El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1911-03-11
TIL WI vATsI... On the Dying
Lid M 49, w AaeUA Creeds Of Japan

! flat bells side by side are rung by
means of ropes-in order TO attract
other gods, and three more worshipers
toss in their coins and make their Pc
tition and pass on. They jostle a man
who is cIapping his hands before q
third shrine to attract the notice of the
god he has chosen for some particular
appeal
At the shrine Of ''Bindzum'" there is
always a crowd of men, women and
children. This deity is supposed to
cure all mortal maladies. but first he
must be given a coin and then the all
ing portion of the body must be
touched on the wooden image.
The poor god is $50 years old, is re-
duced to mere misshapen piece of
shining soiled wood His features are
worn flat, his fingers are gone. and
his digestive apparatus Is rubbed away
to his spinal cord. And all day long.
every day of every year, the throng
surrounds this insensate chunk Of
wood
In every part of Japan there are
such temples and shrines, called Bud
dhist, where the rank and file go and
pray and WOO favor from the gods.
The priests who dwell in these tenn
pies and live by means of the free will
tune telling with this religion, in or
der to exc out a comfortable income.
student of old religions might be
prepared to see Buddhist priest show
seership powers and be able to read
the stars and human destiny But 1t is
something Of a shock to see these
laughing fal1irs Juggling their sdivin-
ing rods" and manipulating their
blocks and then proceeding to give out
numbers and corresponding slips of pa
per containing fortunes" very much
after the fashion of the fortune tell
ing canary birds carried by stroIling
people in American cities
The visitor, who does as the Ro-
mans do, when in Rome" received a
translation of SO brilliant a fortune
from priest" in Toxic temple that
1T created suspicion of something like
stuffed ballot box" Having receiv-.
ed larger coin than usual. the fellow
felt in duty bound to supply an excep-
tional fortune
Ambition for power and progress is
the keynote to the mind of the modern
japanese man. He would adopt Chris
tianity, If he thought it could advance
him In the material things which make
for success. both personal and nation
al. But otherwise the religion of
Christ does not stir him.
The japanese mind is not antagon-
lstic to Christianity in these days.
but conversions are slow. and some of
the leaders in thought have coldly ap-
proved Of it as a school of music and
morals, and likely to be advantageous
in politics."
That marvellous Scotchman who
came to Japan and acquired the Ian
guage to such perfection that he is a
professor in the Imperial university of
Toxic. and an authority on all things
Japanese, Basil Hall Chamberlain, saws
The japanese think Christianity is
cloak for vulgar greed when he sees
Protestant England grab at Hong
Kong. and holy Russia grab at sun
dry other provinces; when France and
Germany, anti-clerical at home. eager
~ avail themselves of each despatched
priest or despatched mission house. to
extract some commercial advantage or
snatch some strip of territory abroad "
japan is indeed a land of diving
faiths-a land without a religion
copyright, 1911. by American-Journal-
Examiner Great Britain rights re-
served