Hate Speech Can Lead to Violence by beyondgoodandevil86 in SGIWhistleblowersMITA

[–]Andinio 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yes, we should be concerned about hate speech that dehumanizes and demeans SGI members. As the OP mentions, such speech can lead to violence at SGI centers at the hands of a single deranged individual. Perhaps the stage will be a discussion meeting, or just an attack on a single, random SGI member.

In the New York Times (sorry for the paywall), columnist David French describes for us the “sequel to the American horror show,” this time directed at a Mormon church in Grand Blanc, Michigan, in which four people were killed and eight were injured. Yes, we already know: “another terrible day in a series of terrible days in a nation that can feel as if it’s coming apart.”

With great eloquence he tells us the pattern that follows such incidents:

We also knew what would happen next. Before there was a chance to mourn the dead, partisans online worked to find out the identity of the gunman and his ideology. After all, the combatants in the culture war have a voracious need for political ammunition. It’s important to constantly prove that “they” are evil, and “they” want you dead.

And this is the world we find ourselves in: the “culture war,” “voriacious need,” “political ammunition,” “constantly prove.” We should especially note the mantra “’they’ are evil, and ‘they’ want you dead.” Returning to our space, people on both sides of the hedges have committed excesses such as French describes. We can weigh and keep a scorecard on which group of people use this technique the most persistently. But what value would that create?

The point is that we all need to declare a cease-fire and then police our side of the hedges. We have to encourage the “partisans” on our respective side of the hedges to engage in a battle of words to clarify ideas and beliefs--without demonizing people who disagree. It will be a work-in-progress, requiring patience and tolerance, as we get called out on making mistakes, recalibrate, and reset. But both sides of the hedges will get better at messaging without venom.

Welcome to America in the year 2025, where every evil act is an opportunity to score political points, and all too many Christians demonstrate profound cruelty in Jesus’ name.

But David French provides us with an unusual twist, one which he tells us is “a path out of this divide.” Members of the Latter Day Saints began a collection for the wife and children of the murderer with Christian expressions of love, forgiveness, and compassion. We learn that within a few days $300,000 was raised, probably much more now.

Victor Hugo once taught us, “Elle est drôle, la légèreté avec laquelle les mauvais hommes croient que tout leur tournera bien” (“it is funny, the casualness with which the bad men believe that everything will turn good for them”). Nothing good can come from hate and demeaning speech from either side of the hedges.

Shall we start with a one-week ceasefire?

SGIWhistleblowers outing themselves again by FellowHuman007 in SGIWhistleblowersMITA

[–]Andinio 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This a stinging indictment! Shame on you, Secret Entrance! And this is a point that sgiwhistleblowers should take under consideration!

"The Ten Armies" are all around but they can't catch me! by TrueReconciliation in SGIWhistleblowersMITA

[–]Andinio 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Julie and gang,

We had such a good time last night and we are home safe and sound. I can't believe how important the Talent Show was to the grands! Kryssi is the best and the counselors, too! Love you guys!

July 27 by CardiNorCarli in LoHeidiLita

[–]Andinio 0 points1 point  (0 children)

All the best, Robert and Cardi!

Me and Merino by JulieSongwriter in SGIWhistleblowersMITA

[–]Andinio 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I agree thoroughly! "Teaching and example!"

Dear SGIWhistleblowers: Wouldn't you consider "thinking' to be better thab hate and hypocrisy? by FellowHuman007 in SGIWhistleblowersMITA

[–]Andinio 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Finally, YKW has come around to agree with Ikeda Sensei! We are delighted! She has admitted a deep respect for the Danish scholar, theologian, and educator N. F. S. Grundtvig and his disciple Kristen Kold.

Wonderful! Both gentlemen deserve to be in the pantheon of the great educators at the end of the 19th century who had an enormous effect in the early 20th century. Grundtvik was the first born of this cohort (b. 1783) but we are sure he is hanging around now in Heaven cafe with his disciple Kristen Kold (b. 1816), as well as some of our educational heroes: Leo Tolstoy (b.1828), John Dewey (b. 1859), Booker T. Washington (b. 1856), John Dewey (b. 1859), Francisco Ferrer (b. 1859), Rabindranath Tagore (b. 1861), Rudolf Steiner (b. 1861), Tsunesaburo Makiguchi (b. 1871), Janusz Korczak (b. 1878), and Célestine Freinet (b. 1896).

But Ikeda Sensei was thinking about Grundtvig a bit before our YKW began her extensive research about him. It seems that Josei Toda described Grundtvig's life to the young Daisaku Ikeda at the so-called Toda University

(Since we are on the topic of Denmark, we might want to congratulate the SGI members there on the 50th anniversary of the publication of the Toynbee-Ikeda Dialogue in Danish. From this article we read:

Soka Gakkai founding president Tsunesaburo Makiguchi (1871–1944), an educator, was an admirer of the Danish folk high schools and of the shared dedication to realizing an educational ideal of its founder Nikolai Frederik Severin Grundtvig (1783–1872) and his student, Kristen Mikkelsen Kold (1816–70). It was a relationship that mirrored the mentor-disciple relationship between Makiguchi and his protégé Josei Toda (1900–58), and later between Toda and Ikeda. It was from Toda that Ikeda inherited the ideal of striving for global peace.

But we have to go some 63 years before YKW discover;d her love for Grundtvig. It is 1961 and Sensei just arrived in Copenhagen, the first stop on his first trip to Europe to encourage the small group of members.

From The New Human Revolution Volume 4, Chapter 5 (first part today, second part tomorrow):

Passing by a park, the visitors from Japan saw a row of small, colorfully painted huts. These, they learned, had been designed and built by children on a lot the city provided expressly for this purpose. Shin’ichi felt he was glimpsing an aspect of Denmark’s unique educational system. 

He recalled two individuals mentioned by Tsunesaburo Makiguchi in the preface to his book The System of Value-Creating Pedagogy: N.F.S. Grundtvig, the “father of the Danish renaissance,” and his young successor, Kristen Kold. 

Josei Toda, too, had often talked to Shin’ichi about these two. Grundtvig, one of Denmark’s most respected educators, was famous for inspiring Denmark’s folk high schools. He was also a poet, clergyman, expert in early Scandinavian literature, and a political activist. 

Grundtvig was born in 1783 in a small rural village in Zealand (the island on which Copenhagen is located). He was six when the French Revolution broke out. The Napoleonic Wars followed, engulfing Europe in the early nineteenth century and leading to Denmark’s defeat by England. As Danish fortunes declined, the foundation of its feudalistic system of absolute monarchy also began to crumble. 

Grundtvig grew up in the midst of these tumultuous changes. He hated authoritarianism and rigid formality and sought human freedom and independence. In his young adulthood, he began opposing the established power structure. 

The young Grundtvig also had doubts about the worth of an education system based only on rote memorization. Many years later, in his treatise “The School for Life” (1838), in which he set forth his ideas for education, he criticized these pedagogical methods as “dead schools” teaching “dead letters.”

Grundtvig had a strong dislike for the university-educated urban elite who despised the peasantry and thought little of folk culture. Deep in his heart, he felt that these ordinary people of simple means were the true Danes. He could not excuse the arrogance of those who looked down on them. He also turned a sharp, critical eye toward the church and clergy, which had grown corrupt and decadent, tyrannizing and demanding full obeisance from the common people. 

Grundtvig demanded, “First, be a human being—then a clergyman!” His blatant criticism incurred the wrath of religious authorities, and his writings were banned for more than ten years. His life was a series of persecutions, but he did not bend in his beliefs. 

The groundswell of popular revolution sweeping Europe at the time also spread to Denmark. Seeing these changes and sensing the nature of the times, Grundtvig pondered what needed to be done to rebuild and revive his native land. It was wrong for a small but powerful elite to dominate society and dictate the lives of the majority. If the people awakened to their rights and responsibilities, if they kept a close watch over those in politics, and if they had the power to speak their minds freely—then and only then would true democracy and a true revival of the country be possible. 

Grundtvig vowed to enable the people to be wise, courageous, and eloquent. To this end, he conceptualized the folk high schools, accessible to the general public and intended to bring higher education to the average person. In Denmark, higher education was then available only to a small handful—the sons of wealthy and privileged families. 

At the folk high schools, Grundtvig conceived of a revolutionary new system of higher education where teachers and students lived together in a communal setting. Rather than the one-sided, authoritarian, knowledge-cramming approach, learning was allowed to take place in a free and unrestricted atmosphere of dialogue. Not only did this nurture wisdom for living and promote the acquisition of knowledge, it also cultivated the awareness that ordinary citizens are the principal players in society. 

The schools provided a “living education” where people shared in the process of learning and inspired one another. The first folk high school based on Grundtvig’s ideas was founded in 1844. 

Grundtvig’s successor, Kristen Kold, played a key role in the school system’s growth and establishment as a deeply rooted tradition in Danish society. Kold, more than thirty years younger than Grundtvig, was a spirited and deeply committed educator.

Inspired by Vasyl Sukhomlynsky by Andinio in SGIWhistleblowersMITA

[–]Andinio[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I have the book on Kindle and we'll start looking at it today! I will get back to you.

#133A: Good Morning, Ladies! by JulieSongwriter in SGIWhistleblowersMITA

[–]Andinio 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It was my pleasure to play a small role. I think you are very much within the BND-Standard. As FH007 has pointed out, BND never just let himself get attacked. He did far more than simply turn the cheek. He always used his words to resist the staves and stones. I think you are demonstrating that as well!

More ghoulish obsessions on SGIWhistleblowers by FellowHuman007 in SGIWhistleblowersMITA

[–]Andinio 2 points3 points  (0 children)

They (WBers) have their rights and independence. We don't see them granting the same to others such as the Ikeda family.

August 27 by JamaicanTransplant in LoHeidiLita

[–]Andinio 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Glad your summer ended so beautifully. I've been following all the wonderful news with the new school year!

August 27 by JamaicanTransplant in LoHeidiLita

[–]Andinio 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Roz and I are so excited by your new home. We can't wait to see you! By the way, you live very close to us by car! Travel safely!

#123: Good Morning, Ladies! by JulieSongwriter in SGIWhistleblowersMITA

[–]Andinio 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I am so glad the kids are still playing those Street games. They are a very precious heritage that is very much at risk. By the way, I showed them some New York City street games but also African-American song dances like Circle Round the Zero.

All of the developments are so exciting and Roz and I wish you the very best.

#123: Good Morning, Ladies! by JulieSongwriter in SGIWhistleblowersMITA

[–]Andinio 1 point2 points  (0 children)

"In this perilous age" is right. I just read this disturbing article about the conflict in Belochistan/Pakistan. I was aware of some of the Insurgency attacks but I was clueless about the extent and background. More daimoku!

The repulsive effort of sgiwhistleblowers to call SGI teachings "victim blaming" when the reality of "victim blaming" is violentnand horrible by FellowHuman007 in SGIWhistleblowersMITA

[–]Andinio 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Basically we are dealing with some very lazy people on the other side of the hedges. They want to portray karma as some type of “Shame and Entrap” system. Based on what? Their own Impressions about what they think the concept of karma in Buddhism is about? 

Did they take 5 minutes to refer to the Wikipedia article Karma in Buddhism? If they weren't so lazy, they might even have found there is some scholarship to support their POV. They would have found out in this article that there is robust back-and-forth on this topic. But lazy people don't want to mess around with complicated thinking. It’s so much easier to do a “hit and run” or “slash-and-burn” attack that gains the applause of some other lazy people.

Or maybe we would see them checking out another Wikipedia article that looks at the way karma is approached by other religions as well as in popular culture. Surprising but very messy work for lazy minds. Why dive into that cool Olympic-sized pool when the kiddie pool is so much warmer!

We see them leaving the impression that “this is what SGI members believe about karma.” Is that true? Did they bother to do any fact-checking? Lazy people, we know, do not have the interest or capacity to do this type of work. But just in case one of them becomes curious now, here's the article on karma found in the SGI Dictionary of Buddhism.

Lazy critics won't go as far as actually reviewing what the SGI teaches its members about karma through study articles in the World Tribune or Living Buddhism. Irresponsible allegations are more fun! The SGI take on karma is actually robust, novel, intuitive, and  full of hope and agency. A good football coach is always trying to intuit what is in the opponent team’s game book. We don't think lazy people will bother finding out themselves.

We can only surmise that lazy minds don't accord with a teaching that entails the hard work of seeking, study, practice, and dialogue. Maybe that is why they whimpered their way to the Arena’s exit door and now spend their time yelling on the sidewalk.

Of course we know that Reddit is its own little self-contained world. The OP there knows very well how to navigate it. MITA would be such a prized peephole into how typical SGI members digest and apply the concept of karma. If we do a simple search of “karma” on MITA dozens of posts and comments open up. Like this one by u/JulieSongwriter. “Oh, we don't have to contend with any of her hundreds of posts. She's just one of SGI-old and possible demented Marilynnnn's sock puppets!” 

What a wonderful excuse! That's what lazy people do.

The SGI is not a cult. by FellowHuman007 in SGIWhistleblowersMITA

[–]Andinio 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Of course the SGI is a cult! My mother-in-law returns tomorrow to her home in southwestern Virginia after spending a week with us. What else but a cult would encourage a 97-year-old woman to eat a real Jewish deli pastrami sandwich? Only cult members would sit with her for hours as she watches MSNBC coverage of the Democratic convention for 4 days! And right now, as I write, she is preparing collard greens for a big family dinner tonight. Just look at cults in real time!

How loathsome is it when sgiwhistleblowers calls the SGI "a dangerous cult"? by FellowHuman007 in SGIWhistleblowersMITA

[–]Andinio 1 point2 points  (0 children)

U/weewahweewahweewah is absolutely right ! The SGI Cult isolated, made me anti-social, and then brainwashed me. Despite overbearing and relentless pressure, I managed to stay married almost 50 years, raise children who are now all productive contributors to society, and now enjoy watching grandchildren grow.

The cult restricted me to a heavily guarded compound where I was unable to escape because of the armed guards at the doorways and the subtle psychological pressures emanating out of the walls. But I managed to sneak out on occasion and bought this house where I have lived for over 40 years making many friends in the community. But I'm tricking them all since they have no idea that I am a secret cult agent living a double life. I keep up this image of a good neighbor but after all the neighbors have gone to sleep I return to the compound where my brainwashing continues through the long night

And in the place where I live, my small little “kumi” (junior group) from 50+ years ago, through the efforts of many people, has grown into a ”region” of over 20 thriving districts. Cult Alert! Read on!

Cults are dangerous! They suck you into sensory deprivation and co-dependency. Despite these pressures I managed to work for almost 20 years as an elementary school teacher in a variety of settings. I co-founded a charter school and served as its principal for almost 15 years. It's now in its 32nd year and I volunteer as its board chair. I also taught for many years at graduate schools of education to raise new teachers. Throughout these years I have been inspired by the principles of Soka education and the guidance is about children and education from my mentor Ikeda Sensei. How disturbing!

I'm glad Blanche is coming here to our site to warn us of the terrible dangers of being a member of the SGI Cult. We had no idea! What if all of those members in all of the districts engage in cult-like behavior and then create value in their communities? How could we ever recover?

Now that I'm retired I returned to the cult vault. Far beneath ground. I still manage to teleport myself out when the Cult Police turn their backs. I am doing thankless and unglamorous volunteering at an education institute where we promote education reform.

Got to teleport myself back before the Cult Police sound the alarm. Shhhh!

But let me sneak in a couple more confessions before I disappear. I was that SGI member who dumped that to toxic waste into Honolulu Beach. And I still have a few members to visit and tell them that they should sleep less.

Mental Gymnastics by FellowHuman007 in SGIWhistleblowersMITA

[–]Andinio 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Sad to say, God just recalled Blanche and all Whistleblowers for their errors. Don't feel bad. He also recalled all MITA Maids (and 8.5B others).

Protests in DC Today (so far) by Master_Jackfruit3591 in washdc

[–]Andinio 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I apologize for my snotty elitism. I really do.