It's a small Mahikari world after all....

And now in completely Nico-unrelated news... it seems my couple of snarky observations on Sukyo Mahikari, the new-agey religion/cult with it's worldwide headquarters based in our hometown of Takayama, just keeps on keeping on. Not only do they keep generating comments (33 at last count... for a dinky site like this one, that's HUGE) but now I've been cited as reference (hah!).

Now if you've already clicked the last link above (reference) you'll see that the first several links posted on that page are in Hebrew. Seems Mahikari is now causing a bit of ruckus in my other "hometown" of Israel. They recently funded the opening of a Japanese Cultural Center at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, which has caused a furor among several of the professors there. Seems Mahikari has an anti-semitic bent and subscribe to the Protocols of the Elders of Zion as part of their core beliefs. Ah, what transcendent weirdness abounds.

But just in case I've given you the impression that I value one religion more highly than another, let me just categorically state that I think all of it's bunk. There is profound wonder to be found in this world, and that's exactly from whence it arrives... this world. Here's an article I read recently that, while I don't think it fully explains things, makes for an interesting read.

Tags: Japan | Takayama | Mahikari | cults | religion | oddness