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Friday, August 28, 2009

Is this Japan's turn for revolution?


Sunday's election may directly turn out the ruling party for the first time and bring in a party less servile to the US. Both events should be welcomed.

By the Monitor's Editorial Board

Japan's election this Sunday may be the first in its postwar history in which voters directly turn out a sitting government. For a parliamentary democracy that muddled along for decades under virtual one-party rule, this would be a political revolution, much like Mexico's ouster of its longtime ruling party, the PRI, in 2000.

But the expected winner, the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), may also usher in a second revolution once it is firmly in control: Revising the country's close ties with the United States and shedding many postwar shackles in hopes of turning Japan into a "normal" nation – one that can say "no" to the US.

Despite having the world's second largest economy, Japan has been held back in becoming a global leader by a scarcity of real competition in its politics. Powerful bureaucracies have largely guided Japan in its main postwar goal – building a strong economy – while the US largely took care of Japan's defense. The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which has ruled for most of the past 54 years, focused on getting reelected, relying on big yen from big business – thus the country's moniker "Japan Inc."

Now, after years of a stagnant economy, the normally risk-averse voters appear ready to break up this cozy system, as the opposition promises to do, ushering in a true two-party system with bureaucrats put under the firm control of elected officials.

The Japanese are worried about their job security – unemployment is nearing a postwar high – as well as the costs of an aging society and a huge national debt. Younger women are seeking more equality in society. Polls signal the DPJ will win about 300 seats in the powerful 480-seat lower house, with voter turnout likely to be unusually high. The party already won control of the weaker upper house in 2007.

Doubts remain, however, over whether the DPJ can overcome its internal divisions once in power and make good on its lofty campaign promises, such as paying parents nearly $3,300 a year for each child.

And it's unclear how much the DPJ would try to rewrite agreements with the US on the number and deployment of some 50,000 American soldiers in Japan. With China and North Korea posing a rising threat in East Asia, Japan may need the US defense umbrella more than ever.

But such questions are secondary to Japan's first invigorating its democracy with peaceful changes of government and more transparency and accountability for its leaders. The Japanese never had a popular revolution for democracy – the reformist samurai in the 19th century and then the Americans in 1945 imposed it.

Now voters may decide to shape the country more assertively and profoundly. While this enhanced democracy may diminish US interests – which include using Japan as an "unsinkable aircraft carrier" in Asia – there are long-term benefits to rooting Japan's future more deeply in the wishes of its people.

Japan's military might on display

(00:45) Rough Cut

Aug 27 - At the foot of Mount Fuji Japan's Self Defence Forces show off its fire power to the general public

From tanks to helicopters, the crowd of 20,000 people was treated to a cacophony of live ammunition explosions and bursts of gunfire.

The exercises come just days before Japan's general election scheduled on August 30.

Many Japanese who came to watch the drill said a fair amount of defence spending is essential, especially given North Korea's increasing arms production.

North Korea in May conducted its second nuclear test since 2006, and has launched several missiles over Japan and into the Pacific.

Thursday, August 20, 2009

A Quote to Think About

“Common sense is a gift which God gave to human nature; but common sense is not the gift of His Son. Supernatural sense is the gift of His Son; never enthrone common sense. The Son detects the Father; common sense never yet detected the Father and never will. Our ordinary wits never worship God unless they are transfigured by the indwelling Son of God.”

Taken from My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers, August 9th

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Missionary Child Abuse

All God's Children recalls the travails of a West Africa boarding school.

Brandon Fibbs | posted 8/18/2009 10:52AM

All God's Children
Documentary by Scott Solary and Luci Westphal

December 2008
70 minutes, $19.99

The writer of Ecclesiastes says there is a time for everything—a time to be silent and a time to speak. All God's Children was made for the latter. The 2008 documentary was inspired by an article that ran in Christianity Today in April 1998, exposing alleged child abuse at the Mamou Alliance Academy in Guinea, West Africa, a Christian and Missionary Alliance (C&MA) boarding school for missionary kids.

At Mamou during the 1960s, dozens of children were beaten, abused, and even raped by teachers and overseers, and told that if they ever revealed what went on, they would be defeating their parents' work and damning millions of potential African converts. Now adults, many of Mamou's survivors have banded together to confront the demons of their past, seek justice, and, in some cases, offer forgiveness.

All God's Children is a harrowing tale. Including firsthand interviews and footage of children at the school (though showing no abusive situations), the film offers a glimpse into the long-term mental and spiritual ramifications of violence practiced against the innocent. Many of the former students have left the faith, some struggle with their sexuality, and others battle depression and suicide. One ex-student could not conceive of a world in which anyone would want children, while another finds hymns nauseating because they were the soundtrack of his abusive childhood. Yet another felt compelled to show the world that his experiences were a perverted aberration of God's will and is now a minister.

All God's Children struggles to find meaning amid grief compounded by decades of disregard and a willful lack of justice. It also serves as a clarion call to organizations that would ignore and suppress the truth rather than drag it kicking and screaming into the light. (After years of prodding, the c&ma did eventually investigate the allegations, identifying nine offenders in 1998 and apologizing to the victims. Although several workers were reprimanded, no legal charges were ever filed, and the film claims that several of the workers are still on staff.)

While some, though certainly not all, of the abused have arrived at a place of absolution, the film is less interested in how they've healed and more interested in ensuring that their tragic story is finally told. The group is adamant that their stolen childhoods not be washed away by overly simplistic amnesty.

"Forgiveness is the f-word for the evangelical community," says one former student. "It's not that victims are against forgiveness. Victims are against forgiveness as the solution to the problem."

The filmmakers interview several of the parents, many of whom are as haunted by the past as their children are. They thought those looking after their children were friends and fellow laborers in the field. They had no reason for distrust until it was too late. While none of the former students interviewed here blame their parents outright, their feelings of helplessness and abandonment are obvious.

"How many African souls were worth my soul?" an adult asks with the pleading intonations of a child. The tragic implications are clear: All God's Children forces us to ask ourselves, What does it gain a man if he saves the whole world but loses his own children?

To learn more or to order the DVD, visit AllGodsChildrentheFilm.com.

Brandon Fibbs, CT Movies and BrandonFibbs.com

Copyright © 2009 Christianity Today.

Related Elsewhere:

All God's Children is available at Amazon.com.

Previous Christianity Today articles on the Mamou Alliance Academy include:

Missions: From Trauma to Truth | Once-abused children demand accountability. (April 27, 1998)

Pain Relief | The Christian & Missionary Alliance apologizes to adults abused as missionary kids in Africa. (July 12, 1999)

More information about the film is available at AllGodsChildrentheFilm.com.

Saturday, August 08, 2009