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tsukimotoIndeed....how SGI describes itself depends on whatever suits its purposes at the time. Some links:
First, from buddha.jones:
[
www.buddhajones.com]
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They're a "religion" when it suits them, a "peace organization" when they want school boards in the U.S. to approve Soka-based charter schools, and a "non-governmental organization recognized by the UN" when they pretend at neutrality and honest scholarship. Gotta love it.
I sort of wish I knew how to read Japanese because
the article mentions that politcos are talking about removing tax exemptions for religions in Japan:
The justification for this is made evident from another article, which purports to expose the "side businesses" operated by large religious groups, which are said to include schools, hospitals, cemeteries, golf courses and - bless their hearts - love hotels.
Soka has gotta be the king of shady side businesses. Remember the company being run out of one of SGI-USA's warehouses? They sold flatulence-filtering underpants. What was the name of that company?
by: brooke @ Tue May 08, 2012 at 18:41:04 PM UTC
Underpants
Follow up to my last comment.
The underwear seller was called iShining. (www.ishining.com) That company and another called PCE International are "importers" that once worked out of 8811 Aviation Blvd. in Inglewood, CA, a warehouse property owned by Soka. They appear to have moved their operations since the links between those companies and Soka were publicized online about ten years ago.by: brooke @ Tue May 08, 2012 at 18:53:09 PM UTC
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Ah, that Soka Gakkai....it's a religion....it's a world peace organization....it's an NGO....AND it's in the business of selling flatulence filtering underpants.....all under their fearless leader....Captain Underpants! What a gas!
The "official" gakkai bookstores in Shinanomachi carry an entire line of "official" gakka colored products: pencils, pens, pen and pencil cases, small-medium-large gakkai flags, stickers, patches, scarves, juzu bead and gongyo book covers and cases, erasers, rulers, gakkai colored tape, notebooks, stationary, bookmarks, etc., etc., etc..
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As a side note, here is an early account (pdf form) of a christian missionary's visit to the same HQ to "study" the gakkai's version of buddhism: "A Visit to the Soka Gakkai Headquarters" by Noah Brannen.
[
nirc.nanzan-u.ac.jp]
Taken from: "Contemporary Religions in Japan", Vol. 2, No. 1 (Mar., 1961), pp. 55-62 and published by: Nanzan University. (Wiki - [
en.wikipedia.org]).
They have also published an interesting article about the gakkai-komeito connection (pdf):
[
www.politicsandreligionjournal.com]
And Soka University has even participated in one their symposia, addressing the "cult" issue:
[
nirc.nanzan-u.ac.jp] (It gets pretty interesting around p. 14-15.)
More info. available here: [
nirc.nanzan-u.ac.jp]
They even address the recent burgeoning gakkai movement in Brazil:
[
nirc.nanzan-u.ac.jp] (Quite a fascinating read.)
ALL recommended reading, as it reveals and sheds interesting light on to how the gakkai as "evolved" in its "relations" and attitudes with other religions (in this case, christianity).
From my direct experience, although they may *now* profess tolerance of other religions on the surface for outward appearances, it is complete and active intolerance once you are on the inside. In fact, I never once saw a single case of tolerance when it came to other faiths; it was the exact opposite, discouragement and sometimes even to the point of borderline violent opposition. The gakkai speaks with a forked tongue on this (and many other) issue(s).