Chiune Sugihara

Possible Monthly Topics: God/Moral and Virtuous people; Responsibility of Citizens; Service-Oriented Leadership;  Asia
Chiune Sugihara: Chiune Sugihara (杉原 千畝 Sugihara Chiune^?, 1 January 1900 – 31 July 1986) was a Japanese diplomat who served as Vice-Consul for the Empire of Japan in Lithuania. During World War II, he helped several thousand Jews leave the country by issuing transit visas to Jewish refugees so that they could travel to Japan. Most of the Jews who escaped were refugees from German-occupied Poland and residents of Lithuania. Sugihara wrote travel visas that facilitated the escape of more than 6,000 Jewish refugees to Japanese territory, risking his career and his family's lives. Sugihara had told the refugees to call him "Sempo", the Chinese reading of the characters in his first name, discovering it was much easier for Western people to pronounce.^[1] In 1985, Israel honored him as Righteous Among the Nations for his actions.--Wikipedia

Quote someone sent me from him: "You want to know about my motivation, don't you? Well. It is the kind of sentiments anyone would have when he actually sees refugees face to face, begging with tears in their eyes. He just cannot help but sympathize with them. Among the refugees were the elderly and women. They were so desperate that they went so far as to kiss my shoes, Yes, I actually witnessed such scenes with my own eyes. Also, I felt at that time, that the Japanese government did not have any uniform opinion in Tokyo. Some Japanese military leaders were just scared because of the pressure from the Nazis; while other officials in the Home Ministry were simply ambivalent.

"People in Tokyo were not united. I felt it silly to deal with them. So, I made up my mind not to wait for their reply. I knew that somebody would surely complain about me in the future. But, I myself thought this would be the right thing to do. There is nothing wrong in saving many people's lives....The spirit of humanity, philanthropy...neighborly friendship...with this spirit, I ventured to do what I did, confronting this most difficult situation---and because of this reason, I went ahead with redoubled courage."

Balancing truth and tolerance

I posted the following on one of my blogs the other day from my reading in "Five Love Languages for Teens":

"Without social boundaries, society would self-destruct.   If everyone simply did what was right in his own eyes, the results would be  chaotic.  When the majority of people abide by the laws that is when they are responsible citizens, the society thrives.  When a significant number of individuals choose to walk their own way and live irresponsibly, the society suffers the negative consequences. Our own Western society is experiencing the results of irresponsible living on the part of man teenagers and adults.  From financial crises to moral failures to violent crimes, and everywhere in between, there are great numbers of people living with little regard for their own actions.  Not only does the individual suffer for his/her irresponsible behavior, but the society at large also suffers."--Five Love Languages of Teens Ch. 12

A friend sent this article in reply:

"Balancing Truth and Tolerance" Ensign

The full text is found here:

"Balancing Truth and Tolerance" full article

Excellent resources when considering the role of God and religion in society, as well as individual responsibility.

Following, I have included some tantalizing, quick quotes from the article.  I did not seek to take them out of context, and you really must read the whole thing to get the message of this amazing discourse on how to be tolerant and God-fearing seekers of truth.  It's an amazing article, written to young adults by Dallin H. Oaks, who invites them "to consider and to teach these twin subjects ("truth" and "tolerance") because they are vital to the rising generation, in which you are the senior members."

"In this troubled circumstance, we who believe in God and the corollary truth of absolute right and wrong have the challenge of living in a godless and increasingly amoral world. In this circumstance, all of us—and especially you of the rising generation—have a duty to stand up and speak up to affirm that God exists and that there are absolute truths His commandments establish."

"I have chosen to speak about truth because teachers in schools, colleges, and universities are teaching and practicing relative morality. This is shaping the attitudes of many young Americans who are taking their places as the teachers of our children and the shapers of public attitudes through the media and popular entertainment. This philosophy of moral relativism denies what millions of believing Christians, Jews, and Muslims consider fundamental, and this denial creates serious problems for all of us. What believers should do about this introduces the second of my twin subjects: Tolerance..."

"... We are enriched by associations with different peoples, which remind us of the wonderful diversity of the children of God. But diversities in cultures and values also challenge us to identify what can be embraced as consistent with our gospel culture and values and what cannot. In this way diversity increases the potential for conflict and requires us to be more thoughtful about the nature of tolerance. What is tolerance, when does it apply, and when does it not apply?"

"This is a harder question for those who affirm the existence of God and absolute truth than for those who believe in moral relativism... For example, an atheist has no need to decide what kinds and occasions of profanity or blasphemy can be tolerated and what kinds should be confronted. Persons who don’t believe in God or in absolute truth in moral matters can see themselves as the most tolerant of persons. For them, almost anything goes.... Unfortunately, some who believe in moral relativism seem to have difficulty tolerating those who insist that there is a God who should be respected and certain moral absolutes that should be observed." 

"Living together with mutual respect for one another’s differences is a challenge in today’s world. However—and here I express a second absolute truth—this living with differences is what the gospel of Jesus Christ teaches us we must do."

"Since followers of Jesus Christ are commanded to be a leaven—not to be taken out of the world, but to remain in it—we must seek tolerance from those who hate us for not being of the world. As part of this, we will sometimes need to challenge laws that would impair our freedom to practice our faiths, doing so in reliance on our constitutional rights to the free exercise of religion. As described by an attorney supporting a Lutheran school in a case now before the United States Supreme Court, the big concern is “the ability of people of all faiths to work out their relationship with God and one another without the government looking over their shoulder.”¹⁰ That is why we need understanding and support—including your understanding and support—when we must contend for religious freedom."

"Our tolerance and respect for others and their beliefs does not cause us to abandon our commitment to the truths we understand and the covenants we have made. That is a third absolute truth: We do not abandon the truth and our covenants. We are cast as combatants in the war between truth and error. There is no middle ground. We must stand up for truth, even while we practice tolerance and respect for beliefs and ideas different from our own and for the people who hold them.

While we must practice tolerance and respect for others and their beliefs, including their constitutional freedom to explain and advocate their positions, we are not required to respect and tolerate wrong behavior."

"In all of this we should not presume to judge our neighbors or associates on the ultimate effect of their behaviors. That judgment is the Lord’s, not ours. Even He refrained from a final mortal judgment of the woman taken in adultery. Tolerance requires a similar refraining in our judgment of others." 

"The Lord of hosts mustereth the host of the battle"...are our youth ready?

In Isaiah 13, there is an excerpt at the end of verse 4 and the beginning of verse 5 that made me think of the youth of today from many faiths:

"The Lord of hosts mustereth the host of the ^bbattle.  5 They come from a far country, from the end of heaven"

Our youth have truly been chosen and mustered "from the end of heaven" to engage in the battle for truth and good on this world!  However, the opposition is fierce!

The other day, my son recommended the following scripture from his scripture study in the New Testament, 2 Corinthians 4:8-9, and I thought it fit as the answer of these youth to that opposition:

 8 We are ^atroubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in ^bdespair;

 9 ^aPersecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not ^bdestroyed;

(I even have a "scripture rap"* for it that I will put below if it makes sense :)...)

It is not going to be easy!  Freedom and truth was never easily defended.

Look at the life of George Washington.  I recently read "The Real George Washington" and was struck by the endless stream of tragedy, betrayal and deprevation that plagued that noble man and his efforts to gain freedom for America with his beleaguered, under-fed, under-clothed troops.  It was not pretty.  It was not perfect.  It was not simple.  It was an endless stream of hardship!

Our youth need to learn that, just because they are doing the right thing, at the right time, it may not be easy, perfect, or even bearable :).  It is a battle, in every sense of the word, and they must not get discouraged.

My daughter found a poem for a devotional some days ago that perfectly complements these ideas:

"Go Forth to Life" by Samuel Longfellow

Go forth to life, O child of earth!
Still mindful of thy heav’nly birth;
Thou art not here for ease, or sin,
But manhood’s noble crown to win.

Tho’ passion’s fires are in thy soul,
Thy spirit can their flames control;
Tho’ tempters strong beset thy way,
Thy spirit is more strong than they.

Go on from innocence of youth
To manly purity and truth;
God’s angels still are near to save,
And God Himself doth help the brave.

Then forth to life, O child of earth!
Be worthy of thy heav’nly birth!
For noble service thou art here;
Thy brothers help, thy God revere!

(There is a song for it, if it helps to memorize the poem that way, at http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/g/f/t/gftlocoe.htm)

To touch it all off, I just came across this quote that Marni shared in her Vanguard group (I love connections!)
 from "The Journals of Ralph Waldo Emerson"  Selected and Edited by
Robert N. Linscott
p.43 - The wise man in the storm prays God, not for safety from
danger, but for deliverance from fear.  It is the storm within which
endangers him, not the storm without.

 * Scripture Rap: Steady Strong/Weak beat.  Strong Beat=Bold; Weak beat=Italicized: Snap your fingers at every bold mark below for the rhythym:

Second Corinthians four, eight and nine.

We are troubled on every side, yet not (pause) dis (pause) tressed;(pause beat pause) we are perplexed, but not in dispair; (pause)

Persecuted (pause)  but not forsaken; (pause) cast down,(pause) but not destroyed.

Cooooooool possible class theme!!!

I came across an amazing string of connections that I thought would serve as a brilliant theme for a week of study in Vanguard.

My kids and I are studying the history of gravitational theory in Exploring Creation with Physical Science from the Apologia Series.  On page 278-280 is a brief history of the development of the gravitational theories to date.  There are several people mentioned so it could fit into any of the four time periods, I imagine.  You could use their biographies or explore more of the scientific side or both.

On page 276-277 there is a fun experiment that helps explain one of the current theories of gravitation using tennis balls (or baseballs) and it could easily be turned into a game, as well as it's original use.  The games is basically where the kids stand far apart and "exchange" particles by throwing balls back and forth simultaneously, and how it gets easier when they get closer.  Similarly, this theory of gravitation states that objects that exchange particles are naturally drawn closer together.

They also mention telescopes which could open up an activity with telescopes or a field trip.  There is also the following website that my brother recommended at Celestia :/"... The free space simulation that lets you explore our universe in three dimensions."

But the really cool part was...

This afternoon I felt prompted to listen to a BYU devotional address given by Bruce C. Hafen on Karen's blog  or on youtube titled "A Disciple's Journey."

In his talk, he compares the journey of a disciple to the orbits of the three celestial bodies God uses to describe the three degrees of glory: sun, moon, and stars, and then Satan's "realm" in outer darkness.  It was so closely tied to the whole concept of gravitation!!!!!!!!  He talked about how, like in the tennis ball analogy, we are drawn towards that which we listen to and progress across certain orbits by taking on different covenants and commitments.  For instance, the more we listen to God the closer we get to Him; the more we listen to Satan, the closer we get to him.

I think it could fit really well in the month of "God".  It would work with "Work" since the people had to work to figure out the theory, or it could be "Responsible Citizenship" as the talk discusses our personal accountability in drawing near to God and benefits of that.

It was sooooo cool!  I should take the time to make it more coherant, but I don't have it :), so at least it is written down and here.  Have fun!