Hey StarDog, I’m in Comparative Religions right now and we just went over Shintoism today in class. You are in Japan right? Do you follow their culture at all? Is it still widely practiced or not?
Oh yeah, it’s still practiced. Most people have small shrines set up in their homes and they go to public shrines every year at New Year’s.
It’s actually kind of strange, because most Japanese actually practice a mixture of Shinto and Buddhism. They also don’t seem to have any qualms about having a Christian-style wedding, complete with a pretend pastor conducting the ceremony. Image is what’s important over here in a lot of cases.
Yet the most striking thing is that most people may be practicioners of Shinto/Buddhism, but it’s almost never treated as an influence on their lives. To them, it’s just something else they do, like going to the barber for a haircut when they need it.
Actually, I’m planning a quick trip to Narita this weekend, and I’m going to take some pictures of the Buddhist temple there. I believe they also have a Shinto shrine on the premises. Once I get the pictures together I plan to add them to my photo blog. I’ll let you know when the posting is up.
i was thinking of converting to shintoism for a long time…but then i realized why i despise the religion i grew up with and decided to remain religionless…im much happier this way
Yeah that’s what the prof said. Shintoism doesn’t care if you’re faithful to one religion or not and alot adopt parts of Buddhism and Confucianism (sp?).
You say they don’t let their relgion carry into their life? I thought a huge aspect of Shintoism was putting the good of the family/clan/country ahead of their own? So I guess that isn’t practiced as much anymore?
[quote=“TranscendingRationality”]Yeah that’s what the prof said. Shintoism doesn’t care if you’re faithful to one religion or not and alot adopt parts of Buddhism and Confucianism (sp?).
You say they don’t let their relgion carry into their life? I thought a huge aspect of Shintoism was putting the good of the family/clan/country ahead of their own? So I guess that isn’t practiced as much anymore?[/quote]
Well, the thing is that the Japanese tend to mould the things around them to suit themselves, rather than moulding themselves to suit the things around them. The form of Buddhism they practice is also quite different from that which is practiced in other countries. It seems to me that the values in Shintoism reflect the values of the Japnaese in general, instead of the values of the Japanese reflecting Shintoism.
Strange, no?
BTW: I’m curious. What else did you learn from that lesson? Also, what university are you at, and what’s your major?
I’ll make up some new rank images later tonight (not feel very well).
If you’d like a personalized rank, you just need to send me a private message and I can make it happen, I’m the fricken Harry Potter girl. What’s her name anyway?
her name is hermione
lol
and if your not feeling well dont worry about it…im in no hurry
hope you feel better!!!
Mmmm, strange.
What we learned on Shintoism: (just a few keypoints, I don’t want to transcribe all my notes)
-There’s no “official teachings” or sacred writings
-They worship Kami, or devine spirits/powers
-Learned about the Kami of the Sun.
-Humans are offspring of Kami
-If you lose face you can alienate yourself from family, ancestors and the emperor and it’s a deep disgrace.
-You can purify yourself to redeem yourself (often involving bathing under waterfalls, etc) of if you’re in the military and you’ve lost enough face you can commit seppuku and restor honor
-There are four affirmations, tradition and family, love of nature, cleanliness, and Matsuri (worship kami and spirits)
-Life after death is vague although you can become a kami through heroism
-Umm and finally the religion isn’t exclusive, and it seeks no converts.
I’m at UNBC and I’m majoring in Geophysics. This is just a filler class.
so are you gonna be a meteorologist??? are there any earthquakes coming anytime soon??? when exactly will plate tetonics cause us to collide with asia???
(and people make fun of me for wanting to major in history)
Not quite. But by the end of it I expect I’ll be able to tell you where to dig for oil. My field of interest is petrochemical geology. I’m doing a double major in Geophysics and Geology.
History…gags Haha, what kind of jobs does that get you into though? Politics?
teaching…i wanna be a history professor
Dude, I have a major in history.
HAH…see??? history does get you places…look at MiG…He/she/it is now a moderator of a kickass message board
so THERE 
I’m not dissin’ history, I’m just curious what kind of jobs you can get with it?
in order for that sentence to work you have to put a cama after curious
you have to put a quarter in the “ending a sentence with a preposition” jar
MiG owns this little spot on the web.
[quote=“TranscendingRationality”]
I’m not dissin’ history, I’m just curious what kind of jobs you can get with it?[/quote]
It’s not about a job, it’s about an education.
[quote=“Buck’N’Burn”]in order for that sentence to work you have to put a cama after curious
you have to put a quarter in the “ending a sentence with a preposition” jar[/quote]
Engwish wus never muh area.
you and your edjamucation…you think yer so smart