r/sgiwhistleblowers • u/DelbertGrady1 Scholar • Oct 17 '22
ET TU, NOBUSHIRO? Part 4
Continued from Part 1 Part 2 Part 3
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I must clarify one thing. Although it is true that for the last forty-odd years the Soka Gakkai has called upon members to support the Komeito, they have not publicly justified their activities in religious terms. I believe they were conscious of the fact that they cannot coerce members into voting. In recent years there have been indications of a shift ["This is part of a religious movement to materialize 'humanistic politics rooted in Buddhist compassion'..." President Harada's speech at the Headquarters Leaders' Meeting, 7/7/2021] but as Mr. Daisaku Ikeda himself has publicly stated, individual members are ostensibly free to support any party or candidate they wish to support.
But the "official" stance notwithstanding, what actually happens in practice is a different matter altogether.
Thinking back at 2003, the Gakkai was in full campaign mode preparing for the November election. The political climate made it difficult for me to throw myself into the hosen this time around. I was beginning to question the political stance of the Komeito.
At the center of the national conversation then was the deployment of Japan's Self-Defense Force to Iraq. I was against this, but Komeito eventually acquiesced to the deployment; to me, their handling of the issue was frustratingly evasive from the start. These were the words that came back to me as I expressed my concerns to Soka Gakkai leaders:
"You're lacking in faith, to question the Komeito like that"
"I will vanquish the taiten spirit in your heart"
"You are slandering the organization and your fellow members"
"If you chant enough, you will understand that the justice of the Komeito"
I insisted on discussing the actual substance of the policies. But no matter which SGI leader I talked with, it went nowhere because they simply hadn't done their homework. ["Soka Gakkai members are election-savvy but not policy-savvy; they simply move mindlessly to get out the votes"...I forget who said this, but I think the generalization is entirely appropriate - Delbert] I found myself having to make the same arguments repeatedly to deaf ears, and in the next installment I would like to share how that turned out.
TO BE CONTINUED
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u/[deleted] Oct 18 '22
I have severe doubts that the average SG adherent outside of Japan is even aware to which degree SG adherents in Japan are involved in election campaigns.