Past mistakes can be prevented from repeating
By Lethbridge Herald on October 26, 2024.
Editor:
The following may sound like a rejection of Christian Church. It isn’t.
I love Church. It’s like I like myself. It’s the only thing I have. That’s why I hate its past mistakes. I reject the idea of the Imperial Christendom. My religion is that of Oscar Romero and of Desmond Tutu.
“Missionary” used to be an honoured status. Nowadays churches tend to avoid referring to once revered title after it became public that missionaries played a pivotal role in the Canadian government’s policy to forcefully assimilate the Indigenous people into the Christian European culture.
It devastated the people who were here from the time immemorial. It led to the loss of their language and inflicted serious damage to the pride in their identity. Nations cannot survive without self-respect.
“Missionary” now represents a demonic force in places that had been colonized by the Christian imperialists.
However, in Japan and Korea missionaries escaped such a tarnished image. How did that happen?
The following is the story of my journey to trace the fall of ”missionary” from the pedestal and speculate for the exceptions.
In 1968 I went to work in Lesotho in Southern Africa as a missionary on a secondment to teach at a university. The teaching position was reserved for a person appointed by “the Paris Evangelical Missionary Society.”
(The phrases hereunder between quotation marks are my translation from the original French) The organization was the missionary agency of the Reform Churches of Huguenot tradition in France and Switzerland. The year happened to be the time of the transition. My position had been reamed ”Apartner in mission” while I was receiving orientation in Paris.
The organization itself changed its name to “The Joint Apostolic Action” by the time I reached Africa.
However, in Japan and Korea “missionary” has never lost the honoured status. How has such a difference emerged between the former colonies in Africa and the two countries on a small corner of the North Eastern Asia?
When I came to Canada from Japan in 1957, it took me by surprised to find that missionaries began to suffer a tarnished image in Canada while in Japan some missionaries were receiving medals from the Emperor for their long service in Japan.
The educational institutions founded by Foreign Mission Societies were still called “Mission Schools.”
Several renowned universities in Japan founded by the overseas Christian denominations are still well regarded like the Ivy League universities in the U.S. although they are secular now. Japan and Korea are the only non-Christian country I can think of where “missionary” did not lose its luster.
The reason for the exception is quite simple. Japan and Korea have kept the strong cultural and moral grounding based on Buddhism and Confucianism. No external force was able to diminish the strength of such deeply rooted foundation. Japan lost the war with the West but was not colonized. Korea was colonized by Japan but the cultural tradition remained untouched. In both cases, Western missionaries were invited to participate in the modernization program of the nations. It was not the forceful imposition of foreign culture. Outsiders were working within the framework of the national goal. The government was in control of the process.
Teachers of Western history, languages, and philosophy; scientists and technicians; even military advisors were invited in, and salaries paid by the government and industries.
From the beginning of the 19th Century missionaries also were invited guests to participate in as partners in the modernization program. Missionaries were free to proselytize but within the framework of the law of the land. In my elementary school days, the morning assembly began with the recitation of the Imperial Edict on Education. As a Christian and a patriot, I had no problem accepting the wish of the Emperor. Daily recitation of the Edict was the routine even in religious schools. The practice was terminated by the Allied Occupation
Forces in 1945, but the traditional values remained intact.
It does not mean that there was no attempt to use Christianity as an instrument of the colonial expansion. The famous one was the landing of the Jesuits mMissionaries led by Francesco Xavier from Portugal during the 16th Century. he Shogun authorities were alarmed by their success. The suppression that followed was harsh. Hundreds of missionaries and converts were crucified or drowned if they refused to recant.
The armed resistance by Japanese Christian converts was brutally crushed. To prevent colonization through religion, both the Toyotomi and the succeeding Tokugawa Shogunates’ closed the country completely. Religious conversion was a capital crime. Isolation lasted four centuries.
It was only after the restoration of the direct Imperial rule by the Emperor Meiji and the end of Shogun regime that the country was opened to the outside influence. The new regime was keen to catch up with the West.
By the decree of the Emperor Meiji, every thing Western: art, literature, philosophy, science , and technology were welcomed into the country.
Americans and Europeans poured in. Teachers in all fields were invited by the government, the industries, schools, and universities.
Christian missionaries were also welcomed. Remember what Cecil Rhodes said, “Missionary is cheaper than policeman.” It’s because their salaries were paid by foreign mission societies. They were welcomed to start schools on the condition that they followed the Basic Education Guidelines articulated in the Emperor Meiji’s Edict. Japanese authorities did not let go of the control of the transformation process.
Though you can not change the past, you can prevent the repeat of the past missteps. Encounters and interactions with different cultures and traditions are the fact of life. The key to safeguard the identity of nation and people is the control of the process of transformation. Never take the hands off the steering wheel to reach your destination.
Tadashi (Tad) Mitsui
Lethbridge
28-27
Dear learned man, Church, Religion, Denominations…. these are all jargon. Obviously your “outside a fellowship” comments do NOT resonate with Spirit Filled Christians of a Bible believing, God fearing conregation. Having said this, until you have “tasted and seen” what an orange is and go ahead telling us about the orange, similarily, then PLEASE do not try and school any Christ follower regarding the true Christian faith and beliefs.
Join the discussion
The beat of the pulpit pounding begins in earnest once again. Your tired and oft repeated arguments are erroneous and seriously lacking in wisdom. Tad on the other hand shows a profound understanding of humanity embracing all – irrespective of their beliefs.
Having read and reread HaroldP’s comment, I’ve come to the conclusion that he didn’t read the letter very carefully because it’s obvious he missed the central point.