Great Construction

Laws and the Barbaric Nature of the Human Being

     In our world today, the more civilized a nation is said to be, the more has advanced its legal system. As everyone knows, laws and regulations increase each year. Our times could rightly be called an age of almighty laws. Therefore, the fact that there are many laws means that even in one lifetime, all the laws cannot be learned whether it be by members of the agency executing the law or by lawyers. Even if indeed one could finally learn those laws that applied to one’s own field, and even if to a great deal the effects of the applicability of those laws could be seen, why does crime not only fail to decrease but rather increases. The phenomenon is truly unfathomable and completely contradicts the advance of culture. Here I would like to explore the causes of this problem.
     The chief purpose of law needless to say is to decrease the incidence of crime in society until finally comes about a world without criminals. But, the reality is backwards as from that just described, and every year in the Diet, the major portion of the proceedings is taken up with the increase of laws and regulations. If civilization had advanced as much as has been thought, the number of criminals should be steadily decreasing, and there should certainly come to be that there are laws and regulations for which there are no use, so in the proceedings of the Diet, there should be debate on the proposed deletion of these laws. However, even though it mystifies that the current situation is actually the opposite, no one has any doubts. There may have been those who harbored such doubts, but they have probably resigned themselves to the situation as there would be nothing that could be done. As the situation is as stated above, it should be quite understandable that eliminating crime only through laws is utterly impossible. Even so, as of now, were there no laws, the situation would be terrible. In such a case, evil people would eventually prevail and good, law-abiding people could not sleep peacefully at night, so laws should be left as laws while other powerful methods are also carried out. Even if we speak of other methods, there is nothing other than two paths, that of education and that of religion, but these cannot be expected to be of much help. This is because even now, after hundreds, nay, thousands of years, efforts along these two paths have been continued, but we still see the world in the condition it is in now.
     On the subject of laws I have written previously. Laws have the same meaning as keeping beasts in cages. In other words, without cages, there is the danger that human beings and beasts would both come to harm, so laws are nothing more than restraints and nets used for rigorous control. Captives in such conditions look for a way out, so gradually the size of holes is reduced. As a method for reducing the paths of escape, each year laws are further refined and made stricter, so it could be said that the situation is an insult to human beings. Because in such circumstances human beings are treated in a manner akin to that of beasts, the situation is nothing in which to take pride. Therefore, if these circumstances are well considered, the situation should be perceived as soon as possible. The expression used since antiquity of “a beast in the form of a human being” certainly applies to human beings at present. In brief, we have not left the confines of a half-civilized, half-barbaric stage.
     Even so, these conditions consist of various degrees. As it is unavoidable that some individuals can be treated as human beings and others must be handled as beasts, the nation makes use of the principle of militarism or parades the banner of peace. The former is a barbaric nation; the latter, a truly civilized nation.
     Next, to speak of the path of education, education at the point it presently exists has already been roundly tried and the results certainly do not deserve further commentary. As is well known, many scholars and educators have greatly striven through the centuries, so to a certain extent their achievements can be recognized, but education did not have the power to completely lift humanity out of barbarism. Compared to the barbaric age, human wisdom has advanced, whether in politics or in social institutions, and astonishing progress has been made in a wide range of fields, so the blessings of education cannot be dismissed out of hand. Even speaking in such terms, it cannot be disputed that power was lacking on the spiritual side, that is, for the improvement of the soul. The sign of this lack is that the cages of law are still necessary and cannot be done away with at this point. Moving on from the issues of education, the other path is religion.
     In religion as well, great saints and individuals who excelled in their work have appeared since antiquity,. Their disciples and followers have given their lives and much blood has been spent as they have continued their efforts. In spite of the fact that spiritual salvation can be recognized to a certain degree, salvation did not extend to the place where law became unnecessary. For such a reason, neither do existing religions offer much hope.
     Here we arrive at the question of what should be done to rid the human being of bestiality and create a society in which cages are unnecessary. Needless to say, for this goal there must appear an unprecedented power that surpasses all in existing civilization. Rejoice, because this very power has been bestowed upon me by the Creator, Jehovah, and it is a fact that I am manifesting this power now. This is the essence of World Messianity, so it is a tremendous entity that surpasses religion, and as a forerunner of the world of divine light to come, please think of this essay as the first warning bell meant to awaken the ignorance of humanity.

Eikô, Issue 118, August 22, 1951
translated by cynndd

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“Hôritsu to Ningen no Yabansei” has previously appeared in translation. The citations of their appearances are given below.

“Law and the Barbaric Nature of Man,” Foundation of Paradise, 1984, page 223.


“Law and the Barbaric Nature of Humankind,” Teachings of Meishu-sama, Volume Three, 2005, page 41.