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Goodbye Jesus

Noragami: A Better Way Of Doing Christ?


seven77

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Introduction:

 

Hi, I'm seven77 and I watch a lot of anime. One of my recent favorites is Noragami. (This is currently available via US version of Netflix, subbed not dubbed. It may also be available to stream on the interwebz for free.) 

 

Noragami is a unique piece about a god named Yato who is on a redemption journey of sorts. He was once a god who did whatever people asked of him, including helping to kill people. He decided to leave that life behind and rebrand himself as a new god. His primary motivation in the series is to earn enough money to build a temple. He accomplishes this by doing odd jobs for 5 yen coins (equivalent of a US nickel, commonly left as token gifts to gods at shrines). 

 

The more I watch the series, the more compelled I am by his journey. The mere fact that a god would want to redeem himself is astounding to me. Here is a god character who is actively seeking people. He listens to prayers and acts upon them (mostly in hamfisted ways, but still, action is action and more often than not, he ends up saving the day). For all the talk of Christ and his many good deeds and his deep unwavering love...when has he ever shown himself in such ways? Christians aren't even allowed to talk about Jesus lowering himself to appearing in our modern world.

 

Christians aren't allowed to wonder why Jesus doesn't have to atone for all of the bloodshed in the Bible. Instead, he was sent to atone for our sins through his death. Not so for Yato. Here is a god character who understood that his path was wrong and decided to do something about it. Instead of begging and demanding that people share their wealth with him, he goes out and earns it by doing chores for a pittance. He sleeps at shrines and sometimes on the streets.

 

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As some may know, Japanese spirituality is based around Shinto. Shinto is too complex for me to summarize here, but in essence, the gods of Shinto are spirits. These spirits are energy generated by things and manifest in reality. Gods can be anything, take any form, and there are no 'true' gods, nor are there 'false' gods. Anything that possesses the kami (spiritual) energy is said to be a god. This has many strange and interesting implications for westerners, most of whom are raised in monotheistic cultures. 

 

In the case of Noragami, Yato is not the only god. There are many gods and spirits in the mix, all of whom are higher ranking than poor Yato. He takes a lot of grief from these other gods and sometimes loses his temper with them. Through it all, he remains dedicated to his journey. The same cannot be said for Jesus. He was all too willing to die, imho. Why? Because only in death was there any sort of glory for such a vain preacher. 

 

I do not respect this Jesus character who requires people to live as he lived when he was nothing but a grifting leech who preyed upon the poor and desperate. Perhaps that is why Christianity (particularly the various strains of toxic Christ-belief that have sprouted up here in the US) is such a sorry-ass joke these days. It's just a bunch of selfish judgmental assholes who gather in a building once a week to mine one another for business connections whilst getting their pockets picked by grifters (missionaries) and preachers. All because some dead Jew commanded them to do as he did.

 

In closing, Noragami has given me a new appreciation for the Shinto belief system and has caused me to reach for new understandings of the meanings of action and the importance of redemption on one's own terms. It is not enough to fall on one's knees and ask an invisible and removed Christ to metaphorically take my sins upon himself, as if he ever could. I will only be fulfilled once I have set things right myself.

 

 

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In closing, Noragami has given me a new appreciation for the Shinto belief system and has caused me to reach for new understandings of the meanings of action and the importance of redemption on one's own terms. It is not enough to fall on one's knees and ask an invisible and removed Christ to metaphorically take my sins upon himself, as if he ever could. I will only be fulfilled once I have set things right myself.

 

From what do you need "redemption?" What things need to be "set right" and why?

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To me, redemption is admitting that you've made a mistake and then trying to make it right. It's a process that involves atonement, I suppose.

 

I am thinking of real things as I write this, actual actions that I failed to take or poor decisions that I have made and how I might go about repairing the damage done in my life. 

 

When I was a believer in Christ, I was hung up asking for forgiveness and having Jesus take such-and-such away from me. Remove this sin and blah blah blah. It's better to take on your own 'sins', admit to your own shortcomings and failures and find a way to make set things right on your own terms, imo. 

 

As for the grand why of it all, I need to do some work in my life. Figure some things out. 

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Personally I'd avoid the Christianity-loaded terminology of redemption and atonement.  I find the language of "responsibility" more useful.  Being able to move on rather than worrying about past error is also a useful skill.

 

I know little of Shinto and less of anime.  However, the idea that gods are spirits of limited powers, capable of making mistakes, not consistently or even necessarily benevolent and being called to account exists in other (including Western) mythologies.  Even the idea that gods can die.

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