/v/ - Video Games

>>13716801

>>>/x/

Essentially, every object has a spirit, some things, often tied to nature, are revered as gods. They must be respected and taken care of, lest neglect makes them turn evil. It's a pagan religion of a kind, but one that is observed through tradition more than strict worship like in judeo-christian religions.

>>13716828

>judeo-christian

The term is "Abrahamic".

It's Japanese pantheistic paganism. They believe that objects and ancestors contain spirits, which they refer to as Kami, and various temples are built to various Kami, brought together under the banner of Shinto through their shared rituals. I might be wrong on these things, and I don't think there's many Shinto texts in English.

>>13716848

One of the terms is "Abrahamic".

>>13716801

Even though Japan's official religion is "atheism" and more than half of the population are atheists the Shinto and Buddhist religions are still being practiced by many people today, albeit just for respect to the Japanese traditions more than actual worship.

>>13716872

Yes, corruption and purification are a central concept of shintoism. And it's less about people being sinful than it is about people stopping giving a shit about certain spirits so they become supremely buttmad and start cursing left and right. Purification rituals are about bringing back evil spirits to their intended state pretty much. Look up Tsukumogami, it's a yokai that sums up the entire thing pretty well.

>>13716884

>>13716890

So it's not really a religion so much as a collection of vague superstitions like "don't walk under a ladder or you'll get bad luck"

…

right?

>>13716890

Just a friendly reminder that there is no -ism added on to Shinto.

>>13716872

Also the Japanese quite dislike the concepts of one almighty god and strictly organized religion, which is why so many Japanese games are about killing god and/or the church being evil

>>13716884

That's what I think it should be. Rituals have their place. They build a framework and create grounding and familiarity and tradition that keeps people and family together.

The background info becomes a shared cultural mythology that can be referenced and cited in various works that bring your books, movies, games, everything together under a familiar banner, but is no longer revered as strict fact, while the rituals involved, although no longer actually thought to literally bring rain, for example, now give you an excuse to have a small holiday with a water theme that may involve praying at a shrine before a wet t-shirt contest at a local swimming spot.

The move to eradicate religion and tradition and history because it's problematic is an attempt, either out of ignorance or malice, to eradicate a population and the people themselves.

Honestly OP, if you're interested in the Shinto stuff Yokai Watch might be worth a look. I think it's a stupid game, but the yokai themselves (basically ghosts) are all various (mostly Shinto folklore creatures and gods and the story involves dealing with them being upset and placating them and whatever.

If there was a non-kiddy version of Yokai with more mature monsters for a mature gamer such as myself, I would probably enjoy it, but the art style and presentation of Yokai Watch is a major turn off.

>>13716896

Yes, at its heart shinto is based on local folklore. There are some universal myths like Izanagi and Izanami, but the meat of it is stuff specifically tied to your local town, often the natural elements of it. Like, if some town has a neighboring mountain, you can be damn sure it has a powerful Kami and you're not supposed to fuck with it. It might sound like superstition because it technically is, but to the Japanese it's pretty much about showing respect, and when you stop showing respect, things start to go bad.

They don't necessarily take it as face value, it's still just tradition to most, but tradition is a more serious business in Japan than it is in the west. They're a pretty mystic people, all told.

>>13716897

Right, I forget.

>>13716855

> I don't think there's many Shinto texts in English.

only the Kojiki and the Nihon Shoki

ones a collection of stories including creation myths and the laws of the gods, the other is a record of the first emperors intermixed with mythology

>>13716896

its a natural religion

organically developed

it shares many common themes with Ancient Greek and Celtic mythology

sort of the natural development of pantheistic organised religion practiced by agricultural societies vs the animistic shamanism of hunter gatherer nomads

>>13716896

>So it's not really a religion so much as a collection of vague superstitions like "don't walk under a ladder or you'll get bad luck"

no, but even if it was that would be a hell of a lot better than a collection of vague superstitions like "chop off the end of your dick or you'll get back luck"

>>13716848

Judeo-Christianity is only appropriate when speaking of its earliest phases. It's more appropriate to speak of Greco-Christendom.

>>13716913

That's also because the Catholics tried to overthrow the Japanese lords/shogun/etc at the urging of the Portuguese, which is why they get the "evil universal church" thing

>>13717361

>Catholics tried to overthrow the Japanese lords

Thats because they had catholic converted lords before

>>13717180

>>13716828

Judeo-Christianity is a bad meme that really needs to die off. Judaism/Talmudism is almost diametrically opposite to Christianity. Reminder that Christ was killed by the Pharisees, who brag about it to this day, who were persecuted mercilessly by Christians for centuries. The Jews hate Jesus so much that they don't use a standard plus sign in Jewish-only schools because it looks like a cross.

https://pastebin.com/sYYMff3e

>>13717446

And Christianity is anti-Christ. Your faith has abandoned the teachings and values of Jesus and instead embraced the poison of the Jew demon (((YHWH))).

>>13717457

>Your

Calm down, friend. Catholicism was subverted and is almost entirely Satanic at this point. Normal Christianity is still normal, since a bunch of the sects still despise the Catholics.

>>13717469

Good that you see how poisonous the (((Old Testament))) and its false God really are. Jesus was one you should follow.

>>13717457

YHWH isn't a demon, he's an Archon. Demons are malfunctioning, Archons are just doing their jobs. Follow Christ and the God he points to.

>>13716801

>Is it just Japanese Paganism?

No, it's more nuanced than that.

>Is it Nihilism?

無, it's more nuanced than that.

Is it traditionalism?

No, it's more nuanced than that.

>Does it even have any common practices or established rules?

It's more like a philosophical tradition, despite imperial reform efforts towards a westernized concept of a strictly defined religion. It's similar to India prior to colonial rule and muslim invasion: there are identifiable religious groups with differing ideas that vary between regions, but they share a common canon and intermingle quite freely.

>And why does every single game with Shinto themes in it end up being existential and depressing with the main character(s) losing everything?

It's more reflective of the society than anything. Sacrifice and loyalty are the most common themes across all japanese drama.

>Is loss like this just an important part of the religion?

Not really, the melodrama just makes for a more gripping story.

>>13717523

>>Is it just Japanese Paganism?

>No, it's more nuanced than that.

No it isnt

>>13717446

Unless you are gnostic you still worship and follow all the shit in the OT.

Christianity is only worth a damn because of the sheer amount of plagiarism of pagan religions.

>ok so this holiday is now Christian, this one is, this temple is, this guy is a saint, this guy is and so on

>Famous Christian theologians were Cicero (and other pagans) fanboys

It's still a shit religion. Just read the philosophy of Greece and Rome, and fuck the parasite that has you worshipping a Jewish God as he kills Egyptian kids for Pharoh saying no, even when God made him unable to say anything else. Or the time he punished a woman who ran from being raped and abused by Abraham, and so on.

Also no archeological evidence the Jews were ever enslaved by Egyptians, no evidence aside from Jews saying it happened and good goy Christians believing them.

>>13716896

That and folklore. Now it's also probably profitable to milk tourists and otaku with miko fetishes.

>>13716913

It's a shame Catholocism got to them before

>Gnosticism

God is actually a demon, true God never intended to create humanity and is doing his own thing. Your job is to escape this demonic realm.

>Neoplatoism

Everything eminates from one point, even God is beneath it. You must ascend to higher realms and not mistake who you are in this world, for who you actually are (a fallen divine being).

>Manicheanism

Dualistic, there is one insanely strong good god/kingdom but God isn't omnipotent. Humans were made when the evil kingdom attacked and light mixed with dark.

Instead they got the lame, God is loving, powerful and all this other stuff but allows evil because…

>>13717522 check'd

I give respect to the understanding of Gnosticism regarding Yaldabaoth, but I do not subscribe to its teachings beyond that. In my eyes, Yaldabaoth IS a parasitic Jewish demon the usurped the rightful place of the Old Gods. You may keep your monotheistic Gnosis for yourself - Abrahamism has left a bad taste in my mouth for the concept of only one God.

Either way, we share an enemy. Therefore you are my friend.

>>13717469

>(((Protestantism))) is normal christianity

See you in Hell, kiddo.

>>13717548

The Old Testament is just a different flavor of the Torah, no decent Christian really takes anything from it. Christianity stems directly from the teachings of Christ who, as you might remember, fucking hated the Jews. When people ask 'what would Jesus do' one of your canonical options is to kick over tables and whip some Hebrews.

>>13717577

Remember, you may have the Christ without the (((YHWH))).

>>13717548

>Every time someone comes up with a cool heresy the Catholics go "OY VEY SHUT IT DOWN"

They truly are the copyright trolls of religion. How long until they figure out a way to put DRM on Jesus?

>>13717596

>DRM

>An Archetype

>>13717585

I honestly feel like I said that. Jesus actually taught spirituality because he saw the religion at the times was materialistic and disgusting. Jews to this day only focus on base pleasure and material goods. The society they've crafted is spiritually barren and designed to degrade the human soul.

>>13717577

>Christianity stems directly from the teachings of Christ

>>13716801

what do those red gates mean?

>>13717548

>ok so this holiday is now Christian, this one is, this temple is, this guy is a saint, this guy is and so on

Whats wrong with celebrating something at the same day while bagans celebrate something completely different? How is that an argument? It just seems like typical roman pragmatism to me.

This is not a video games thread.

>>13717577

>>13717610

Forgot about ID's Padre?

>>13717654

there's nothing wrong with wanting to know the context behind the stuff you see in jap games

>>13717641

It's just a boundary between the profane and sacred, signifying you're entering hallowed ground.

>>13717862

Didnt stop spanish and it didnt excomunicate them too :^) Nobody took it seriously to be honest as there were many persecutions of the jews in history.

>>13717677

You'll see I was pointing out exactly where I made the statement in question. Acting like an idiot gets you nowhere and doesn't add to the discussion.

>>13717984

It's as much of one as Buddhism is at this point.

>>13716801

>And why does every single game with Shinto themes in it end up being existential and depressing with the main character(s) losing everything? Is loss like this just an important part of the religion?

It's an important part of being a Jap.

>>13721679

>he never saw those /christan/ anons talk about the meaning of render unto ceaser

You get all kinds here anon.

Reminds me, weren't Biblical names and such used in Neon Genesis Evangelion mostly just because they sounded cool or something? As is most fan theories based on Angel names and their original lore had no basis on what the creators intended.

>>13722212

That's japan's approach to everything western in general. If it sounds cool, and it will because everything western sounds cool to japs, then throw it in somewhere to spice up whatever you're making.

>>13716972

wtf is toukiden doing looking that good, even on pc it looks like a ps2 game

>>13721679

/v/ has alot of folks from all walks of life and places. I think there was an ayyyrab and some gooks if i recalled correctly.

>>13722276

>what can i do

be a scientologist