AJ Philips,
Thank again, for your thoughts.

>>Granted though, that would take a few generations at least.<<
An impotent man cannot become a rapist, but neither can he produce offspring. That is obvious, however we do not have enough experience yet with a society that became totally “religiously impotent”. The Communist attempts at that failed, leading to a society unable to produce vital (in the cultural sense) offspring generations. This, of course, does not imply other attempts must also fail. What is certain is that I shall not live that long to see the outcome.

You are right that teaching of religion has also cultural, historical, metaphysical etc. components, not just ethics, however I was comparing only the teaching of the rules of ethics and those of maths.

I agree that probably without “promise of eternal life” there would not be suicidal terrorists, though as far as I know the kamikaze pilots did not believe in afterlife. It is open to speculations (at least I do not know of any psychology studies of that) how many of the crimes committed in the post-Christian West would have been prevented had the perpetrators been brought up to believe in afterlife punishment.

>>I respect that you grew-up in a Stalinist country and don’t wish demean the unpleasantness you experienced.<<
Thanks for the concern but - as hinted at in my post to Grim - it was not that bad: as a young person I actually enjoyed the living in “intellectual catacombs” of that officially pagan world. Whatever the “dangers”, in distinction to the first Christians, I did not have to fear being thrown to the lions.

I feel more worried about the new generation growing up in a world whose artefacts (material as well as “spiritual”) are better able to fill the existential void and anxiety than what the Communists had to offer. Will they be happier than their Christian ancestors (who were used to all sorts of hardship) also when things go bad?

*George*

I recall something about the *Kami Kaze* from an old martial arts book.

Kami in Japanese means *God*
Kaze means *Wind*

Legend or mayhaps real history suggests that during one of the attempted Mongol invasions of Japan that when their fleet was poised to strike, that a great wind/storm manifested and laid waste to them.

So, if not in "after life," it was still bound up in
"God Concept."

George, I thank you for your sympathy, but like you I didn't find my childhood 'that bad'. I rebelled and rejected Christianity, simply because I saw too many inconsistencies and contradictions in the argument. Most parts to me appeared to be clearly manufactured to be acceptable to a more superstitious, primitive culture; a young maiden pregnant out of wedlock in a culture that stoned women for adultery claims a miraculous birth. The classic argument, 'the world is a wondrous and intricate place, must have been designed' is too easily rebutted by 'who designed the designer'; even by a 12 year old.
I'm afraid I have always been too sceptical (perhaps too arrogant) to simply accept what I'm told, without question.
My mother was a domineering woman. I had to wait until I was bigger than she was, to win my first argument with her.

Be very careful when you make leaps of logic, DreamOn.

>>Kami in Japanese means *God* Kaze means *Wind* So, if not in "after life," it was still bound up in "God Concept."<<

The reality is that at the time pilots were crashing their machines into their targets, they were called "tokubetsu kogeki tai", which translates to "special attack units". Specifically, the attacks by air were "shinpu tokubetsu kogeki tai", which mutated to "kamikaze" as an alternative pronunciation rendering of the character formation of "shinpu".

So the "God concept", as you so picturesquely describe it, was certainly not bound up in the word "kamikaze" itself.

If you examine Japanese history a little more deeply, you will find that the concept of attacking in battle with only winning or dying as the outcome was deeply rooted in the bushido code. Which has no concept of either God, or an afterlife.

Pericles,
When I did Japenese history at Tafe we were taught the Emperor represented the Sun God of Shintoism - the supreme being from whom we have life.

Research,

http://www.onmarkproductions.com/html/shinto.shtml

SHINT&#332;. Japan’s indigenous folk religion can be traced back to at least the Yayoi &#24357;&#29983; period (400 BC - 250 AD). The character SHIN &#31070; (also pronounced KAMI) is the generic term for god, goddess, divine spirit, and countless demonic and semi-benevolent nature spirits. The character T&#332; &#36947; (also pronounced MICHI) means road, path, or way. Together, they are translated as WAY OF THE GODS (Kami no Michi &#31070;&#12398;&#36947;). This guidebook presents a condensed tour of the most important Shint&#333; concepts, deities, schools and sects, shrines, and other topics to help you better understand the beliefs, rituals, spiritual practices, and artwork of Japanese Shint&#333;ism.