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Missionaries in Japan

What is your opinion of foreign missionaries operating in Japan?

  • They are saving the souls of the Japanese infidels.

    Votes: 14 11.0%

  • They are simply offering the Japanese an alternative point of view.

    Votes: 36 28.3%

  • They are harmless as most Japanese avoid/ignore them anyway.

    Votes: 29 22.8%

  • They are naive, aggressive and self-righteous.

    Votes: 41 32.3%

  • They threaten to destroy Japan's unique nature and family-orientated secular culture.

    Votes: 23 18.1%

  • Missionary visas should be withdrawn immediately.

    Votes: 33 26.0%

  • The world would be better off if Japanese culture was more widely spread around the world.

    Votes: 20 15.7%
  • Total voters
    127
The choices in the poll could have been worded significantly better. It is obvious that the negative bias will affect the results. For instance: infidels is not a word I would ever use to describe anyone- non Christian or otherwise. It has a bad connotation. The word is currently associated with thick Arabic accents spouting anti-Western radical Islam. Using it associates you with some ethnocentric extremism that I would reject.

Also, the Japanese are not little children at the mercy of evil missionaries. Nothing is being imposed or forced upon them. They are free to listen or not listen, to think and decide what to believe for themselves.
 
Yes. I agree with you on that point, sabro. I have often found the questions in the greatest number of, if not all, polls to miss the mark in any of a number of ways.

The above poll is no different. The last choice, for example, has really nothing to do with Christian missonaries in Japan. The first choice was worded badly, and automatically carries a negative emotion in it.

Of course, it does seem that the majority of respondents answered to the matter of the more 'pushy' type, or return visit type missionaries. One interesting point is that nothing is mentioned about Japanese missionaries--of course, the very title already has nothing of that. There are Christain missionaries who are Japanese nationals.
 
Kiyose- Welcome to the Japan forum.
I hope you can find a good teacher. I sent you a private message because the email didn't go through.
[QUOTE
Hello! everybody.
Can I introduce myself?
mail to :kiyose@yahoo.co.jp
Jeremiah Kiyose ( native Japanese)[/QUOTE]
 
Need Help to our church English conversation class (again)

Hello! Compman

This is Kiyose again.
Thank you for your e-mail.
I mistakenly wrote down wrong e-mail address.
Correct address is: kiyosedanchi@yahoo.co.jp
I am a Japanese pastor and try to preach Gospel in
Fuchu, Tokyo, Japan.

But, for our regret, only few people listen us attend our church.
So, we try to open "English conversation class" or "English Bible class"
at our church. Because, many Japanese people like "English conversation class".

But, problem is: There is no native English person in our church.
So, we areﾂ praying for any Englishe man/woman who can help us.

If there is any (native English) christian who has
interest to do Lord's work on our church with us, please contact me.

Thank you again, Compman

Jeremiah Kiyose
 
I think missionaries can go from anywhere to anywhere but just because of the kara made statement doesn't mean there's something good about it. they can do the same thing in their own countries that they are doing outside, ne?
 
okay, I know that wasn't relevant, but I'm saying hajimemashite and sayonara. If anyone recognizes me, well...
 
I got along great with the Mormon missionaries while I was living in Japan. They showed me around, showed me the ins and outs of the town I was living in. They were all good and respectable people. I'm non-religious myself, but I respected the Mormon missionaries. It was handy as an 18 year old gaijin going to college in Japan to get some local connections. I have seen some very creepy "missionaries" since, although I have no idea what religion they are preaching, probably one of the strange, bastardized fringe Christian sects that seem to catch on in limited areas in Japan. For the most part, from what I could tell, the Japanese pretty much used the Mormon missionaries to practice thier English - I never personally saw anyone "convert".
 
Kuuzo,

I have heard that there are no more Mormon missionaries in Japan. Is that true?
 
They're still here, my patiently waiting to 'igo' friend, I bumped into some just not too long ago. (Of course, with Matsumoto being the sister city to Salt Lake, there's gonna be a larger chance of some being here even if they were nowhere else in Japan...but my guess, is that one will find them in many of the major cities.) MM
 
The other day i ran into a girl who is a missionary. At first i was like 'Oh my god, a missionary, she'll infiltrate my brain with bible quotes and parables, so just nod and shut up when she starts talking about religion.' (I'm not the spiritual type of guy)

But later on, the chit-chat turned into a discussion about faith and destiny, and i noticed that this girl had a surprisingly honest and basic approach to her belief. So no Christian standard bla bla or something. She somehow managed to make me think about things i haven't thought about for years.

She was around my age and Brazilian with a Japanese father. And yes, she was hot!
 
Will they not learn that it isn't working, and that if they wan't followers, they should try a new tact.
It becomes annoying when they come to you, so I ended up shouting 'I am a satanist and a vampire. Come near me and I will bite you.'. Luckily I do have razor sharp canines (genetically...). That particular group has never bothered me again...

By the way, I'm not a vampire... Or am I? :|
You will have to find out for yourself.

 
dark_secrester said:
Will they not learn that it isn't working, and that if they wan't followers, they should try a new tact. [snip]
Click to expand...

(pedant mode on)
The correct phrase is "a new tack", which is probably derived from sailing terminology.
(pedant mode off)

I have experience with such people in general, not just the missionaries. They have an extremely (and quite unwarranted) high opinion of themselves. They are followers of the True Religion, and so in their minds what they do is right, and if you do not "see the light" and start following the True Religion, then it is your fault.
 
I have nothing against people religion. It's their problem in what they believe. I think my country it's very tolerant concerning this subject. We are the only country that recognizes Jehovah witness as a cult and therefore receive money from the state and even houses to practice their religion. But i do not like this so call missionaries that come and consider local believes and traditions not worthy . Actually I don't believe in going around and trying to convert other people to your religion. If God wants to find you He will find you no nead to annoy people.

This missionaries are not naive they come and most of the time profited of people desperation and poverty to push their religion forward. I'm Christian orthodox but I believe that there is no nead to speak to someone about this at list he ask me too and most of the time i speak very neutral about my religion.

I don't thing this people can ruin Japan . I think the number of convert is insignificant from what I saw in statistics and most Japanese want just to speak English with a foreigner. It was a time when in my country was really crowded with neoprotestats missionaries, Mormons and so on. Due to poverty they convert some people especially from country side and from gypsy minorities , but when they left, usually people convert back, they didn't really care about the message.

Don't get me wrong i met also good people missionaries even funny Mormons. I'm sure that some genuinely believe they do good .
 
Missionaries are called by the head of a church to share the wisdom they have acquired. They knock, but they are not suppose to share if you are not willing to listen. They are ascetic in a way. They have no home in this period of their life. They are only the tools of God.
In times long ago, the same habits could be seen in Hinduism and Buddhism. Yet, with most other religions, there is serious physical and artistic proof of their beliefs. Propaganda of the highest nature. Though, these forms of propaganda are there to enlighten and teach.
I have noticed recently, that LDS missionaries are becoming more pushy. I believe it is wrong to push your belief on others. I wish I could be in the position to apologize. Furthermore, shows like South Park and whatnot, do not clearly lay out the true grounds of the religion, and South Park is made to parody and poke fun, using popular beliefs, which are incorrect in many cases (one such belief is that of polygamy).
I have heard that Mary was compared to Shiva. Yes. This is interesting.
Shiva is the God of creation and destruction. He is both the mother and the father. In this way, he has both God and Mary's position. Ancient Egypt's Osiris and Isis are also compared to Mother Mary and Christ.
 
What is...

What is a christian?
How do we learn about a religion or become a member of that religion?
What do buddhist monks do once they've shaved their head?
What is an ascetic?
What is a missionary?
What is wrong with any religion?
-- There's nothing good or bad, but thinking makes it so. -- Shakespear's Hamlet
 
It was in BBC News
"Chinese priest, Zhang Minxuan, stands in front of Christians. Twenty years ago he was a barber with no interest in religion. Then he got into trouble with the Communist Party and was jailed. After that he became a Christian."

I think this kind of news are misleading others about understanding about religion. "No interest in religion" until troubles come up. Does BBC think only troubles should bring people to religion? It is like when you are happy there is no need for god (Christ, Allah, Budda etc.). Today's religion is not for happy people.
Missionaries are mostly targeting this market of unhappy.
 
FilmCensor, I'm am very happy and don't have major problems and it happens to be that I'm very religious, that's because my family is also very religious and they inculcated me those values.

btw, welcome to Jref!
 

Depends on what religion you are talking about.
If you look more closely,every person is unhappy.So religion is for everyone.Why shouldnt we be happy and live peacifull without having to wory about all the crap thats going on in our lives.
 
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