papasmurfinjapan's past comments

  • -1

    papasmurfinjapan

    Just to clarify the LDS position (as a former LDS member), the Church does not openly support gays.

    The LDS view is that being gay is not a sin as long as you live a life of abstinence. Everyone, regardless of sexual preference, is commanded to obey the law of chastity (no sex before marriage). The thing is the LDS church is quite strongly opposed to same-sex unions, and as far as I know does not recognise same-sex marriages as legitimate marriage before God - which basically means, it's okay to be gay, as long as you don't have gay sex.

    Posted in: Boy Scouts approve plan to accept openly gay boys, but not leaders

  • -1

    papasmurfinjapan

    As for my opinion, I think if the Boy Scout Council wants to accept gays, then that is fine, but I also think the Churches that run the local Boy Scout chapters should have the right to refuse prospective members who do not meet their moral criteria. Churches should not be forced to accept something they consider a sin.

    Posted in: Boy Scouts approve plan to accept openly gay boys, but not leaders

  • 2

    papasmurfinjapan

    I don't think this is really a good solution...I wish they would either choose to allow gays or not.

    I agree. The Boy Scouts are being a bit wishy-washy here. They should either be for gays or against them and accept the consequences either way. None of these half-way measures.

    Posted in: Boy Scouts approve plan to accept openly gay boys, but not leaders

  • 0

    papasmurfinjapan

    @ Dog

    Doesn't make what he does right.

    Why exactly is it wrong? Is he illegally exploiting them in any way? I suppose looking at some of the stuff they sell you could say they are soft-core porn and he is their pimp, but that view is subjective. The reality is, it is just business as usual as has been done in Japan for decades, and will continue to be done for decades to come.

    And just for the record, I can't stand AKB. But business is business, and that is his business.

    Posted in: AKB marches on

  • 2

    papasmurfinjapan

    What I do not like is how Akimoto and his ilk treat the girls like property, and not people.

    I think most of the girls are happy with the arrangement. For those with ambition and talent (or even no talent), AKB is just the stepping stone to bigger things. They all know they are expendable and will be "graduated" within a few years.

    Posted in: AKB marches on

  • -1

    papasmurfinjapan

    She went to Harvard, Oxford, Tokyo Uni, worked for the foreign ministry, speaks something like 5 or 6 languages, and was a rising star in the foreign ministry and supposedly the Crown Prince asked her to marry him on a number of occasions before she actually accepted.

    Which means, she is smart enough to know exactly what she was getting into. I feel sorry for her, but ultimately she has to take responsiblity for her own actions.

    Her husband's family don't really seem to help much either. Naruhito should grow some balls and support his wife instead of being scared sh*tless of the IHA. Emperor Akihito and Michiko's silence on the matter is just as disgusting.

    Posted in: Crown prince to visit Spain June 10-17; Masako not going

  • 0

    papasmurfinjapan

    Bring it on, baby!

    Posted in: Mega Potato to go back on sale at McDonald's Japan

  • -1

    papasmurfinjapan

    This article made my day.

    Posted in: Man arrested after taking Lexus for test drive to grandmother’s house 180 km away

  • -1

    papasmurfinjapan

    Not that I particularly care, but who dubs Kirk and why isn't he there? Because he's not sexy enough?

    Posted in: Voiceover

  • 0

    papasmurfinjapan

    I must admit, I am really looking forward to JJ's Star Wars...

    The thing with the prequels is, the story itself wasn't that bad, it's just the terrible dialogue and acting that made it unbearable to watch.

    Posted in: JJ Abrams boldly going from 'Trek' to 'Star Wars'

  • 1

    papasmurfinjapan

    If you think one can't understand culture without language, you're going against what research has stated otherwise. But feel free to believe you are correct and scholars are not.

    To make sure I'm understanding you correctly, by saying you don't need to know a language to understand a culture, are you implying that language has no influence on culture? If language does influence culture, then how can you understand it without understanding how the language influences it? Furthermore, how can you truly understand a language without understanding the culture? The two are intimately intertwined.

    I'd be interested to see this research you are referring to, because practically everything I have ever read states the exact opposite. Language has a huge influence on culture.

    Here's just one example from the WSJ. Hardly an academic journal I know, but good enough for JT. The sub-heading, just in case you don't bother to click it is "New cognitive research suggests that language profoundly influences the way people see the world" In other words, if you want to understand the Japanese, you really need to learn the language. If you learnt the language, but you still don't understand them, then you haven't learnt enough.

    http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703467304575383131592767868.html

    You see, it's not enough to know the vocabulary of a language, you need to understand the cultural baggage that is connected to it to really "get it". To Japanese people the word "Judas" is just another name; only when they learn the meaning attached to it by Christian culture do they understand why in English it means "traitor". And so it is in Japanese, and every other language.

    Knowing about a culture, and knowing a culture are two different things. I know about the culture of South Korea from reading a few history books and travel guides on the country, I even learnt a bit more by travelling there a few times with nothing more than rudimendtary Korean skills, but I do not presume to truly know the cultural idiosyncracies of the country because I do not understand the linguistic nuances that play an important part of everyday communication, and thereby make up a huge part of the living, breathing culture of the people and country.

    Posted in: Why you shouldn’t learn Japanese

  • 1

    papasmurfinjapan

    Credit is due for her designing her own stuff, but that's not saying a lot given the finished product.

    lol. Actually it's not that much worse that most of the stuff professional designers produce... she could probably get a job with Issey Miyake.

    http://saffronyellow.blogspot.jp/2011/06/love-miakes-crazy-knitting.html

    Posted in: Pamyu invasion

  • 2

    papasmurfinjapan

    @ eye

    If that's true I feel kind of guilty posting my earlier comment. It doesn't mean I like her style, but if she's following her dream, then all the best to her.

    Posted in: Pamyu invasion

  • 6

    papasmurfinjapan

    She forgot to cover her face too.

    Posted in: Pamyu invasion

  • 1

    papasmurfinjapan

    Who said I was judging JUST based on my in-laws? Mentioned TV shows as well

    Oh, the in-laws and TV?? Well then, I stand corrected...

    You know it's sad that someone who has obviously spent an extended period of time in this country feels so bitter towards the locals. I hate to sound like a travel brochure, but if all you are judging Japan's worth on is your in-laws and TV, then you don't know what you're missing. Try making some real friends, get out more and enjoy the country, and you might just find the Japanese language is pretty damn useful for a person who has decided to settle down here.

    I guess you think we don't know anything about former civilizations and their culture because we don't speak their language, right?

    As always, you are being over-simplistic. Of course you can learn about a culture from a Lonely Planet guide or textbook, but the only way to truly (note that word, as opposed to superficially) learn and understand a culture is to immerse yourself in it. That's pretty hard to do if you don't speak the language, or even try and make an effort to do so.

    I guess all those deaf/mute/blind folks don't know anything about their culture,

    If they are deaf, mute, and blind, then yeah, they probably don't know as much as someone with all their senses in tact. But if they are deaf they can read and speak, if they are mute they can hear and write and if they are blind they can hear and see, so they still have the language to communicate. The foreigner who thinks Japanese is a waste of time doesn't. If they are deaf/blind/mute and on top of that have no linguistic skills whatsoever, then I'd wager, yes, they probably know little about their culture, or anything for that matter.

    Do you think all Japanese folks have a clear insight to their culture because they speak Japanese or because they learn about it

    Like I said, real culture is not something you learn in a textbook. It's something you experience. Go to Osaka, live among the locals, learn the dialect. That is a unique culture you aren't going to learn from a textbook. So do they have a "clear insight to (sic) their culture"?? Yes, more than the clueless foreigner at least. Do they have a clear insight into whatever you read on Wikipedia about what foreigners think is Japanese culture? (geisha, samurai etc..) Probably not, because that is not what Japan's living culture is.

    Posted in: Why you shouldn’t learn Japanese

  • -2

    papasmurfinjapan

    MY family is Japanese and trust me, knowing Japanese hasn't really been beneficial. I'd prefer to be the ignorant fool when it came to their enlightening conversations.

    lol. Sounds like my in-laws, but at least I don't judge the entire nation on the experiences I have with my wife's crazy parents.

    You can't understand a culture without it. Wrong, wrong, wrong.

    Care to elaborate? How do you truly understand a culture without knowing the language?

    Posted in: Why you shouldn’t learn Japanese

  • 0

    papasmurfinjapan

    I'll wager that the car was a Kei, and the injuries could have been lessened in a proper car.

    Though I agree that keis are definitely not as safe as normal cars, the Japanese news says she was driving a 乗用車 and he was driving an 大型トラック. It probably didn't matter what she was driving, the truck hit the car, then landed on top of it. I don't think even the safest car in the world is designed to withstand the crushing force of a multi-tonne truck landing on it's roof.

    RIP poor woman and baby and condolences to the poor husband/father.

    Posted in: Woman, 3-month-old daughter killed in Kagawa traffic accident

  • 1

    papasmurfinjapan

    It seems like gaffer tape over the mouth is necessary for Hashimoto.

    Posted in: Hashimoto says comfort women system necessary for wartime troops

  • 0

    papasmurfinjapan

    In no specific order

    Star Wars, Empire Strikes Back, Alien, Aliens, Terminator.

    Posted in: What are your five favorite science-fiction movies?

  • 0

    papasmurfinjapan

    @Get Real

    I've wondered that too. Euro cars always fare pretty badly on JNCAP tests, but it is hard to believe that Japan is more stringent on safety. Is it Japanese bias against non-Japanese cars? Are the imported Audis etc. of lower quality than the German ones? The results are very strange indeed.

    Posted in: Outlander recognized as 2012's top safety performer among new passenger vehicles in Japan

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