God, like so many tribes in North European-Asian Continent.

Bears live in deep forests or mountains. People never often encounter a bear in Japan. But, when ancient Japanese happened to meet the tough animal in a mountain, the fear and shock must have been enormous, since their lives were at stake.

Anyway, though a bear is called “Kuma” in Japanese, a God or the God is called “Kami-sama,” since “sama” is a Japanese style of an honorable prefix, though put at the tail but not at the head.

In addition, Christ is “Kirisuto” and Jesus is “Iesu” in Japanese, respectively.

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Oh, that is all for today.

Cicadas and Japanese bell crickets have been singing as the rain stopped this morning around Tokyo.

Indeed, European races cannot enjoy the singing of insects, since their ancestors lived for too long in northern infertile woods and forests.

If you master the modern Japanese language but you cannot enjoy singing and chirping of insects as ordinary Japanese do in the summer, you are still an outsider of the Japanese Culture.

Yet, the Gospel is above the Japanese Culture like all the other cultures in the world.

If you are a follower of the Gospel, no Japanese will miss the difference, since it is tantamount to seeing the strength of a bear in the middle of the street far from deep mountains and forests.



(When the summer nears its end, I really feel chagrined every year, though the autumn is the best season in Japan.

http://www.fukuchan.ac/music/jojoh/natsuwakinu.html )



Mar 8:29 And he saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Peter answereth and saith unto him, Thou art the Christ.

Paul and Peter in Antioch 1950 Years Ago

(Just over the Tokyo Bay)


Paul and Peter in Antioch 1950 Years Ago




Why must a Japanese NGO worker be killed in Afghanistan by the Taliban?

It is because Japan must deal with Islam, just like St. Paul and St. Peter must have dealt with non-Israelites 1950 years ago.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7584232.stm

Honestly, I think that the Vatican should move or go back to Jerusalem so as to deal with Judaists living there now, since St. Peter loved Israelites and Jerusalem above all, unlike St. Paul who was also a Roman citizen.


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According to Max Weber, the establishment of individualism, equality, freedom, independence, and every key factor in the Western civil society and democracy of today can be traced back to the meeting of St. Peter with St. Paul at Antioch decades after the execution and resurrection of Jesus Christ in the first century.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antioch

There are many arguments and discussion on this meeting with various focuses and interests, for example:
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Paul Confronts Peter in Antioch
Galatians 2:11-21

What provoked the confrontation? - The Event (Gal 2:11-13)- Peter was probably in Antioch shortly after Paul and Barnabas had returned from their mission trip to Galatia, but before the incident in Acts 15:1 occurred.

- Like Paul, Peter was trying to be all things to all men and he made a practice of eating with the Gentile believers from the church at Antioch. But when messengers from James arrived, they probably told him that his "free" lifestyle in Antioch was hindering the work of Jewish evangelism in Jerusalem. So Peter made the decision to withdraw from fellowship with Gentiles because he did not want to offend the Jews to whom he was commissioned to minister.

- When Paul saw this inconsistency in Peter's actions, he confronted Peter face-to-face in public. Even though his motives may have been admirable, Peter was wrong to withdraw from Gentile fellowship.

- Paul knew that Peter still held to orthodox doctrine - his beliefs about the gospel were correct. But his practices contradicted what he was believing. This type of inconsistency causes a disconnect between doctrine and practice, and the human mind tends to reconcile the problem by changing doctrine to correspond with the practice. This is what Paul was afraid might happen, so he stood firm for the truths of the faith.

What was at stake? - The Rebuke (Gal 2:14)- Paul knew that true doctrine would be affected by this inconsistent practice, so he brought everyone back to the center line of doctrine. The very truth of the gospel was at stake!

- not straightforward (ortho-podousin) = literally, "not straight-footed," not walking straight, believing one thing but doing another. Peter was actually contradicting the doctrine of the gospel by his practice.

- Paul was especially concerned that the Gentiles (to whom he was called) would be confused by this inconsistent practice. The Gentiles could only draw one conclusion: that as long as they remained uncircumcised they were only "second class" Christians. Paul calls this "compelling the Gentiles to live like Jews."

- Paul knew that the "wall of partition" between Jews and Gentiles had been broken down by Christ (see Ephesians 2:14-16), but now Peter was helping to rebuild the division between the two groups in the body of Christ.

What was the truth? - The Correction (Gal 2:15-21)- Paul begins by addressing Peter (as a Jewish believer who had separated himself), and he includes all of the other Jewish believers who are present.

- "We are Jews ... but even we Jews know that a man is not justified by works of the law, so even we Jews have believed in Christ so that we may be justified by faith in Christ."

….
- The effect of being justified by faith alone is to make a person dead to the law. Since he is now truly alive, he can really live for God! Justification by faith also brings the indwelling ministry of the Holy Spirit into the life of the believer.

- The impact of teaching the necessity of obeying the Jewish Law was to destroy the doctrine of the gospel and to make the death of Christ useless!

http://www.spiritandtruth.org/teaching/Book_of_Galatians/06_Galatians_2_11-21/Gal_2_11-21_Notes.pdf
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* * *

As there is clear discontinuity between the age of France, Germany, and Britain and the era of the Roman Empire, there is clear discontinuity between the age of European Christianity and the era of the first and direct followers of Jesus Christ.

For the former, the decisive incident might be the fall of the city Rome in 410; for the latter the decisive meeting of St. Peter with St. Paul in Antioch before 60 A.D.

If in Antioch St. Peter had insisted that above any interpretation and understanding of words and deeds of Jesus Christ it must have been Israelites that could be saved through Christ, St. Paul would have been regarded as a maverick and thus forgotten in the history.

In this case, even today, Christians must have meant one faction among Judaists. There must be no such a thing as the Vatican, Protestant churches, and African-American Christians, since Christianity must be only composed of Judaists even today.

In that case, their doctrine would have been: a man can be saved by a faith but not by a law; yet, a man should be a Judaist to be saved by whatever means or the means Jesus Christ provided.

Indeed, from the beginning, if St. Peter had been so great, why must have Jesus Christ chosen St. Paul?

If St. Peter had had a great faith, he could have also covered the work St. Paul had done. St. Peter should have focused on non-Israelites as much as St. Paul did, which he however could not since he was a pure Israelite.

Truly, the key issue is why Jesus Christ needed St. Paul in addition to St. Peter.

If St. Peter had been so great, so holy, so powerful, and so endowed with holy authority, Jesus Christ had no need for St. Paul.

The meaningful player is St. Paul but not St. Peter for non-Isrealite Christians.

Nonetheless, what is a difference between them so long as such a question is instructive to us?

* * *

The big difference between St. Paul and St. Peter is that the former never saw Jesus Christ in person but the latter did.

Yet, it is crystal clear that it is St. Paul who set the foundation of the modern European Civilization.

Indeed, it is crystal clear that it is St. Paul who set the foundation of the Vatican in terms of salvation of non-Israelites and non-Judaists.

The implication is that you and I who have never seen Jesus Christ in person in the first century are allowed to talk about Him as with St. Peter or the Vatican, since St. Paul was allowed to, too.

What’s more, it can be interpreted that we don’t need the Vatican anymore as the sole authority in Christianity.

The Vatican’s justification for its authority is that it is backed by the historical fact that they are direct successors of St. Peter who saw Jesus Christ in person.

However, as St. Paul proved that Christianity did not need Israelites with his assertion of the death in the Law, the meeting at Antioch also suggests that Christianity does not need the Vatican; the followers of God do not even need Christianity; and the God is almighty so as to project His authority to any religion on the earth.

(And, if a God’s Angel introduced Islam, Christians must accept it, since Jesus Christ had appeared to St. Paul as the God’s Angel appeared to the founder of Islam.)

***************************************************


Now, can you know why the first African-American U.S. President must be Mr. Barack Obama?

Or, can you know why the first Vietnam War hero who is elected as U.S. President must be Mr. John McCain?

It is because it was St. Paul but not St. Peter Jesus Christ authorized for the mission to non-Israelites, since St. Peter could have claimed to his Lord that He did not need St. Paul at all since St. Peter himself could fulfill any functions to be committed to St. Paul.

Just like the God needed St. Paul, He might need EEE Reporter, Mr. Barack Obama, or Mr. John McCain, since He seems to have needed Islam in addition to Buddhism.

Otherwise, you might be highly needed for a scared cause, since you might be akin to St. Paul rather than St. Peter.



(As I checked a half, though huge, bridge over the Tokyo Bay:
http://www.fukuchan.ac/music/popular/bridgewater.html )




2Pe 1:1 Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ:

2Pe 1:2 Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord,

2Pe 1:3 According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:

2Pe 1:4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

Holy Messengers in Jerusalem, Rome, and Washington DC

(Part of a huge machine used to tunnel under the Tokyo Bay)


Holy Messengers in Jerusalem, Rome, and Washington DC



I once humbly supported an NGO working in Afghanistan.

That is why I have to check the late-night TV news program if not delivered and broadcast from a Hong Kong or Singapore studio.

Indeed, if an Afghan local man walks on the street of Tokyo in his natural style, everybody would think he is a mad man.

If Afghan terrorists killed any single Japanese who has been working to help local Afghans, Allah would take it as an act of madness but not holiness at all.



SECTION I: FALL OF JERUSALEM

It was 30 years after the execution of Jesus Christ or four years before the final war of Israelites with the Roman Empire that a strange man appeared in Jerusalem.

He was named “Jesus,” one of common names among Israelites then. He walked around Jerusalem every day, shouting all day long, “Voices against Jerusalem and the holy place! Evil on Jerusalem!”

Other Israelites captured and whipped him to silence him in vain. They brought him to the Roman Governor who also whipped him in order to silence him in vain. He was released as officially regarded as a mad man, since he did not even thank kind people who gave him foods on the street of Jerusalem.

He continued to shout “Voices against Jerusalem and the holy place! Evil on Jerusalem!” until the final war between Israelites and the Roman Empire erupted.

Even during the war, he walked around Jerusalem being surrounded by Roman legions every day, shouting all day long, “Voices against Jerusalem and the holy place! Evil on Jerusalem!”

He was finally hit to death while shouting and walking on the wall of Jerusalem by one of big stones Roman soldiers launched with a catapult.

The Jewish-Roman War led to the fall of Jerusalem and the Diaspora of Israelites until after WWII.

It happened so, because Israelites had neglected the last messenger, namely the shouting mad man, the God sent to Jerusalem to give them the last chance to avoid the war and maintain Jerusalem for another 2000 years.

As a more detailed version:
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Josephus, in Jewish War, wrote that in the years leading to the first Jewish uprising of 66 C.E., there lived a man named Jesus, who prophesied the destruction of the Temple at Jerusalem. This was not the same man as Jesus ben Joseph, the man called Christ, who had said he would destroy the Temple and rebuild it in three days, and who had been executed three decades earlier. Jesus ben Ananias, ‘a rude peasant,’ made Jewish and Roman authorities initially suspect he was yet another one of those peasant rebels. Since the time of Antipas there had been a long line of them—there was John, known as the Baptist; and then there was the man called Christ, his cousin and great follower. Although the authorities had officially dismissed them as minor troublemakers, they had attracted a small number of followers, and neither the descendants of Herod nor the sons of Annas (including Caiaphas, his son in law) wanted any more trouble.

In 62 C.E., during the feast of Booths, Jesus ben Ananias exclaimed at the Temple:

‘A voice from the east,
a voice from the west,
a voice from the four winds;
a voice against Jerusalem and the sanctuary,
a voice from the bridegroom and the bride,
a voice against all the people.’

The Temple had always been a sensitive issue for Jews: when Caligula wanted to install statues of himself as Zeus at the Temple, the Jews gathered and stood in silent protest for forty days; when the Christ railed against the presence of vendors at the Temple and what he had called the desecration of his ‘Father’s house,’ he earned the ire of the Jews.

For days Jesus kept cursing the Jews and their Temple, until Jewish authorities arrested him to be ‘severely chastised.’ But he neither defended himself nor his actions; as he was being flogged, he just kept repeating his curses. Could there be a ‘supernatural impulse’ behind this man’s pronouncements? asked the Jews. They brought him to Albinus, the Roman governor, to be flogged some more. One could almost see the bones through his torn flesh. He screamed ‘Woe to Jerusalem!’ whenever the whip touched his back. ‘He neither sued for mercy nor shed a tear,’ wrote Josephus.

What are you talking about? Albinus asked him. Why do you say such things?

He didn’t respond, but went on with his curses.

The governor decided Jesus was a madman, and let him go.

For seven years and five months he went on walking around Jerusalem, his wail unflagging, although louder at the feast of Booths, the feast of Weeks, the day of Passover, the week of Unleavened Bread. Whether people fed him or hurt him, all he said to them in response was ‘Woe to Jerusalem!’

When war broke the Temple walls did come down. Jesus stood inside the tumbling walls of the Temple, standing in between the warring Jews and Romans. He screamed one final time: ‘Woe once more to the city and to the people and to the temple!’ He had just finished saying, ‘And woe to me also,’ when a large stone, hurled by a ballista, came into his view, growing larger and closer. He watched it, and didn’t move.

http://blagador.blogspot.com/2006_06_01_archive.html
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In my interpretation, Jesus ben Ananias must have been given a view of the total massacre of European Judaists which would occur 1900 years later in Europe.

It is because since anybody living in Jerusalem around 60 A.D. had been given the view of the Holocaust of 1940's, he should have acted precisely like Jesus ben Ananias, shouting "Evil on Jerusalem that is going to lose the faculty of protection of Israelites!"



SECTION II: FALL OF ROME

In the similar way, one strange man was killed in Rome before its fall through wars with wild tribes from the east.

At the Colosseum in Rome on January 1, 391, a strange man suddenly jumped into the arena in the middle of the bloody show by gladiators, who were forced to fight until their death, tens of thousands of Roman citizens were enjoying.

He shouted, “Stop the killing!” The huge audience were silenced for a while but got angry as their pleasure was so stupidly interfered; Being themselves again, they all shouted, “Kill the mad man!”

The audience started to throw stones at him to death eventually.

Yet, this incident had a significant influence on Emperor Honorius who finally prohibited the bloody fight of gladiators in the Colosseum.

But here, as another version of the story:
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"The Table That Turned the World Upside Down"
Matthew 26:20-30
Dr. J. Howard Edington, Senior Pastor
Providence Presbyterian Church
October 1, 2006

…
That day – January 1, 391 A.D. – 50,000 people jammed into the Colosseum to roar with blood-lust as gladiators fought to the death on the sand floor of the arena. Only this particular day was to be different from any other because in the crowd that day was a holy man named Telemachus. Telemachus was a devout Christian – a monk who some years before had retreated to the desert to spend his days in prayer and meditation.

But as Telemachus prayed, he began to sense that the Lord was calling him to serve the people who lived in the city of Rome. So Telemachus headed for Rome, the greatest city in the world at that time. When he arrived, he saw these thousands of people crowding into the Colosseum. Curious, he followed them in. As he took a seat, he noticed a wave of excitement and anticipation sweeping over the crowd as the gladiators came out and prepared to fight. As they marched on to the arena floor, each saluted the emperor by crying out, “Hail, Caesar! We, who are about to die, salute you!” Soon the fight was on. Telemachus was appalled. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Men for whom Christ had died were here killing each other for the amusement of the blood-thirsty crowds. Telemachus couldn’t stand it. Suddenly, he vaulted over the barrier, dropped to the arena floor, and proceeded to position himself between the gladiators. At first, the crowd laughed at the sight of this little holy man, still in his monk’s robe, standing between these two powerful gladiators. But then the crowd grew impatient and began to chant, “Let the games go on! Let the games go on!” The gladiators turned to look at the emperor. Caesar gave the thumbs-down sign. The gladiators raised their swords. Telemachus, in a voice that echoed throughout the vast stadium, prayed, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.”

The swords flashed in the sun. Telemachus fell dead, and the sand ran red with his blood. The crowd fell silent – 50,000 people and you could have heard a pin drop, for suddenly there was a mass realization of how horrible and how wrong this killing really was. And then in that embarrassed and embarrassing silence, one man, disgusted, got up and walked out, followed by another, and another, and another. Then Caesar, sensing a sudden shift in the political winds, got up and left, and when Caesar left everybody else left, as well. The games ended abruptly that day, and the Colosseum was never used again for such a bloody purpose. One man, Telemachus, by dying ended the gladiator games forever. The spilling of his blood stopped the blood-spilling of others. The giving of his life saved the lives of many others….

http://www.causegodjoy.com/docs/Ser10-1-06JHE.doc
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Clearly, too much entertainment or heavy reliance on bread and circuses led to the fall of the city Rome to the invading Visigoths soon after this incident, namely in 410, which led to the final destruction of the Roman Empire, since Roman citizens could not vigorously bear their own serious soul-searching even after the death of the holy messenger in the Colosseum .



SECTION III: LESSONS

There are many theories on the fall of the Roman Empire as well as ancient Jerusalem.

For example, Max Weber is also well known for his strong interest in the ancient Roman Empire:
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When explaining the decline of the Roman Empire, he focused on structural changes in Roman agriculture. More importantly still, Weber's life-long preoccupation with the increase of rationality in the modern world was to a considerable extent based on structural considerations, as witness his stress on the separation of the household from the business enterprise as a harbinger of economic rationalization. In all these instances, Weber also provides illustrations pointing to changing motivations of historical actors, yet on balance, structure seems more important than motivation.

http://www.bolender.com/Sociological%20Theory/Weber,%20Max/weber,_max.htm
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In summary, if you neglect a holy messenger, you cannot avoid a critical tragedy.

Too much indulgence in bread and circuses will lead to a structural change in the society and the industry, including agriculture.

Yet, Mr. Barack Obama or Mr. John McCain does not look like a holy messenger who must look like a mad man.

Or, does Mrs. Clinton look so fully?

**********************************************************************

If the next General Election in Japan results in a change of administration, Mr. Ichiro Ozawa will be elected in the national assembly Diet as Japan’s Prime Minister, since he is the head of the Democratic Party of Japan.

Nonetheless, there is a strong concern over his policy on national security. Mr. Ozawa claims that Japan should send troops of the Ground Self-Defense Force to Afghanistan as a member of the International Security and Assistance Force (ISAF) or such of the United Nations.

It is very controversial. The Afghan civil war will not end until the quasi-civil war in Pakistan ends, while India, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and China are involved in the region as direct or indirect parties highly concerned.

So, Japan needs a strong opposition party if a regime change occurs through general election, since most of experts now predict that the very rare political incident in Japan will happen within a year.

(Mr. Ozawa should rather concentrate his efforts onto agricultural issues of Japan, since Japan is the Holy Land of Vigorous Rice Plants.)

Nonetheless, from the beginning, Mr. George W. Bush needed such a messenger even before Sept. 11, 2001, though Mr. Jyunichiro Koizumi visited so friendly Camp David in the summer of 2001, namely several months after the demolition of the large statutes of Buddha by AlQaeda and the Taliban at Bamiyan in Afghanistan.



( http://www1.ocn.ne.jp/~har-snow/Nocturne.mid

Source: http://www1.ocn.ne.jp/~har-snow/northwin.htm)



Act 26:11 And I punished them oft in every synagogue, and compelled them to blaspheme; and being exceedingly mad against them, I persecuted them even unto strange cities.

Act 26:12 Whereupon as I went to Damascus with authority and commission from the chief priests,

Act 26:13 At midday, O king, I saw in the way a light from heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining round about me and them which journeyed with me.

Act 26:14 And when we were all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice speaking unto me, and saying in the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.

Act 26:15 And I said, Who art thou, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest.

Act 26:16 But rise, and stand upon thy feet: for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee;

Act 26:17 Delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee,

Act 26:18 To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.

MAX WEBER and Poor Americans

(On the artificial island in the middle of Tokyo Bay in August 2008)


MAX WEBER and Poor Americans



So, Ms. Caroline Kennedy chose Mr. Joe Biden for the whole Democrtaic Party, since he is a Catholic.

Indeed, I asked God the other day who would win the race.

Then, a Kenyan marathon runner won in Beijing.

What do you think about it, since you must like to announce the winner of the 2008 U.S. Presidential Election in three months?

But, why have so cloudy and rainy days continued around Tokyo these days, as the temperature dropped to 25 degrees Celsius even in midday, though I am much relieved?


(Yes, I think that the Chinese President visited South Korea yesterday, following a request from the U.S. President, to discuss North Korean issues, including Japanese citizens abducted by North Korean Government's secret agents in these decades...)



SECTION I: MAX WEBER

Even in Japan, some people like to refer to Max Weber (21 April 1864 – 14 June 1920) when they want to be respected while discussing something.

Poor Americans, nonetheless, should check Max Weber, too, since his work has become part of justification of the American Material Dream which has virtually fooled so many poor Americans now suffering from the subprime loan problem.

--------------------------------------------
Weber's essay The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism (Die protestantische Ethik und der Geist des Kapitalismus) is his most famous work.[12] It is argued that this work should not be viewed as a detailed study of Protestantism, but rather as an introduction into Weber's later works, especially his studies of interaction between various religious ideas and economic behaviour….

According to Weber, one of the universal tendencies that those individuals had to fight was the desire to profit. After defining the spirit of capitalism, Weber argues that there are many reasons to look for its origins in the religious ideas of the Reformation….

Weber showed that certain types of Protestantism – notably Calvinism – favoured rational pursuit of economic gain and worldly activities which had been given positive spiritual and moral meaning.[22] It was not the goal of those religious ideas, but rather a byproduct – the inherent logic of those doctrines and the advice based upon them both directly and indirectly encouraged planning and self-denial in the pursuit of economic gain….

The phrase "work ethic" used in modern commentary is a derivative of the "Protestant ethic" discussed by Weber. It was adopted when the idea of the Protestant ethic was generalised to apply to Japanese people, Jews and other non-Christians….

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Weber
--------------------------------------------

Of course, Max Weber is not so helpful for poor Americans so suffering being surrounded by so much wealth of others.

It is because Max Weber did not mention specific and daily "desire" and "evil" of capitalists.

It is just like Karl Marx did not mention specific and daily "desire" and "evil" of communists.

If they can do away with their human “desire” and “evil,” capitalists will be good for poor people.

If they can do away with their human “desire” and “evil,” even communists will be good for poor people.

(Indeed, religious "desire" and "evil" is the last and first challenge mankind must tackle and must have with Jesus Christ in between.)


SECTION II: MAX WEBER and Japan

Max Weber also could not understand Japan and Japanese religions.

Before the notable era of national isolation of Japan between 1630 and 1860, there was a period of time Japanese had been actively engaged in overseas adventures including the wars with China and Korea.

Since ships from Portugal, Spain, and Dutch reached Japan around 1550, many Japanese citizens, merchants, and samurais willingly ventured out to South East Asia where trade and business were buoyed by deployment and colonization by Western nations.

Only when Christianity spread so widely and strongly inside Japan, the then Japanese samurai regime decided to close the door of the nations so as to exterminate the momentum and eradicate the influence of Christianity in the Japanese society.

However, Max Weber thought it was an inherent nature of Asian religions to have a nation close the door and hold a negative view on the wider world.

Max Weber was wrong in this context.



SECTION III: MAX WEBER and America

Max Weber travelled the U.S. around 1904 when the International Exposition was held in Saint Louis.

He studied various aspects of the American society with a focus on Christianity.

He was mostly impressed with how Christianity worked as moral standards among the American public in accepting business people.

But, he thought that the issue of African Americans must become the most significant one in the coming ages, for he actually observed how African Americans were struggling in their desparate efforts to have access to reasonable education.

So, the underling challenges in the American society were identified by Max Weber as (i) Christianity as ethical standards in the business-oriented American society and (ii) African Americans in the Era after Emancipation of Slaves.

It is apparent that Mr. George W. Bush is based on, and oriented to the paradigm (i), and Mr. Barack Obama on and to the paradigm (ii).

Yet, Mr. John McCain looks more fundamental in terms of the Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism.

Nonetheless, any of them cannot win and maintain higher social status without a help from super rich people who are living on the post Max-Weber paradigm as they often look like being engulfed by desire and evil of huge wealth and power.

*********************************************************************

When Max Weber visited the United States, namely in 1904, the Japanese-Russo War broke out.

As the Empire of Japan won the war while China and India were so helpless and incompetent facing Western powers, there occurred a paradigm change among Asians including Arabs and Muslims, leading to their independence half a century later.

Even after WWII, as Japan has become the second largest economy in the world, much of Max Weber’s work turns to look like effective only in analyzing the European/American Civilization but not so universal.

Consequently, today nobody is startled to see economic success of China and India as their rises don't look like a miracle at all.

In this context, Japan can supersede the great thinking of Max Weber; yet there is one unique American issue Japan cannot be involved in: the race issue around African Americans.

The rise of Hispanics will not solve the issue, since it is just accumulating another burden on unstable foundation yet to be fixed in the American Christian society.

Truly, the tragedy is that many African Americans, except Mr. Obama and the likes of him, look like being discouraged even to check the Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism.



( http://midi-classics.cocolog-nifty.com/mp3/figaro.mp3
Source: http://windy.vis.ne.jp/)


Luk 8:26 And they arrived at the country of the Gadarenes, which is over against Galilee.

Luk 8:27 And when he went forth to land, there met him out of the city a certain man, which had devils long time, and ware no clothes, neither abode in any house, but in the tombs.

Luk 8:28 When he saw Jesus, he cried out, and fell down before him, and with a loud voice said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God most high? I beseech thee, torment me not.

Luk 8:29 (For he had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. For oftentimes it had caught him: and he was kept bound with chains and in fetters; and he brake the bands, and was driven of the devil into the wilderness.)

Luk 8:30 And Jesus asked him, saying, What is thy name? And he said, Legion: because many devils were entered into him.

Luk 8:31 And they besought him that he would not command them to go out into the deep.

Luk 8:32 And there was there an herd of many swine feeding on the mountain: and they besought him that he would suffer them to enter into them. And he suffered them.

Luk 8:33 Then went the devils out of the man, and entered into the swine: and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the lake, and were choked.

FACES and FACES of BEIJING OLYMPICS

(Around the Tokyo Bay)



FACES and FACES of BEIJING OLYMPICS




Yesterday, I left my home before the noon and came back before 6 p.m. quickly to send a postal card. Then later I checked pictures I took in the Tokyo Bay.

Of course, until around 11 p.m., I watched the closing ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games broadcast live.

And, this Monday morning, Japanese media are celebrating the success of the Olympics held by the Chinese Communist Party who would not fully cooperate with Japan to force North Korea to release Japanese citizens abducted by North Korean secret agents in these decades.

Were Japanese citizens abducted by North Korean secret agents enjoying in Pyongyang the TV broadcasting from Beijing? If not, any Japanese should not praise the Beijing Olympics at all so long as they love Japan at all.



SECTION I: Ex-Toyota Man Won Men’s Olympic Marathon

The New York Times introduced the winner Mr. Samuel Kamau Wanjiru.

---------------------------------------------------
By LYNN ZINSER
Published: August 23, 2008

BEIJING — As the heat intensified during the men’s Olympic marathon Sunday morning, the field hung on the hope that Sammy Wanjiru of Kenya could not possibly keep up the blistering pace he helped set from the race’s very first steps….. He pulled away from his final challenger ….not just winning Kenya’s first gold medal in the marathon but shattering the Olympic record in 2 hours 6 minutes 32 seconds.

…Wanjiru has trained mainly in Japan since 2002, attending high school there.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/24/sports/olympics/24marathon.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=marathon&st=cse&oref=slogin
---------------------------------------------------

After graduation from a high school in Miyagi Prefecture, Japan, Mr. Wanjiru was employed by a subsidiary company of Toyota where the Japanese marathon silver medalist in 1992 Barcelona Olympic games has been working as a coach for the company’s athletic sports club.

This July Mr. Wanjiru decided to leave the Toyota’s subsidiary company.

Mr. Barack Obama, whose father is a Kenyan, has to still run in the U.S. Presidential Election race; but the Kenyan Mr. Wanjiru has already won, expressing his gratitude immediately after the race at Beijing to Japanese coaches and teachers who gave him precious lessons not only about running skills but also on a mind set.

This is another Miracle in the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, since this last sport event in the Olympics involves a Kenyan hero and Japanese supporters, while a son of a Kenyan is now running for the U.S. Presidential Election.


SECTION II: Fireworks and Suspension in Midair

Chinese leaders do not understand what the Olympics mean.

Their presentation at the opening and closing ceremonies looked like nothing but entertainment with fireworks and suspension shows in midair.

As a matter of fact, Mr. Jackie Chan, a notable Hong Kong action film star, made appearance for the closing ceremony in the Beijing Olympics stadium, singing something with other Asian entertainers.

The leaders of China must have wanted to present hundreds of “Jackie Chan” in the Olympics ceremonies, as their only idea was to adopt action movies featuring Mr. Jackie Chan.

Consequently, without fireworks and suspension shows in midair, nothing was there in the ceremonies except massed calisthenics only a despotic state can mobilize.


SECTION III: Whole Lotta Unsuitableness

But worse might be the Britain’s show in the closing ceremony, advertising the 2012 Olympics in London. But, how is the song “Whole Lotta Love” of Led Zeppelin relevant to the Olympics? A two-story bus or a Double Decker is now a symbol of the 2005 Terror in London, isn’t it? As they deny the entry of the Baseball and the Softball in the London Olympics, it was not pleasant to see a British soccer hero on the bus as part of the presentation in the closing ceremony in Beijing.

British ordinary and poor citizens must realize their leaders have been wrong since the tragic death of Princess Diana at Paris in 1997. They have to take control even over the London 2012 Olympics.


SECTION IV: Old Chinese about to be Sent to a Labor Camp

Ms. Yoshiko Sakurai, a notable Japanese journalist, joined a TV discussion program broadcast live in Japan on the Sunday morning.

I watched the program, while the men’s marathon race was being competed in on the streets of Beijing.

She said that two old Chinese, both almost 80 years old, had protested against enforced evacuation for making space for Olympic facilities in Beijing. They filed objections five times; Being appalled, then they were arrested by the police who decided to send them to a labor camp as part of punishment, though they were finally released.

It is estimated that there are millions of poor Chinese who are living under such a threat in big cities and villages in China, including those living in Tibet and The Uighur Autonomous Region.


SECTION V: The Olympics and Christianity

Christianity has nothing to do with the Olympics, since Jesus Christ never mentioned this Greek tradition.

------------------------------------------------------------------
The games carried on, even as Greece's power declined Rome's rose. Although the Olympics continued to enjoy a measure of prestige, the varying political and economic changes of the Hellenistic and Roman periods affected both the site and the games. Some later Roman emperors, who admired Greek culture, revived the splendor of the games and restored the site and buildings.

By the 3rd century A.D., however, the lists of victors are increasingly uncertain and incomplete; by the end of the century the lists stop altogether. Once the Roman emperors formally adopted Christianity, they discouraged and eventually, outlawed, old "pagan" religious practices. Since the Olympic games were first and foremost a religious celebration in honor of Zeus, they held no place in the Christian empire. The emperor Theodosius I legally abolished the games in 393 or 394 A.D.

http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/Olympics/faq11.html
------------------------------------------------------------------

It is quite right that the Vatican neglects the Olympics and never sends athletes to the event.


***********************************************************************

As long as mankind is enjoying the Olympics, I am afraid that the Messiah would not come back to the world.

The Olympics in ancient Rome produced many mad men like Emperor Nero who sacrificed so many followers of Jesus Christ.

The Olympics today are producing so many victims behind the scene, say, in Tibet, The Uighur Autonomous Region, and Georgia as well as Japanese abductees by North Korea, though Tokyo is willing to host it in 2016.

At least, we have to rename it as "the Kenyans (Japanese)," since the latest and greatest glory is on the Kenyan marathon runner educated in Japan.

Or will the Vatican agree to call it "Jerusalem" or "Armageddon?"





(http://www.fukuchan.ac/music/jojoh/santalucia.html )



Act 17:15 And they that conducted Paul brought him unto Athens: and receiving a commandment unto Silas and Timotheus for to come to him with all speed, they departed.

Act 17:16 Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was stirred in him, when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry.

Act 17:17 Therefore disputed he in the synagogue with the Jews, and with the devout persons, and in the market daily with them that met with him.

Miracles in Beijing and Energy Crisis

Miracles in Beijing and Energy Crisis



It was cool this morning around Tokyo.

The temperature was around 75 degrees Fahrenheit.

Weather forecast in the TV news program is really important, since it shows expected temperatures all over Japan.



SECTION I: ANOTHER MIRACLE IN BEIJING

Following the women’s marathon race, the miracle also happened in the men’s 400-meter relay in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

In this race, Britain got the gold medal, America got the silver medal, and Nigeria got the bronze medal at the Athens Olympics race in 2004.

But, they have all failed at baton pass before the final race this time.

The Japanese 400-meter relay team was No.4 in 2004, but got the bronze medal yesterday in Beijing.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26346599

The probability of the incident that all the three former medal-winning teams fail in baton pass before the final race must be very small, probably one in 100,000.

Jamaica and Brazil were apparently blessed.

Yet, it looks like the God gave a chance to the Japanese 400-meter relay team, since He disqualified the U.S. and the U.K. as well as their African friend Nigeria.

It is the first Olympic medal for Japan in track events since it got one 80 years ago.



SECTION II: Solution to Energy Crisis

There are still arguments going on about the true factor for high oil prices.

Yet, it is the U.S. Government that can most effectively carry out the War on High Crude Oil Prices.

-------------------------
Wind Power an Important Part of the Solution to the Energy Crisis
(Tex. Dem. Candidate Michael Skelly)
August 22nd, 2008

Two years ago, under the auspices of the American Wind Energy Association, a group of us from the wind industry began working with the Department of Energy, General Electric, AEP, and many others to take a hard look at what it would take to get 20% of America’s electric supply from wind energy. The resulting report is helping lay the groundwork for a dramatic change in our approach to energy. For years, the wind energy community has argued that smart investment in transmission, siting, manufacturing and technology could allow wind power to take the main stage for our nation’s electricity. The report largely vindicates that belief, outlines the benefits, and illuminates the path to get there.

These past months have underscored the serious shortcomings in U.S. energy policy. $140 oil, $4 gasoline and run-ups in the cost of coal and natural gas are taking us to new price plateaus. Energy cuts across nearly every issue that matters to our daily lives — economic well-being, national security, global climate change. As our energy woes devolve from concern to crisis, it is time we look more seriously — and honestly — for answers.

Renewables alone will not solve this crisis. Those of us with years in the industry know both the promise and limitations of renewable energy, and readily acknowledge that we don’t have all the answers. But renewables can make an enormous dent in the problem. According to our report, a move to twenty percent wind would decrease carbon emissions from electricity by twenty-five percent. Twenty percent wind would support about 500,000 jobs in the U.S., 150,000 of which would come directly from the wind industry. Revenues to local communities in the form of property taxes and other payments would run more than $1.5 billion annually. Twenty percent wind would significantly reduce demand for natural gas, our most versatile and cleanest-burning fuel, which is incredibly valuable for heating, petrochemical production, transportation and other uses.

All of these things can be achieved.

Similar investment in solar power could mean an additional 10% of our energy could be supplied by the sun. And long term investment in increased energy efficiency, including cars that can be powered by electricity, will mean a substantial reduction in our dependence on foreign oil.

What will be required is a national commitment on the part of elected leaders and substantial investment by the business community. There are certainly constraints to our ability to multiply our wind farms at such a serious rate, but, as the study suggests, these obstacles can be overcome. Chief among them is the need for significant new energy infrastructure, especially extensive transmission lines.

We have reached a turning point. Wind energy is no longer the pet project of environmentalists. It is a serious business with serious players, including General Electric, Mitsubishi, Siemens, and many other global titans. It is also part of a real answer to some of the most serious problems we face. If we combine our efforts to expand renewables with strong efficiency standards and a substantial increase in conventional domestic energy production, we can be within reach of solving our energy crisis.

This is not the kind of quick fix that Washington so often hopes for while doing nothing in the interim. There are no quick fixes. If we are going to confront our energy crisis successfully, we have to be focused on the long game. In ten years we were able to take our wind energy company from a two-man operation to the multi-billion dollar business it is today. In a similar time period Texas has seen wind grow to the point where we get nearly 5% of our electricity from the wind. We can get a lot done when we set our minds to the task. A national commitment today will mean economic growth, good jobs, a safer country, and a healthier planet. It’s time to get moving.

Permalink | Comment on this post (0)

By Tex. Dem. Candidate for Congress Michael Skelly

http://blog.thehill.com/2008/08/22/wind-power-an-important-part-of-the-solution-to-the-energy-crisis-tex-dem-candidate-michael-skelly/#more-6883
-------------------------

President Mr. George W. Bush should declare the War on High Crude Oil Prices.

Mr. McCain and Mr. Obama should officially promise to launch the War on High Crude Oil Prices.

Their announcement will put a great price pressure on the oil market and Wall Street.


*************************************************************


Last night I saw a tanned morning glory flower in my dream.

So, tomorrow I may get across the Tokyo Bay through the Umihotaru Parking Area in the evening.

http://www.classicmanga.com/20thcenturyboys/enc_umihotaru.html




Pro 8:23 I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was.

Pro 8:24 When there were no depths, I was brought forth; when there were no fountains abounding with water.

Pro 8:25 Before the mountains were settled, before the hills was I brought forth:

Pro 8:26 While as yet he had not made the earth, nor the fields, nor the highest part of the dust of the world.

Pro 8:27 When he prepared the heavens, I was there: when he set a compass upon the face of the depth:

Pro 8:28 When he established the clouds above: when he strengthened the fountains of the deep:

Pro 8:29 When he gave to the sea his decree, that the waters should not pass his commandment: when he appointed the foundations of the earth:

Pro 8:30 Then I was by him, as one brought up with him: and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him;

Pro 8:31 Rejoicing in the habitable part of his earth; and my delights were with the sons of men.

Two Morning Glories in the Midsummer

(August Dusk of Japan)


Two Morning Glories in the Midsummer



The other day a Japanese TV animation program for children presented the following story:

A schoolgirl in the lower grade of an elementary school found one day a morning glory flower (Asagao in Japanese), though it was still in a state of a seedling.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morning_glory

A single seeding of the plant obscurely grew near a wooden wall of a house beside an empty plot without anybody to take care of it.

The girl, named Maruko, was impressed with the noble effort of the morning glory trying to fully grow and blossom while being unnoticed by any residents, though the summer sun rays and heat were apparently about to blight the young plant at the forgotten corner of the small town.

So, Maruko decided to put water on the young plant after joining the radio gymnastics practice held each morning officially as part of education for primary schoolchildren in the district during the summer recess of school.

Her friend, Tomo-chan, also joined Maruko to water the young and helpless plant in the evening, too. They also drove a small bar into the ground near the young seedling, so that it could support its body as it grew.

But, one day, Tomo-chan went out with her family for summer vacation, leaving Maruko alone to pour water on the morning glory now putting out a bud.

As the early-morning collective gymnastics practice was officially ended as scheduled, Maruko started to become less dedicated to visiting the summer plant every morning and even evening alone to attend it; she actually forgot to go and bring a canteen with water inside to the plot one morning and two evenings while the poor morning glory was bathing the strong sun ray.

One day, Tomo-chan called Maruko from a summer resort to ask how the morning glory was growing, which reminded Maruko of her precious volunteer work.

Ashamedlyshe played dumb with the good friend Tomo-chan; Yet, soon after the telephone call, Maruko ran to the vacant lot only to find the forgotten plant was losing strength with a few weakened buds.

Maruko being guilt-ridden started again to fervently water the morning glory in peril of running dry, which however looked so vain.

A few days after Maruko’s repentance, one morning on her way to the empty plot with a few canteens with full of water she was so surprised to encounter Tomo-chan who came back from the summer vacation overnight and could not wait for her scheduled evening service to the beloved plant.

Tomo-chan asked Maruko how the morning glory grew up and blossomed.

Maruko could not tell her friend that it looked still flaccid, though she eventually decided to honestly apologize to Tomo-chan for her selfish default.

But, as they reached the place while talking, the morning glory was standing there around the bar and looking so fresh and strong with its buds coming into flower.

They were all pale blue, though shining so brightly in the morning sunbeams of the summer as the two schoolgirls pouring water without the least regret onto the revived morning glory.

* * *

The other day I bought a book written by a Japanese author who traveled the Middle East in 1960’s. He was virtually following the path St. Paul had preached the gospel along 2,000 years ago, though the Japanese solitary traveler was not a Christian at all then.

One day on his sight-seeing trip to and from Damascus, he took a rest with an Arab driver and guide at a small eating house near a ruined arena theater probably built by the Romans on the Aqaba route.

http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/200401/guardians.of.the.pilgrim.wells-damascus.to.aqaba.htm

He strolled to the forgotten arena theater half covered by sand to find one morning glory. It looked like a miracle that a dark blue morning glory was blossoming in the ruin surrounded by a desert.

It was amazing, since there was nothing else all around that was so alive.

The single-stem small flower expressing itself so elegantly from a limited gap between dry stones of the ancient building impressed him so vibrantly.

Then he decided to visit Tarsus, since the lonesome but noble morning glory reminded him of St. Paul clearly for a mysterious reason.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarsus_(city)

At Tarsus, he found that the glorious port city was no more on the Mediterranean. A river deposited layers of mud and dirt so widely during past 2,000 years, so that Tarsus was situated 12 or 13 miles inland from the coast line. The biblically notable city was no more than a humble local town with humble Muslim residents in late 1960's.

Tarsus is now part of Turkey. But it was a Greco-Roman city when St. Paul was born there. Even before St. Paul engaged in his holy mission or 70 years before the time of St. Paul, the then prosperous city had flamed with the famous romance between Mark Antony and Cleopatra who had sailed from Egypt staking the fortunes as the queen of Egypt or the mother of a Caesar's son.

Indeed, the dark blue morning glory showing up in the ruin in the middle of the desert reminded the Japanese traveler of St. Paul and then Cleopatra.

He also called the Queen of Sheba to his mind, as his thought on ancient glory of Palestine and the east part of the Mediterranean got deepened.

Truly after his following the trails of St. Paul in 1960's, the Japanese author became a virtual Christian.

http://www.amazon.co.jp/%E7%A5%9E%E3%81%AE%E6%97%85%E4%BA%BA-%E8%81%96%E3%83%91%E3%82%A6%E3%83%AD%E3%81%AE%E9%81%93%E3%82%92%E8%A1%8C%E3%81%8F-PHP%E6%96%87%E5%BA%AB-%E6%A3%AE%E6%9C%AC-%E5%93%B2%E9%83%8E/dp/4569665462


* * *

Yet, what impressed me is not St. Paul, Cleopatra, or the Queen of Sheba the morning glory invoked in the mind of the Japanese traveler.

It was his description about how decent and pleasant Turks he met at Tarsus were.

Though the Japanese author could not speak their language, the manners of the local people to him deeply touched a string in his heart, since a friendly old man looked like asking him whether he was a Japanese or a Christian at a cafe in the town.

Usually, it is very rare for any well educated and disciplined or good-natured Japanese traveler to find or even be surprised to find a foreigner in a foreign country who has better manners than he or she has or any other respectable Japanese have.

Indeed, the way the author praised the manner in observing manners of some residents he met at Tarsus in 1960's is very extraordinary, even in my experiences of reading so much account by Japanese on local people all over the world.

The Japanese author wrote that Tarsus is a town from which we can clearly observe the world, since it is a feature of an ancient Greco city.





(Though very irrelevant:
http://www.barks.jp/listen/?id=52007274

http://www.fukuchan.ac/music/j-folk2/mafuyunokaerimichi.html )



Acts 22:3 I am verily a man which am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, yet brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, and taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers, and was zealous toward God, as ye all are this day.

A Japanese Virtual Christian Full General

A Japanese Virtual Christian Full General



Nowadays, most of young Japanese do not know the name of the greatest Japanese military hero during WWII.

Indeed, no American historians must have ever realized Full General Imamura was virtually a Christian.

( http://store.shopping.yahoo.co.jp/7andy/31079204.html )

Truly, today, there must be millions of American citizens whose parent or grandparent did not experience WWII as a U.S. citizen.



SECTION I: Not Hypocritical But Rather Hierarchical

Protestants account for 51% of US citizens, while Catholics 24%; yet those believing no religions account for 16% in the US society, according to a survey recently conducted in the U.S. (as reported in a Japanese newspaper this morning).

In a Japanese way of thinking, it is ideal for any American to adopt good elements of both the Protestant teachings and the Catholic teaching to be loved by God.

In order to fight against religious criminals who are making money by selling knowledge and words of Christianity, you may be allowed to declare non-religious if so encouraged by the God’s Angels.

Even if an American proudly asserts that he or she is a Christian, while making money in connection with Wall Street and supporting a policy to make war without minding thousands of Arab and Afghan children being killed collaterally, I believe that Jesus Christ would deny it.

So, pious Americans must stop using an old title such as a Protestant or a Catholic but adopt a new title such as a “Follower of Jesus Christ,” which however needs a religious revolution to come true.

In my view, a hierarchy must be introduced in one’s religious identification: the follower of God or Allah with the cultural origin of Judaism, Christianity, or Islam in the worldly association with Jerusalem, the Vatican, protestant churches, or Sunni mosques or Shiite mosques.

And one should only refer to the highest state, namely “the follower of God or Allah,” when identifying his or her religion.

Ideally, it must be “the follower of God or Allah or any holy teaching by saints including Buddha.”

If you can be rich while your neighbor is poor, you cannot be a Judaist, a Christian, or a Muslim. If you identify with one, you cannot be all the more a Judaist, a Christian, or a Muslim.

Asking anybody about his religion is the rudest and most arrogant act. Otherwise, will you ask anybody how much money he has or how many times he has ever lied or bullied somebody?



SECTION II: Yasukuni Fallen Soldiers’ Shrine

Western media like to use the term "Yasukuni War Shrine."

But, the sad and silly fact is that now most of churches in the U.S. and the U.K.　are "War Churches," since no churches in the U.S. and the U.K. are organizing demonstration in Washington D.C. and London with the slogan “Stop the War in Iraq and Afghanistan” just like “Stop the Vietnam War” decades ago.

The Empire of Japan before WWII was under the military threat which could be comparable with the 9/11 Terror-type threat on the United States in the early 21st century.

So, the Empire of Japan ventured into preemptive wars like the War on Terror by the U.S. in these years.

But, before the then Prime Minister Mr. Junichiro Koizumi went and paid his respect to fallen soldiers in past wars at Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo on August 15, 2005, only 50,000 or so Japanese citizens had visited the shrine on the very day which is nationally commemorated as the final day of WWII for Japan.

Yet, on August 15, 2005, along with the then Prime Minister Mr. Junichiro Koizumi, about 260,000 Japanese citizens went and paid their respect to fallen soldiers in past wars at Yasukuni Shrine.

This year it was reported that some 150,000 citizens visited the shrine on the day very peacefully.

( http://dogma.at.webry.info/200808/article_6.html )

Labeling Yasukuni Shrine a “War Shrine” is the real conspiracy by the Chinese Communist Party and the anti-Japan Western media, which the God Almighty would not condone in my humble view.



SECTION III: FULL GENERAL HITOSHI IMAMURA

There were many full generals in the Empire of Japan during and before WWII.

But, the most respected must be Full General of the Imperial Army Hitoshi Imamura.

English Wikipedia’s account on him seems contaminated by an anti-Japan conspiracy, so that you have to refer to Japanese Wikipedia’s account.

( http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%BB%8A%E6%9D%91%E5%9D%87 )

In English Wikipedia, they do not even mention that Full General Imamura was virtually a Christian.

They also made a mistake by writing "He was tried by an Australian military court at Rabaul on May 1-16, 1947; convicted, and sentenced to imprisonment for ten years. Imamura served his imprisonment at Sugamo Prison, in Tokyo, until he was released in 1954."

The fact is that after the surrender of the Imperial Army and Navy Full General Imamura was brought to a military court in Australia and started to serve the sentence in a prison in Tokyo in 1949, but in the next year he appealed to General of the Army Douglas MacArthur, the top of the Allied forces, for sending him to a prison in the Philippines where many of his former subordinates were serving war-criminal sentences.

Full General Imamura wanted to carry his responsibility to former officers and soldiers who had served him during the war by staying with them in the punitive prison in the Philippines instead of serving his own prison time in a relatively comfortable prison in Tokyo.

General of the Army MacArthur granted the petition directly issued by Full General Imamura, reportedly, through his wife.

Full General Imamura moved to the prison in the Philippines in 1950 so as to share pains and hardship with his former subordinates. Following the closure of the prison, he was sent back to the prison in Tokyo in 1953.

( http://www.amazon.co.jp/%E8%B2%AC%E4%BB%BB-%E3%83%A9%E3%83%90%E3%82%A6%E3%83%AB%E3%81%AE%E5%B0%86%E8%BB%8D%E4%BB%8A%E6%9D%91%E5%9D%87-%E3%81%A1%E3%81%8F%E3%81%BE%E6%96%87%E5%BA%AB-%E8%A7%92%E7%94%B0-%E6%88%BF%E5%AD%90/dp/4480421513 )

After he was released from the prison in 1954, he confined his life in a small cottage he built in his home so as to show his remorse for the tragedies and victims of the past war.

He published a memoir. The royalty of the book was given to wounded veterans and families of fallen soldiers. Whoever visited Full General Imamura identifying himself as a former subordinate and asking for financial aid could get any money from Full General Imamura.

Even when somebody who was actually not his former subordinate pretended to be a former subordinate and asked for financial aid, the poor liar could get any money from Full General Imamura, even if Full General Imamura could see the truth.



SECTION IV: Rabaul, Another Possible Iwojima

After the major battle of Rabaul around 1942 where hundreds or more fighter planes and bombers of the Empire of Japan were lost through fight against U.S. planes ten times more, Full General Imamura still kept about 100,000 ground soldiers and officers to defend military bases of the Imperial Navy and Army at Rabaul of New Britain Island, northeast of Australia.

http://yabu.269g.net/article/3081826.html

http://sky.geocities.yahoo.co.jp/gl/pf_tainan/comment/20080714/1216034674

Full General Imamura prepared for the full-scale landing of US and Australian troops on the Island.

He ordered to strengthen the military facilities, like Iwojima Island where 7,000 U.S. soldiers fell later, including total 450km underground cells, paths, and complex with full of weapons and ammunition.

As Iwojima was defended by 20,000 Japanese soldiers, Rabaul could have taken 35,000 U.S. and Australian soldiers, though the Allied forces wisely avoided the direct attack on Rabaul and decided to advance troops to the Central Pacific Ocean and further to the Philippines, Iwojima, and Okinawa.

http://www.pacificwrecks.com/history/rabaul/rabaul-end.html

In this sense, the formidable fortification of the Rabaul base commanded by Full General Imamura saved tens of thousands of the lives of Japanese, American, and Australian soldiers, since Full General Imamura never issued attack orders but had his troops wait patiently.

( http://wp1.fuchu.jp/~zenshoji/d_rabauru09.htm )

After the surrender of the Imperial Army and Navy on August 15, 1945, 500 officers and soldiers among 100,000 Japanese troops stationed at Rabaul were arrested as war criminals and brought to military courts.

Among 500 indicted, 145 Japanese officers and soldiers were executed to death, though as there had been no invasion by U.S. and Australian troops there could not be any war crimes at all at Rabaul.


http://sidenkai21.cocot.jp/m464.html


*************************************

That is all for today.

Tonight, the late-night TV news program in Japan might also report that Mr. McCain has started to muster more support than Mr. Obama.

(Accordingly the song for today:
http://www.fukuchan.ac/music/j-senzen/rabaurukouta.html )



2Co 8:21 Providing for honest things, not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of men.

2Co 8:22 And we have sent with them our brother, whom we have oftentimes proved diligent in many things, but now much more diligent, upon the great confidence which I have in you.

2Co 8:23 Whether any do enquire of Titus, he is my partner and fellow helper concerning you: or our brethren be enquired of, they are the messengers of the churches, and the glory of Christ.

2Co 8:24 Wherefore shew ye to them, and before the churches, the proof of your love, and of our boasting on your behalf.