I'm aware that religion may/may not be a touchy subject, so I'll try to be easy with this one.
On Sunday, I think it'd be really cool to have a li'l church service with some worship and a small sermon for those of us who are coming to Fanime but would like to attend church as well. In regards to denomination, we could have multiple panels for each specific faith that would like to hold a service. I'm aware that a group called Cosplay Church has already started this idea; however, they seem to have fizzled off the internet, and I'd like to hold the tradition in Fanime.
My idea would be a 'general Christian' service, with me and some others leading in a lightly-instrumented worship session, and someone discussing appropriate issues with Christian anime fans.
This shouldn't stop any other denominations from starting their own services, if this idea took flight.
Any discussion? Any takers? Any problems?
While the idea isn't bad, I'm not sure it's going to get much support.
1. It could conflict with activities already planned for Sunday, as the convention is only a month away and some people like to plan far in advance.
2. It's a lot of work for what would probably be a very small group of people (meaning people who would want to go to church at a con, not Christians in general).
3. I'm sure I'm not the only one who plans on staying up late most/every night, so even those interested could quite possibly be too tired to go in the morning.
4. Depending on what "general Christian" message you chose to preach out, you could find a small holy war on your hands. I don't think anyone wants that.
Those are just my thoughts.
Zoup::
There is a church nearby that does sunday mass. It's called St.Joseph's Cathedral and it's like a 5-8 min walk away from the con center. I know it's a catholic church and all, but, that denomination is part of the same religion, which is Christianity. I also have to agree with the above poster concerning the issue involved and yeah, it wouldn't be pretty as well. If you want to plan this out, do it for next year's con.
and also, this belongs in the ideas and disccussion forum, since it's an idea and not a general panel per say.
*moves it with Reinforce-tan*
Now if you were to host or suggest a panel on religious themes in anime (well, like the church vs evil, testing one's faith, etc.), you might get some interest going. One of my favorite characters is Wolfwood from Trigun so I'd be interested in discussions on characters of some faith and how they are portrayed in anime (as fanatics, heroes, villains, etc.). Chrono Crusade, Trinity Blood come to mind as anime series with the church fighting evil. Besides Wolfwood, I know there's a character in the Ghost Stories anime who is Christian (at least in the English dubs but that's an abomination in itself, stick to the subs on that) and there are always traveling monks.
I'd love to attend service with you...but I DO admit that it should be less formal....AND that we should choose the message rather carefully. It might even be good if we do it a little offsite as well...
SJSU also has a "chapel" on-campus that has services regularly, called Spartan Memorial (across the street from EB Games and Pizza My Heart).
Ah. My mistake. I should've considered nearby venues first. Although I've never attended a Catholic Mass, I s'pose it'd be worth a shot.
Or, it'd be interesting to see how many cosplayers there are at my church, Twin Lakes. XD
We'll have to see. Unless someone else has some opinions on the matter, this thread is free for lock or deletion. Just keep it up long enough for someone to say something if they like.
No offense to anyone here, but I don't think that an anime convention is really the place to hold any sort of religious happenings. I have a feeling that no matter what you do, there are people that are going to cause problems or be offended. The staff has enough to deal with. :wink:
There are lots of churches in the area, but you could also perhaps have something in a hotel room? Of course it couldn't be anything formal, but most rooms have Bibles, so people could just borrow them from their room.
That's a really good idea that I hadn't thought of Phoenix. I rather like that one...have some smaller, but private ceremonies...
Thanks! Hehehe. I figured it would be easy to set up (assuming someone doesn't mind a bunch of randos in their room) and since it's not in the convention space, I don't see how people could have a problem with it.
Hi, I would like to provide a link to the Fanime Attendees that are Roman Catholics or Christians that are looking for Sunday Mass. Details are here.
http://www.stjosephcathedral.org/Main/Information.aspx
The walk to the church is about 5-8 Minutes away from the Mariott Hotel.
:idea:
I'd like to affirm that I am also against any religious affiliation with Fanime. People go to escape the daily life to talk about Japanese Animation or enjoy it. Things can get ugly if such scenarios were to pop up (encouragement, advertisement), and it indirectly conveys a message as "one religion for con", even if unintentional.
~Chun
Fair enough. I don't want to be responsible for something that could burst into such magnitude.
While I personally wouldn't necessarily object to people doing religious stuff, I don't think it's necessarily a good idea. If nothing else, there are literally a couple dozen different Christian churches in the area, plus the First Unitarian Church of San Jose on third street, and a Buddhist church in Japantown.
Come to think of it, even though I'm agnostic I would probably be very interested if someone put together a panel that seriously examined faith and anime fandom.
can i get an OMGesus? Praise the Menchi!
Quote from: "zoupzuop2"Ah. My mistake. I should've considered nearby venues first. Although I've never attended a Catholic Mass, I s'pose it'd be worth a shot.
If you've never been to a Catholic Mass before, be ready to stand, sit, kneel and repeat... And try your best to follow along in the book. Depending on the kind of Catholic Mass, it can run from 30 minutes to an hour and a half.
Yeah all that catholic mass stuff.....just not my style....
Quote from: "ip136"Depending on the kind of Catholic Mass, it can run from 30 minutes to an hour and a half.
It would be best to see a list of churches sorted by priests who give the shortest homilies, sermons, etc. ;) I once used to go to this one church in SF who had this priest who did things verrrrry slooooooowwwlllly as if God was testing me. XD;
Catholics prefer that only Catholics attend Catholic mass. I know, I used to be really religious.
I like your idea about a Christian service. I would attend, but I have strayed away from my faith. Heh, maybe I'll stop by anyway if I come across it.
*cough I'm Catholic cough* Haha.
Interesting idea. I think something like this happened at AX06 and went rather well? I didn't go, but was impressed by the number of people who did. ^__^
I wouldn't mind attending a general get-together of spiritual-whatever-ness in some random room of the con-center =]
Quote from: "hellangel"*cough I'm Catholic cough* Haha.
Interesting idea. I think something like this happened at AX06 and went rather well? I didn't go, but was impressed by the number of people who did. ^__^
I wouldn't mind attending a general get-together of spiritual-whatever-ness in some random room of the con-center =]
Irony... too... strong...
Quote from: "PyronIkari"Irony... too... strong...
Isn't it, though? I'm a...liberal Catholic...*falls over laughing*
But, really, it's not the middle ages anymore o_O"
If you're interested, I'm also officially Buddhist.
Honestly, though, I don't think it really matters WHAT you are (I, personally, don't like to define myself that way). Universal truths are more important than squabbling about exact doctrines -__-"
But, let's not get into a religious battle/discussion here...I'm super accepting of other people, but I can see how this can turn out nasty, this being an open forum and all...^^"
Sorry for the digression o__o;;
no matter how you spin it, it's all religion; it's all good.
Quote from: "otakuapprentice"no matter how you spin it, it's all religion; it's all good.
well said ^__^
I'm going to be very frank in this elaboration of my previous post.
Religion is a choice, and people are free to believe in their own beliefs.
However, to subjugate that atmosphere in a public place free of such social integrity creates unbearable tension. It's equivalent to having a mass at a giant 100 man lan party, or having a bell ring three times every con day to tell those affiliated with that religion to pray. What happens at an event defines the image of the event.
I hate religious services at multi-racial/cultural public areas without prior consent or when they don't belong in that area.
Having a mass or devoted area of con to a religion suggests it is a priority/goal of the event. A con escapes the social bounds. It is a focus of the anime world, anime affilated people, anime works and prospects.
Have your spirituality as you like, but don't dare bring it to the middle of the con floor or other rooms. It's inconsiderate for those who don't follow that same faith.
~Chun
What if I'm Buddhist? o_O
Maybe we have some time of gathering to celebrate religions in general :P
Quote from: "FinalShadows"What if I'm Buddhist? o_O
Maybe we have some time of gathering to celebrate religions in general :P
THat's formula for disaster.
I have no problem with religions, of any kind... people should be allowed to have their beliefs, whatever they may be... but they shouldn't be combined with certain things. A christian/catholic service or gathering at Fanime would cause problems no matter how you looked at it. If a Christian service is had, then it's cause for other religions to want to be able to hold service there. It's just an opening for problems to occur. As a follower of a religion, you should take responsibility to leave the convention and attend the needed service you have. Otherwise you're just forcing problems upon others(whether you believe so or not).
Though I stand by the irony of attending an anime convention, and wanting a catholic/christian service, seeing that so much that the culture that comes from the convention is so blasphemous/sinful to begin with.
A panel about religion in anime/games/music would be interesting, but again, as I say with all panels, I hope you know what you're talking about. Religion is a touchy subject, and one I rarely touch, because most people do not understand their own religions very well, let alone others' religions.
I don't follow a "religion" but I do have my own belief system. I was raised as a Catholic, and have done my fair share of studying on the subject(beyond just what the recent religion wants me to believe). So I understand the history of Catholicism rather well, and it annoys me quite a bit when Catholics attack me for "not understanding their religion" when they are the ignorant one on the subject... based on them only believing what they hear in church.
"Now if you were to host or suggest a panel on religious themes in anime (well, like the church vs evil, testing one's faith, etc.), "
That could be very interesting.
And I am up to doing such a panel.
After all it's time I did more with my masters degree in theology in talking about anime.
Gilles - I spent years trying to understand religion in Urusei Yatsura - Poitras