Those Americans who have still never heard of Sharia law and who try to rationalize away Jihad had their counterparts in the pre-WWII years. A recent exchange of comments on a posting at the JihadWatch site alerted me to similarities between Islamism and the concept of hakko ichiu that motivated the Empire of Japan in WWII.
Hakko ichiu, translates into English as "all the world under one roof," meaning world dominance by Japan. It was first used as a political slogan in the early 20th century by Japanese nationalist Tanaka Chigaku as his interpretation of a "divine command" issued by Jimmu, Japan's first god-emperor, believed to be a direct descendent of the sun.
The Japanese people believed themselves to be descendants of gods, destined to rule the world and all its people. Their religion of Shinto decreed that all living people must imitate the ways of the gods, in a system as detailed and all-encompassing as that of Islam's Sharia law. And like Islam, Shinto had permeated its culture for many centuries. But since 1870 the state had forced into the practice of Shinto the doctrine of hakko ichiu. The combination was deadly, because to the Japanese it justified any treachery, brutality, rape, and torture used against non-Japanese. In 1940, the Konoe administration proclaimed for Japan "a new order in East Asia aimed at establishment of world peace...". The meaning of hakko ichiu in relation to "peace" was about the same as that of Islam: submission.
Frank Capra's film "Know Your Enemy - Japan", part of his "Why We Fight" series, provides an excellent short introduction to hakko ichiu. To quote from the film, the Japanese soldier "...believes that in the attack itself there is some mystic virtue" by which a superior enemy force can be defeated. "Death in battle is the attainment of the ideal... where his flag leads, he follows in a blind emotional rush", for the Japanese flag of the Rising Sun was the symbol of their holy emperor, their visible god. The emperor was also their political ruler, thus combining religion and politics. As a direct descendant of the sun, the emperor could not be imitated in any way, could not be touched, and the Japanese government filed an official protest when a photograph of Hirohito appeared on the cover of TIME magazine.
As one commenter on JW pointed out, differing circumstances lead to differences in the perception of similarities between Jihad and Hakko Ichiu in history. The current difference is based in Political Correctness. That insidious barrier to rational assessment is compounded by the fact that the "nationality" of Islam, the "uniform" of its "military", and the structure of its "government" are not as clearly delineated as was the case with Imperial Japan and Nazi Germany, and are therefore more susceptible to the distortions of PC. This is not likely to change unless and until we are hit with an attack of even greater magnitude than 9/11/01 which will require us to finally acknowledge the nature of our enemy, in the name of our very survival.
2 comments:
Whoops, knew something was missing! Hakko Ichiu isn't the subject of the posting but comes up here and there in the comments. Look especially for the ones by "Frank".
Hmm, that's indeed interesting.
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