Great Construction
Individuals of Good! Strengthen Yourselves!
—The Way to Eliminate Social Wrongs—
When we carefully observe the world today, there are just too many evil individuals who constantly get their own way. Everyone is probably well aware of the extent to which the good are oppressed and continue to suffer. I will explain the fundamental reasons for this.
Especially so in antiquity, good people are known to have been weak, and evil people, strong. Due to this situation, evil is rampant and domineering. Still, unlike today, in times of old, there were no legal systems or institutions for suppressing violence, good people could not deal with the situations and had to bear them meekly. The fact that the townspeople of the Edo period could not do anything about this violence is recounted in countless historical narratives and tales. Today the difference is as the clouds to mud. Since the period of enlightenment which started with the Meiji Restoration in 1968, gradually laws have been put into place, and all of society has been focused on repudiation of violence, but sadly, our national characteristic is that we cannot completely cut violence out of our society. Particularly, until the end of the war, there were instances when the military cliques and individuals or groups of right wing ruffians kept violence oncealed, to be used on occasion to a certain extent.
However, since the end of the war, because there are no military cliques and the extreme right wing has largely been suppressed, society has come a long way toward becoming brighter, but recently evil individuals have started to skillfully manipulate methods and means other than violence. Of course in order to get money, they make the good suffer. One method is legal blackmail. “Legal” because perpetrators keep just one step away from committing illegal acts. These methods and means include the accounts of extortion and shake-downs that are detailed in the pages of this newspaper, and then there are several cases of litigation that cannot be described here. These naturally are all cases in which laws and regulations are manipulated to exploit falsehoods and fabrications to advance personal greed and ambition. Furthermore, the perpetrators are well-educated gentlemen from the middle classes and above, so the whole situation is deplorable. Thus is obvious the situation where one of the lawsuits I initiated has continued for more than ten years and shows no signs of ending. Which illustrates that for a long time now I have upheld a certain policy.
My policy is that the good should not give in to the evil. That is, I believe that a strong, good individual represents true good. Because the good give into the evil, the evil runs rampant, and unrestrained evil is the greatest cause of why social ills cannot be stopped. Due to these circumstances, evil makes use of the situation, flexes its claws, and causes good to suffer. As most involved are from the middle classes and above, these are white-collar or intellectual crimes. And when the good are harassed by evil, even though they may know about instituting suits and protests, they fear malevolent retaliation; they also know that court cases require much trouble Such examples are indeed numerous. Therefore, in the lawsuits I am involved with, I am taken to be the good and am underestimated, but as I described above, since I have the philosophy of not giving in to evil, I fight until I win, so reaching a conclusion does take a long time. Presently, the longest one has been the above-mentioned lawsuit that has lasted for eleven years and no victory or defeat is as yet in sight.
That leaders in crime are rampant owes to the reasons described above, and that the scandals arising from government officials cannot stop either are for the same reason. Even if one wanted to oppose injustice, the mean, base nature of retaliation is frightening, so one resigns oneself. It is a fact that no one is not unfamiliar that such is the greatest cause of governmental turpitude.
Above I have enumerated various examples, but put briefly, the cause of social ills is because good people are weak. That being the case, weak good people are not true good people. Indeed, they are cowards. Because they lack indignation towards evil, they are passively good, and even though the numbers of this kind of good person increase, even if it may be sufficient that they do not possess the courage to commit evil, they are one kind of coward because they permit the prevalence of evil as long as their own safety is assured. To state the issue plainly, evil persons cannot really stand up to good persons. The truly good are extremely strong. They cannot be done away with no matter how much evil people may try, so when evil people stop doing evil and join the ranks of the good, social evils will markedly decrease and by necessity the world will become a bright, pleasant place to live.
Even if the above were acknowledged and acted upon, no matter how much the good may gnash their teeth, standing up to evil on an individual basis is impossible. What is to be done? The good must band together and form a league that could appropriately be called, “League to Eliminate Evil.” I make such a proposal because I believe it is the most effective means for improving society.
Hikari, Issue 31, page 1, October 10, 1949
translated by cynndd* * *
“Zennin yo Tsuyoku Nare, Shakaiaku Haijohō” was first published on the front page of the newspaper Hikari, Issue 31, October 10, 1949, and while Meishu-sama still alive, reprinted with revisions minus the subtitle in Jikan Setsuwashū, Jikan Sōsho, Jūnihen (Narratives, Jikan Library, Volume 12), page 59, January 30, 1950. The newspaper version of “Zennin yo Tsuyoku Nare, Shakaiaku Haijohō” was reprinted in Goshinsho: Shūkyōhen (Divine Writings, Volume on Religion, page 37, March 25, 1954, minus the subtitle. Shortly after Meishu-sama passed away, the newspaper version of “Zennin yo Tsuyoku Nare, Shakaiaku Haijohō” was also reprinted in Sekai Meshiya Kyō Seiten: Geijutsuhen, Shakaihen (Sacred Texts of the Church of World Messianity: Volume on Art, Volume on Society), page 234, September 1, 1955, minus the subtitle in the main text but included in the index entry. Production of Sekai Meshiya Kyō Seiten: Geijutsuhen, Shakaihen probably started while Meishu-sama was still alive. The newspaper version of “Zennin yo Tsuyoku Nare, Shakaiaku Haijohō” has previously appeared in translation. Citation is given below for reference.
“Good People, Be Strong,” Foundation of Paradise, 1984, page 170.
“Become Strong, O Men of Virtue!” A Hundred Teachings of Meishusama, no date, page 48.