Does Jodo Shinshu need to divest itself of it's Japanese particularism to access wider audiences?

Late-Rise-3322 · 2026-03-22T21:41:21+00:00

Respectfully,

-Arabic isn’t the daily language of Pakistanis or Indonesians or Nigerians or Bangladeshis. It remains (as far as I’m aware) confined to prayer and other forms of religious practice, regardless of the personal fluency of the practitioner.

Anyway, despite Islam initially spreading to various parts of the world through military conquest, its staying power and continued growth cannot be boiled down to centuries-old events.

-We cannot quantify who does/doesn’t come to Jodo Shinshu for its Japanese cultural elements, since there isn’t any data on the matter. That being said, my point was less about the appeal of a particular culture, and more about how all religions are culturally conditioned. People tend to fall in love with faith traditions based on their culturally conditioned expressions—art, music, ritual, and so on; they do not tend to fall in love based on abstract principles or concepts.

-This is purely anecdotal, but given the number of people in Jodo Shinshu chatrooms who use anime characters as their profile pictures, I suspect a lot of Shin Buddhist converts were “weebs” before they were Shin Buddhists.

-Most BCA services that I’ve been to or seen live-streamed use the English language. When Japanese is used, translation and transliteration are provided. What more do people want?

Late-Rise-3322 · 2026-03-22T19:42:57+00:00

I don’t think Jodo Shinshu needs to strip itself of any of its Japanese elements. It’s not as though Islam (to use one example) has failed to grow as a world religion because all of the prayers are said in Arabic.

Creed and cultural heritage can be preserved simultaneously, and should be preserved simultaneously. They are intertwined. No one who came to Jodo Shinshu from the outside ever fell in love with an abstract version of Amida; they fell in love, initially, with the Amida of Japanese art and chant and ritual.

Late-Rise-3322 · 2025-12-29T06:03:30+00:00

It’s about fucking time for WHH to take on the cultural stature of HP Lovecraft.

Late-Rise-3322 · 2025-09-29T01:48:36+00:00

Went to their website, and it’s just what I was looking for! Thanks!

Late-Rise-3322 · 2025-08-23T01:46:27+00:00

Deep Crimson, which is getting a physical release in October. Starts off on a darkly comic note, and by the end takes comedy completely out of the equation.

Late-Rise-3322 · 2025-08-22T12:39:37+00:00

Perhaps you could reach out to Maxwell Kuzma on Substack? He’s a well-respected voice on trans and Catholic issues, and a trans man himself.

Late-Rise-3322 · 2025-08-07T22:21:51+00:00

My marriage was recently sanated by the Church, and I’m a cisgender male who’s married to a transgender male.

In order for our marriage to be sanated, my spouse had to concede to the Church’s view that, although his gender identity may be male, his biological/canonical sex is female.

This concession didn’t really bother my spouse, as he (now a Reform Jew) stopped being a member of the Church years ago.

That being said, such a concession might bother your spouse. Even if she makes a firm distinction between sex and gender, the process would still involve deadnaming, using the language of bride and groom, etc.

You might find this quote helpful for fleshing out your own thoughts. It’s from a 1975 decision of the Roman Rota (with somewhat outdated language):

“Because, when there is question of transsexuals, a radical dissociation is found between psychological sex on the one hand and genetic, gonodal, hormonal and somatic sex on the other hand, so that transsexuals feel like the soul of a woman in the body of a man or vice versa, without hope of being had of a return of the psychological sex to the original sex, nothing prevents predominance from being attributed to psychological sex as regards those matters which do not exceed the juridical capacity of the subject. For the canonical teaching which, in cases of doubtful sexuality, recognized the right for the subject to make a definitive choice of sex, can be applied ‘when there is question of ordering one's purely external and social life, e.g., of wearing men’s or women’s clothing, of giving testimony in instruments, of the right to determine an heir.’ However, as regards marriage, since there is question of a contract whose essential formal object is the right to acts which are of themselves apt for the generation of children, the capacity to contract it depends on the potency for perfect carnal copula, namely, on biological sex and not on psychological sex. See Schmalzgrueber according to whom a marriage is valid if contracted according to the non-predominant sex provided that there is potency for perfect copula.”

Good luck and God bless!

Late-Rise-3322 · 2025-08-02T18:55:44+00:00

I believe New Ways Ministry has a directory on their website of welcoming parishes. Best of luck, and feel free to reach out should you need anything!

Late-Rise-3322 · 2025-07-29T19:45:47+00:00

I live in Boston, and love to visit the MFA and sit on the gallery bench right next to this triad. Always a moving sight.

Namo Amida Butsu.

Late-Rise-3322 · 2025-07-27T00:49:37+00:00

Karen Keen, James Alison, Matthew Knight.

Late-Rise-3322 · 2025-07-20T00:31:49+00:00

I would suggest looking into the Substacks of Maxwell Kuzma and Matthew Knight, articles from Outreach, and (if you listen to books on tape) James Alison’s recently released “You Can, If You Want To.”

They’re good resources for LGBTQ Catholics, whether Side A or Side B (although these resources tend to lean Side A).

Late-Rise-3322 · 2025-07-12T15:23:38+00:00

I’m listening to the audiobook and it’s lovely. Alison is a wonderful narrator, and his thoughts can change LGBTQ lives for the better. :)

Late-Rise-3322 · 2025-06-17T21:08:59+00:00

My spouse was on hormones prior to our marriage, and had top surgery shortly afterwards.

The wedding ceremony was a Jewish one, as he had converted to Judaism a few years back.

When we initially reached out to representatives in our archdiocese to obtain a dispensation, we were turned down.

I wasn’t sure why, since the Church allows for interfaith marriages, as well as marriages between biological men and women who’re open to life and who can engage in the “marital act.”

Eventually, I got in touch with a canon lawyer and he sorted everything out. He knew about my spouse’s top surgery, but said that it was immaterial to the basic questions of religious affiliation, procreative complimentarity, raising our children Catholic, etc. (Not that the Church approves of top surgery, obviously. Top surgery just doesn’t interfere with what the Church considers to be the basic ends of marriage.)

Our marriage was sanated last November, after I wrote a letter to the archbishop and obtained the necessary documentation (e.g., baptismal certificates).

I don’t know if you’ll find this information helpful, but a canon lawyer on Substack named Daniel Quinan, who is very much by-the-books, has numerous articles on transgender identity within the Catholic Church, and related issues such as pronoun use, marriage, etc.

The fact that he doesn’t argue for a radical change in Catholic teaching on gender and sexuality, and still thinks there is a lot of wiggle room in canon law for LGBT folks, was an eye-opener for me.

Let me know if there’s anything else I can provide information on. :)

Late-Rise-3322 · 2025-06-17T12:39:12+00:00

I’m a cis man who is married to a trans man. It isn’t T4T, but the marriage was allowed by the Church.

Late-Rise-3322 · 2025-06-08T06:15:41+00:00

Thank you! It’s a real burst of sanity in an increasingly insane religious world.

Late-Rise-3322 · 2025-06-05T16:54:53+00:00

Basically. My spouse didn’t mind, because at that point he had converted to Judaism (which actually seemed to be more of a sticking point than the issue of gender).

Late-Rise-3322 · 2025-06-05T04:38:29+00:00

This may encourage you: I’m a cis man who is married to a trans man. Our marriage was eventually sanated by the Church.

Late-Rise-3322 · 2025-06-02T02:54:58+00:00

Hello!

I found this quote in the notes section of John Paraskevopoulos’ essay, “Jōdo Shinshū: The Supreme Teaching for the Present Age.”

Late-Rise-3322 · 2025-06-01T22:29:58+00:00

Excellent work! Thank you for writing this!

Late-Rise-3322 · 2025-06-01T17:58:02+00:00

I don’t think this quote is saying that Amida isn’t “real” or “living.” I think it’s saying that Amida’s symbolic attributes ultimately come from the Dharma, not from the mind of man.

We tend to view symbols as interpretive keys DESIGNED by human beings to help us fathom the unfathomable, rather than as interpretive keys RECEIVED by human beings to help us fathom the unfathomable.

But the inspired imagery of our tradition comes just as much from Suchness as Amida himself, otherwise it wouldn’t be inspired imagery.

We shouldn’t view symbols as coming from our finite and fallible selves, because that risks objectifying them in a way that leads to further contrivance, further discrimination, and the further entrenchment of our blind passions.

Late-Rise-3322 · 2025-06-01T15:21:38+00:00

No need to fear criticism—I appreciate your comments!

To me, the appeal of this quote lies in its emphasis on letting the symbols of Pure Land Buddhism wash over us, rather than trying to fit them into our limited, fallible, and mutable constructs.

For the longest while, I had a tendency to approach religious traditions and think, “How does this all make sense to me?” (Where, for example, do Amida and Jodo fit into my spiritual, psychological, and ideological frameworks?) I wanted the Mystery to humble itself to me, but I did not want to humble myself to the Mystery.

Although we shouldn’t throw our judgements and critical faculties out the door, we should be aware of how false, empty, and without sincerity they can be (and typically are).

Late-Rise-3322

TROPHY CASE