Posted on 08/25/2005 11:00:49 PM PDT by Ronin
What man, who calls himself a man, would not fail to put himself into harms way to defend his home, his family, his nation?
It is always politically correct to stipulate that Japan was the aggressor at the beginning of the war. There is no doubt that Japan was defeated at the end of the war. After the many many years that have passed, I find it extremely difficult to find or analyze the root causes of the Pacific War, and frankly, I am not interested in that part of it.
What I strongly object to the increasingly common characterization of Islamic suicide bombers as “Kamikaze.”
Kamikaze – Divine Wind – generally refers to two things. Originally, it referred to a typhoon which was responsible for destroying a Mongol fleet bent on invading Japan. Later, in the Pacific War, it was used to designate the members of special suicide airplane pilots, submariners and even just small boat operators who hurled their explosive packed vessels against the enemy – and yes, that was us Americans and our allies.
That kind of thinking was incomprehensible to Americans. American Soldiers, Sailors and Marines went into battle with the clear understanding that they might, could, and most probably would, be killed – but not with absolute certainty. Indeed, I can confidently suppose that their fondest hope was to get home alive.
There were, of course, individual acts of heroic valor where a warrior would, faced with overwhelming odds, would gallantly sacrifice himself to save his comrades, but it was certainly never a part of national defense, or religious, policy.
Part of that is our Judeo-Christian heritage -- which abhors the idea of suicide in any form – but the most important part, in my mind at least, is the pioneer heritage of all Americans which stresses and exults survival. Survival in the face of all odds, survival in the face of all enemies, survival – but above all, survival with honor.
And that is the key! Honor!
Simple survival itself is meaningless. Cowards do it. And do it regularly. Nobody has anything but contempt for any man who abandons his loved ones in the face of peril. Our greatest heroes are those who died valiantly fighting against overwhelming odds – in defense of those they loved.
So did the Kamikaze go forth on their missions. To die. Striking the enemy warriors who were most definitely determined to kill them. One part of it was the Bushido creed – the Japanese warrior code. “Duty is as heavy as a mountain – death is as light as a feather.” But that is not, by any means, all of it. Or… in many cases, I am sure, the most part of it.
What most people see to forget is that the Kamikaze were defending their homes. They were defending their families. They were defending their nation. They were going out to do battle against warriors as warriors. To die. They knew it. They accepted it. Without any hope of survival at all.
To die. With honor. With the respect of their families and loved ones, their comrades in arms, their Emperor.
They didn’t do it way any guarantee of future happiness. Certainly with no hope or Paradise. Afterlife, in Buddhist or Shinto canon is an undecided. An individual Kamikaze might have had a personal belief in an afterlife of sorts, but it was certainly not a point clarified by dogma of any universally accepted kind.
They died as warriors deserving of honor – and I honor them.
Contrast this with the Islamic suicide bombers and the difference is profound.
Islam teaches, or at least a great many Islamic teachers teach, that death in the fight for Islam guarantees automatic admission to Paradise – where they will be waited upon by 72 virgins who will serve all of their desires and feed them delicious food and drink for eternity.
Christian men and women, on the other hand, face life’s test without any firm guarantee that they will eventually find succor in The Lord God. Some Christians may debate this, but they all believe that their actions, in this world, will be examined in the transition to the next.
I am not familiar enough with the Jewish faith to comment on their beliefs, but I am confident enough to surmise that no Jewish man or woman who blows themselves up in a crowded train or plane is expecting to go to Heaven. One can even surmise that the few who do commit acts of terrorism do so in the full expectation that God will punish them for their actions.
Is not, then, an Islamic suicide bomber a despicable coward? Is he not then, taking the coward’s way out?
Is he not then, using the ultimate “Get out of Jail Free” card? To die on the promise of eternal Paradise, regardless of any previous sins which might have to be reckoned with?
Is not then an Islamist suicide bomber the most contemptible of cowards? A person who is willing to kill innocents simply to ensure he, himself, enjoys the full fruits of Paradise? To refuse to compete? To cut class? To fail to even try to meet the challenges of life’s test?
No…. Whatever they are, they are not martyrs. They are not heroes. They are beyond contempt.
And they certainly are not, Kamikaze.
They didn't because they couldn't. There WERE no American civilian targets within range of the Kamikaze attacks, otherwise you can bet they would have.
If you want an idea of how the Japanese treated enemy civilians, you need look no farther than the occupation of China and the Philipines.
'Christian men and women, on the other hand, face life’s test without any firm guarantee that they will eventually find succor in The Lord God. Some Christians may debate this, but they all believe that their actions, in this world, will be examined in the transition to the next'
Couldn't disagree with you more on this statement. Believers have God's Word to the contrary. There is no debate amongst true believers. Examination of our past deeds is meaningless, because the only hope of salvation is through the merits of Jesus, not ourselves.
There is no moral equivalence. Japan is a pacifist nation today because this mindset was utterly and totally defeated. The Japanese are not only pacifist but one of America's most trustworthy allies and largest contributors to the war on terrorism.
The only "moral equivalence" which should be drawn is the equivalence in what it took to defeat Imperial Japan. Reread my post before you accuse me of defending kamikazes.
Oh, by the way, the Japanese did infiltrate the United States during World War II. The closest they ever got to doing any of the atrocities you describe was fighting against the Nazis on the Italian front-- a show of loyalty all the more remarkable when you consider their families were in FDR's and Earl Warren's detention camps at the time.
I agree with you. The first biological weapons were used by the Japanese during WWII, the delivery system was the hydrogen balloons.
If someone claims that Muslims, Christians, and Jews worship the same G-D, you only need to point out that Muslims regard Christians and Jews as "kufir" - infidels. And by definition, Muslims thereby do not consider the One G-D of Christians and Jews to be the god they call Allah.
Allah is indeed the Devil and Mohammed the False Prophet foretold in the Bible. Islam is a death cult whose members kill for their god. They need to be stamped out the same way the British stopped the Thugee death cult of Kali in India.
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