HOME | DD

Description
"We cannot change the past, but we can change our attitude toward it. Uproot guilt and plant forgiveness. Tear out arrogance and seed humility. Exchange love for hate --- thereby, making the present comfortable and the future promising."

EDIT: Sorry if I dont reply to you all..I'm too tired to now. But thank you for leaving comments; I do read them to get an idea of everyone's opinions on this matter~

This was mainly to do with a conversation a friend on LJ had posted...in regards to the Hiroshima bombing memorial day.

On several sites, there were many comments made about the bombing about how the Japanese "deserved" it, (and that bombing Hiroshima to end WWII was "one of the greatest humanitarian acts in human history.”)

Instead of rant forever, I'll just quote this comment, which pretty much states my opinion towards this kind of attitude/statement:

“How do heinous acts by Japanese soldiers (most of whom were forced into military service through drafts, and would be killed if they did not follow orders) compare to bombing and killing 200,000 civilians whose families had already been torn apart by, abused by, and were terrified of their own government?..... But I guess that is the bright side of being a victor in a war....you can focus on your defeated enemy's atrocities, while ignoring or justifying your own....” #please see note at bottom of page

After reading all those comments...I asked my brother,
"Do you think peace is possible?"
He very bluntly replied "No, because people will never change their thinking"

Well to me, if we don't try to change it, how will we know? I really hope that one day we will be able to obtain World Peace. The first step - hard, yes, but not impossible - is forgiveness. This "blaming game" needs to stop...

*"Forgiveness does not equal forgetting. It is about healing the memory of the harm, not erasing it."

* "It takes courage and commitment to act in a more forgiving fashion. It is not at all a sign of weakness but a mark of strength."

* "Let us forgive each other - only then will we live in peace”

* "...in a very real sense, without forgiveness, there is no future."

(by the way, Kiku was trying to paint over it himself (by precisely writing over all the words to cover them), then Alfred came along to help (and decided just to paint over the whole thing xD)...Together they're trying to clear the wall o3o~)

INSANELY LONG EDIT
EDIT 1 Ahh because it's not entirely clear, I have to say this now: I'm not trying to state who is wrong/who was wrong, and who's right in terms of the war, the bombings, or whether the bombings were necessary or not. Not the point of this picture, sorrry if you got that impression. that's not, nor will it ever be my intention - I'm not here to argue about the past actions of any country.

((long justification/explaining my point of view below, you dont need to read it unless you want to know what I mean. xDD))

my anger comes from the comments on news sites that were about the Hiroshima memorial day...Not at a country, just a particular attitude.

What I'm trying to get at...what I personally feel the problem in this situation is this:
when the Japanese are mourning the death of innocent people, there are people with the attitude 'they deserved it' - this is the kind of attitude I really...dislike. On a day of mourning, is it right to point fingers at people, and blame them or try justify your own actions by comparing them to theirs? that kind of thinking is cruel, it's wrong, I believe it needs to change. the attitude behind that thinking is what I believe drags people back - leaves them clinging to the past, hate, etc. The memorial day for bombing of Hiroshima is to remember and honour the innocent people who died. It's not a "America was horrible" or "Japan deserved it" moment. I feel it really serves as a reminder to us who the true enemy is: and to quote a US soldier who had made a statement to a japanese civilian... "You are not my enemy - war is."

Both sides committed atrocities. The Japanese definitely did. As did America. I'm not denying any of those facts at all. I'm not blaming America, I'm not blaming Japan. This blaming game, whether against each other or against ourselves doesnt help anyone. People can spend too long trying to blame the other - and this is one thing (that I feel) that prevents us all from working together, from striving to make changes for the better.

what Im hoping is that the anger, resentment, hatred towards each other will stop - and the only way I can see this happening is if people forgive (I mean everyone. Both sides. not referring to one...), I'm hoping attitudes like this will change so we can work together and prevent something like this from ever happening ever again, to prevent history from repeating itself...

of course, this picture is just my own opinion - i'm only wanting to make people think a bit, I'm not here to force it on others (copy-pasta'd from a comment I made, because Im too tired to repeat myself. xDD sorry)

EDIT 2: re:# note

this comment was made by someone (an American I think) when the "their loss was nothing compared to ours" kind of statement came into play at some point...So my point is this: it is cruel to say that people "deserved to die", and try to overlook the fact that innocent lives were lost from this act...Comparing whose actions were "more horrific" does not somehow justify that the loss of these lives 'is nothing to mourn about', or the deaths of these people should not be honoured (which is what a few of the comments were getting at). I apologise greatly for not providing the context to which the top quote was in; so it makes it sound like I was trying to shift the blame. I cant emphasise this enough - it is not my intention to do so...

and if it's of any relevance - (judging from a few comments, I have a feeling I may sound like I'm writing from the perspective of a Japanese person) I grew up in New Zealand (kiwi for life!); my parents are Taiwanese; my late Grandfather was Chinese(by descent)-Taiwanese, and always held a grudge towards the Japanese for what he experienced in WW2...Though I definitely felt hurt every time he looked sorrowful or angry at the recollection of his experiences and suffering, (and honestly, I felt angry myself at some stage) I decided not to let this influence what I should feel towards the Japanese people due to what was inflicted on my grandfather in the past and try to forgive. I am not disregarding my grandfather's suffering - if anything, I am extremely grateful that I am where I am today because of his efforts and his struggles to support his family and survive through crisis. But I want to end the bitterness that has somehow been passed onto the current generation (my father especially; is still somewhat bitter as well...) ...

Once again, I am just one person. I'm not speaking up for any country (as in, I'm not pro-'insert country here'; anti-"insert country here"). Please, if my comments offend you in some manner, I ask that you don't attribute my thoughts/opinion to either of the countries' people: it would seriously break my heart if I knew someone suddenly felt angered towards either country because of what I wrote/ drew. So please, if anything, keep in mind these are the remarks of one person (who usually would not post anything like this because she finds it impossible to word her opinions/thoughts in a coherent fashion).

Description
"We cannot change the past, but we can change our attitude toward it. Uproot guilt and plant forgiveness. Tear out arrogance and seed humility. Exchange love for hate --- thereby, making the present comfortable and the future promising."

EDIT: Sorry if I dont reply to you all..I'm too tired to now. But thank you for leaving comments; I do read them to get an idea of everyone's opinions on this matter~

This was mainly to do with a conversation a friend on LJ had posted...in regards to the Hiroshima bombing memorial day.

On several sites, there were many comments made about the bombing about how the Japanese "deserved" it, (and that bombing Hiroshima to end WWII was "one of the greatest humanitarian acts in human history.”)

Instead of rant forever, I'll just quote this comment, which pretty much states my opinion towards this kind of attitude/statement:

“How do heinous acts by Japanese soldiers (most of whom were forced into military service through drafts, and would be killed if they did not follow orders) compare to bombing and killing 200,000 civilians whose families had already been torn apart by, abused by, and were terrified of their own government?..... But I guess that is the bright side of being a victor in a war....you can focus on your defeated enemy's atrocities, while ignoring or justifying your own....” #please see note at bottom of page

After reading all those comments...I asked my brother,
"Do you think peace is possible?"
He very bluntly replied "No, because people will never change their thinking"

Well to me, if we don't try to change it, how will we know? I really hope that one day we will be able to obtain World Peace. The first step - hard, yes, but not impossible - is forgiveness. This "blaming game" needs to stop...

*"Forgiveness does not equal forgetting. It is about healing the memory of the harm, not erasing it."

* "It takes courage and commitment to act in a more forgiving fashion. It is not at all a sign of weakness but a mark of strength."

* "Let us forgive each other - only then will we live in peace”

* "...in a very real sense, without forgiveness, there is no future."

(by the way, Kiku was trying to paint over it himself (by precisely writing over all the words to cover them), then Alfred came along to help (and decided just to paint over the whole thing xD)...Together they're trying to clear the wall o3o~)

INSANELY LONG EDIT
EDIT 1 Ahh because it's not entirely clear, I have to say this now: I'm not trying to state who is wrong/who was wrong, and who's right in terms of the war, the bombings, or whether the bombings were necessary or not. Not the point of this picture, sorrry if you got that impression. that's not, nor will it ever be my intention - I'm not here to argue about the past actions of any country.

((long justification/explaining my point of view below, you dont need to read it unless you want to know what I mean. xDD))

my anger comes from the comments on news sites that were about the Hiroshima memorial day...Not at a country, just a particular attitude.

What I'm trying to get at...what I personally feel the problem in this situation is this:
when the Japanese are mourning the death of innocent people, there are people with the attitude 'they deserved it' - this is the kind of attitude I really...dislike. On a day of mourning, is it right to point fingers at people, and blame them or try justify your own actions by comparing them to theirs? that kind of thinking is cruel, it's wrong, I believe it needs to change. the attitude behind that thinking is what I believe drags people back - leaves them clinging to the past, hate, etc. The memorial day for bombing of Hiroshima is to remember and honour the innocent people who died. It's not a "America was horrible" or "Japan deserved it" moment. I feel it really serves as a reminder to us who the true enemy is: and to quote a US soldier who had made a statement to a japanese civilian... "You are not my enemy - war is."

Both sides committed atrocities. The Japanese definitely did. As did America. I'm not denying any of those facts at all. I'm not blaming America, I'm not blaming Japan. This blaming game, whether against each other or against ourselves doesnt help anyone. People can spend too long trying to blame the other - and this is one thing (that I feel) that prevents us all from working together, from striving to make changes for the better.

what Im hoping is that the anger, resentment, hatred towards each other will stop - and the only way I can see this happening is if people forgive (I mean everyone. Both sides. not referring to one...), I'm hoping attitudes like this will change so we can work together and prevent something like this from ever happening ever again, to prevent history from repeating itself...

of course, this picture is just my own opinion - i'm only wanting to make people think a bit, I'm not here to force it on others (copy-pasta'd from a comment I made, because Im too tired to repeat myself. xDD sorry)

EDIT 2: re:# note

this comment was made by someone (an American I think) when the "their loss was nothing compared to ours" kind of statement came into play at some point...So my point is this: it is cruel to say that people "deserved to die", and try to overlook the fact that innocent lives were lost from this act...Comparing whose actions were "more horrific" does not somehow justify that the loss of these lives 'is nothing to mourn about', or the deaths of these people should not be honoured (which is what a few of the comments were getting at). I apologise greatly for not providing the context to which the top quote was in; so it makes it sound like I was trying to shift the blame. I cant emphasise this enough - it is not my intention to do so...

and if it's of any relevance - (judging from a few comments, I have a feeling I may sound like I'm writing from the perspective of a Japanese person) I grew up in New Zealand (kiwi for life!); my parents are Taiwanese; my late Grandfather was Chinese(by descent)-Taiwanese, and always held a grudge towards the Japanese for what he experienced in WW2...Though I definitely felt hurt every time he looked sorrowful or angry at the recollection of his experiences and suffering, (and honestly, I felt angry myself at some stage) I decided not to let this influence what I should feel towards the Japanese people due to what was inflicted on my grandfather in the past and try to forgive. I am not disregarding my grandfather's suffering - if anything, I am extremely grateful that I am where I am today because of his efforts and his struggles to support his family and survive through crisis. But I want to end the bitterness that has somehow been passed onto the current generation (my father especially; is still somewhat bitter as well...) ...

Once again, I am just one person. I'm not speaking up for any country (as in, I'm not pro-'insert country here'; anti-"insert country here"). Please, if my comments offend you in some manner, I ask that you don't attribute my thoughts/opinion to either of the countries' people: it would seriously break my heart if I knew someone suddenly felt angered towards either country because of what I wrote/ drew. So please, if anything, keep in mind these are the remarks of one person (who usually would not post anything like this because she finds it impossible to word her opinions/thoughts in a coherent fashion).