4 ms·
isn't there a saying that goes something like 'Japanese are born Shintoist, marry as Christian and are buried Buddhist' ? Like as if religion was a more mutable
by baud147258 4y ago
isn't there a saying that goes something like 'Japanese are born Shintoist, marry as Christian and are buried Buddhist' ? Like as if religion was a more mutable part of one's identity, compared to other countries.
- cdavid 4y agoMost people who get married the "western style", do it w/ fake priest, etc. It has no recognized religious value. Other people do it the "shinto way" or the "buddhist way".
- naniwaduni 4y agoThis, too, is an artifact of viewing about religion through the lens of a tradition which is unusually (a) more concerned about having the right beliefs ("orthodoxy") than performing the right rituals ("orthopraxy"), and (b) centered around a jealous god to the exclusion of other religious practice. Without (b), there's no need for such a strong delineation between religion and general cultural practice. You perform "Shinto" rituals because that's what everyone around you has done and you're pretty sure it's worked out fine for them. You have a "Christian" wedding because that seems like the most legibly festive (and accordingly popular) marriage ritual available to you, out of a handful of distinct but all perfectly functional marriage rituals that you're pretty sure have worked fine for people around you. You conduct "Buddhist" funerals because those are the most practical funeral rituals for your setting and you're pretty sure they've worked out fine for people around you. You don't need to think very hard about the fact that these rituals come from different traditions and follow different and contradictory "theory" behind the scenes; it's just a curiosity if it comes up, but mostly it doesn't. As long as the rituals seem to work and life goes on, it doesn't really matter.