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     Among the topics animating the pages of newspapers recently are those that concern corruption in government officials. As all can see, new cases appear one after another, and the depths of the problem appear bottomless. From these circumstances it seems that every corner of the world of government officials is completely putrefied to the extent that, as with patients in the third stage of syphilis, there is no change in the fact that whatever part of the body is pressed, pus will leak out copiously. Corruption to this extent has probably been unknown until now. And because of this situation, the authorities seem to be driven by the need to take great pains to form policy to cope with the problem, but the results are negligible, and enforcing discipline among government officials is probably only an earnest desire. Though empty hope may be inevitable, any policy undertaken is only temporary, and as long as the fundamentals are not addressed, it is obvious that the same sort of problems will occur again.
     In connection with these instances of government corruption, what receives much attention these days are the machinations exerted by the expense-account crowd of corporate business who invite government officials to that such as expensive restaurants and geisha houses. Members of this crowd do seem to accumulate good sums of money, and the expenses required for such activities probably add up to huge amounts. Needless to say, these figures are included with the prices of goods and with taxes, so that burden comes to be shouldered by the citizens. Thinking about it, it is the citizen who is the sucker. Thus, the sooner this problem is resolved, the better, but regrettably, as the authorities and intellectuals do not understand its fundamental cause, the reality is that the situation is hopeless. Therefore, I want to explain how all these problems can be definitely solved.
     To begin, what really does not stand to reason is that those who cause these problems, without exception, have received either a high school or some other form of higher education, so the issue is probably not a direct relationship between education and crime. Members of the general public, however, firmly believe that there is no reason why those who have received a higher level of education should do anything so stupid as to commit a crime. Such is the common view in society nowadays. Indeed, intellectuals do not commit violent crimes, so it is not unreasonable that people have such beliefs. Actually, though, this situation is only a matter of the absence of violence; the crime is committed on the intellectual level, and the results are rather grave. Furthermore, because these criminals have social standing, their influence over the general public is not small. So the question is why do intellectuals commit such loathsome crimes? Because there is an important reason, I begin with this analysis.
     The fundamental reason is that within the mentality of criminals is a great defect. That defect is the materialistic mindset that their affairs will proceed satisfactorily as long as the illegalities are carried out skillfully and do not come under the exposure of the eyes of others. But unexpectedly and unforeseen, their affairs are exposed, and they are surprised, trying to figure out what went wrong. To imagine what is going on in their minds, it must be something like this: “I don’t understand why things turned out this way. Even though I was so good at it, it was exposed. I know the laws pretty well and even if I made a mistake, I wouldn’t be so stupid as to get entangled with the laws. But, I have been exposed and entangled, so it cannot be helped. Let me try to have this matter settled quickly and get off lightly, and if I can become an official again, I must do it more cleverly.” That is how most of them probably think. Among officials caught, most likely there are some who think what they did was a mistake: I was wrong. They pay their penalty of serving their time, and determine to use the opportunity as a chance to make a new life. Indeed, at the time they may have thought so, but as time passes, their determination weakens, and the same thing happens again. Such occurs is because they are all atheists.
     The way to solve the problem of corruption should be needless to state. The answer is faith. Through faith, that is, by having them come to realize the actuality of God. I absolutely state that there is no other effective way. That is because, as previously described, atheists are convinced that there are definitely no gods or buddhas in this world. No way is there anything above the surface of this planet except for air, a truly simple concept. But for us, we say that we cannot see with our eyes but we declare that God definitely exists, to which they determine that we are trapped by superstition. But as their mental attitude is that they do not agree with us when we state that because God truly does exist, God exists, there lies within them the terrifying superstition of atheism.
     As this way of thinking is a hotbed for the criminal mind, it is more than clear that overcoming this superstition is the key for solving the problem of corruption. Why do criminals fall into this kind of superstition? Needless to say, they believe this superstition because since childhood their heads have been filled with a materialistic education, so they are trapped in the superstition of materialism. It is our job to enlighten such people. We have to re-educate them which is the only way we can create human beings who do not commit crime. As long as politicians and intellectuals do not awaken to this fact, any other measures amount only to temporary bandages. In short, although the eyes of other human beings may be deceived, the eyes of God are impossible to deceive. All that is to be done is to instill this one fact in their hearts.

“Mushin Meishin,” originally published on the front page of Eikō, Issue 134, December 12, 1952, and reprinted, while Meishu-sama still alive, in the essays anthology for ministers Goshinsho: Shūkyōhen (Divine Writings: Volume on Religion), page 30, March 25, 1954, has appeared previously in translation. Citation is given below for reference.

“Atheism Is a False Belief,” Foundation of Paradise, 1984, page 153.