Can a Martial Arts
Theocracy Strengthen Liberalism
Are Liberals Too Tolerant of Islam? Ben Affleck, Bill Maher,
Sam Harris, Nicholas Kristoff Debate
LECTURE ARTICLE FOR APRIL 23, 2015
BY GOSEI YAMAGUCHI
SYNOPSIS
On October 7, 2014, on Bill Maher’s Show, “Real Time”, Sam
Harris collided in a
discussion with Ben Affleck, provoking an extraordinary amount
of controversy.
Sam Harris is a neuroscientist who is labeled as part of the “New
Atheism.”
For those who haven’t seen the show, I have included a couple
of links to videos at
the end of this synopsis. Most of what I disclose here won’t
make sense unless you
consider that the paradigm Harris represents differs from the
theocracy Harris is
accusing. Harris appears to believe his value contains absolute
justice, and
therefore, the value built on any other theocracy he considers
as filled with “bad
ideas.”
The most controversial thing Sam Harris thinks he said on the
show, according to
his blog, was “‘We have to be able to criticize bad ideas,
and Islam is the Mother
lode of bad ideas.’ This statement has been met with countless
charges of ‘bigotry’
and ‘racism’ online and in the media.” Harris continues to
justify himself, “…
imagine that the year is 1970, and I said: ‘Communism is the
Mother lode of bad
ideas.’ How reasonable would it be to attack me as a ‘racist’
or as someone who
harbors an irrational hatred of Russians, Ukrainians, Chinese,
etc.”
Harris states “This is precisely the situation I am in. My
criticism of Islam is a
criticism of beliefs and their consequences—but my fellow
liberals reflexively
view it as an expression of intolerance toward people.”
The statement Harris made, “Islam is the Mother lode of bad
ideas” is, in fact, his
judgement of Islam. Harris does not agree with the values
accustomed by the other
theocracy.
Harris flatters himself that he is a neuroscientist who believes
in atheism and
therefore he wants to represent liberalism. He is a very
outspoken scientist and an
intellectual individual who is uniquely positioned to be a
thought leader in the
global society of our time. And yet, he could fail if he were to
establish his own
theocracy as a cult just as many evangelists have attempted from
time to time. I am
afraid he might have created his own Ark of the Covenant to
prove his points.
Harris, in his blog, continues to accuse the Muslim world.
“…take a moment to appreciate how bleak it is to admit that
the world would be
better off if we had left Saddam Hussein in power. Here was one
of the most evil
men who ever lived, holding an entire country hostage. And yet
his tyranny was
also preventing a religious war between Shia and Sunni, the
massacre of
Christians, and other sectarian horrors. To say that we should
have left Saddam
Hussein alone says some very depressing things about the Muslim
world.”
After 9/11, in general, among the American citizenry, a fear was
planted whereby
Islam represented terrorism and terrorism represented Islam. Was
Saddam Hussein
really “one of the most evil men who ever lived”?
If
we talk about terrorism, one
cannot convince the Muslim world that the Christian Crusaders
were the holy
heroes. As far as Muslims are concerned, the crusaders should be
considered as
troops of terrorists just like current Westerners perceive ISIS.
When one’s national
experience of a culture is negative, this results in racism.
We must consider that it could be reasonable to perceive that
the formation of ISIS
could have been created by the void left when the Americans
destroyed Saddam
Hussein’s leadership, his government and banished his loyal
supporters.
In our political environment, it is an absolute necessity for a
citizen to value
tolerance, a key anchor of liberalism, for a multicultural
society to function well.
Liberalism is therefore a basic discipline we all must practice.
The US is a
multicultural society and as such, we are a microcosm of the
world.
The karate instructors, in Okinawa, refer to the purpose of
learning the art of karate
through the phrase, “hitoni utarezu, hitoutazu, kotonaki,
kotowo, mototosuru.”
Translated, this means “...thus no one can harm you nor can
you harm anyone,”
and as such both parties survive without hurting or eliminating
others.
I stated this during the April 24, 2014 lecture. They earned
their vision from their
history of heritage.
Many have understood the principle behind karate as a discipline
of self defense.
And yet, this interpretation has been mistakenly used to justify
an act that could be
used against the offender who would punish them, and if
necessary, fatally harm
them. In some Christian societies, there is a sentiment to
justify an act of violence
if that violence was a result of defending one’s self or
family.
On the other hand, ethnic cultures who are a minority within the
community or a
host nation, develop a wisdom in order to survive - they have
learned that it is not
advantageous to harm a member of the authority class or a member
of the majority.
Within a ghetto or minority commune, the legal and civil rights
of the minority
may be poorly protected by the host state or authority,
therefore, their acts of selfdefense
will not be protected.
Ryukyu or Okinawa once was a colony of the Satsuma clan of Japan
and
consequently became a prefecture of Japan during the 19th
century. While the
islanders are now Japanese citizens, they have maintained their
traditional social
ethics as reflected by their cultural heritage.
That phenomenon among people’s society has not changed since.
Our current
international political society is a group of nations comprised
of different mother
tongues and people of different genetic make-up. Thus our
sociological
environment in the globe now strongly suffers from a situation
in which a growing
immigrant minority reside in many nations. If the host nations’
citizenry were to
adopt the principle of “your concern is my concern”, many of
the acts of violence
against these minorities would cease.
I posit that the Okinawan concept of the art of karate will be
effective as an
educational tool to establish a common sense of global
citizenship. Every citizen
needs to develop a mentality that is disciplined by valuing the
ideology that helps
us to coexist with the different groups of people in a
multicultural society. To
prepare our children for that society, we need an educational
tool with an ideal
model of this mentality.
The traditional hierarchical society, has groups of minorities
who suffer and are
victimized by the hosting majority people and the authority the
majority possess.
Some of those victimized have experienced many generations of
anger, regret and
envy. As quoted by scholars of sociology, there is a significant
sociological and
psychological tendency for a member of the minority community to
feel some
degree of hostility toward
the
majority. The French term, “ressentiment”, is thus
applied (“ressentiment” in French).
The late August Wilson, an African-American playwright, wrote a
Pulitzer prizewinning
play, “Fences”. The play presents a significant example of
the Black
American society’s resentment toward the hosting majority.
We all could be part of the minority at some point in our lives.
Language, race,
gender, physical appearance, financial status, political
leaning, education and
career status, community, and even religious beliefs are all
factors that could lead
someone to be a minority.
In this lecture today, I would like to point to how the Okinawan
concept and its
principles of tolerance and liberalism will strengthen our world
and enable us to
build a healthy multicultural commune.
Therein lies the Martial Arts Theocracy.
*****************************************************
Copyright © 2015 by Norimi Gosei Yamaguchi and Goju-Kai Karate-Do, U.S.A.
All rights reserved.
None of these articles posted on this site may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or
transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical photocopying, recording,
or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the writer.
