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Join me for a special guest episode with Duncan Ryuken Williams, the author of American Sutra: A Story of Faith and Freedom in the Second World War. 125,000+ Japanese-Americans we rounded up and placed in internment camps after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Many of these were Buddhists who persevered despite their imprisonment. Circumstances that were no fault of their own but because of their "Japanese faces" and their faith in a non-Christian religion seen as anti-American. And they kept going because of that faith. The lessons shared in this episode can help us, too, find faith and freedom during this time of separation and community during the global Covid-19 pandemic.
John concludes his two part talk about American Sutra.
Our own John Nomura was born in the Japanese Internment Camps during WWII, so it's no wonder he was greatly moved by American Sutra, a history of Buddhism in the Internment Camps. What was meant to be a sort of book report became a weaving narrative between stories from the book, first person experiences and stories from his family, covering themes of a resilient people who refused to relinquish their dignity, personal protests and the relentless pursuit of mythological trout by sneaking out of the camps in the dead of night. It was a time when Americans turned against Americans and immigrants in a witch hunt whipped up by a paranoid government. Sounded all too familiar...
Dharma talk by Duncan Ryūken Williams, an ordained Buddhist Priest and scholar. In his new book, American Sutra, Professor Williams reveals the little-known story of how, in the darkest hours of World War II when Japanese Americans were stripped of their homes and imprisoned in camps, a community of Buddhists launched one of the most inspiring defenses of religious freedom in our nation’s history, insisting that they could be both Buddhist and American.
Duncan Ryuken Williams's new book, American Sutra, explores Japanese Internment with a focus on Buddhism. Most Japanese immigrants and Japanese Americans were Buddhists, and before and during internment these members of the Japanese-American community were treated very differently than those […]
Ordained Zen priest Duncan Ryuken Williams’ AMERICAN SUTRA: A Story of Faith and Freedom in the Second World War (Harvard University Press; February 2019) described by George Takei as a “must read.” This groundbreaking history tells the little-known story of how, in one of our country’s darkest hours, Japanese Americans fought to defend their faith and preserve religious freedom. The mass incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II is not only a tale of injustice; it is a moving story of faith. In this path-breaking account, Duncan Ryuken Williams reveals how, even as they were stripped of their homes and imprisoned in camps, Japanese American Buddhists launched one of the most inspiring defenses of religious freedom in our nation’s history, insisting that they could be both Buddhist and American. https://www.duncanryukenwilliams.com
ADZG 707 ADZG Monday Night Dharma Talk by Rev. Hogetsu Laurie Belzer
In American Sutra: A story of Faith and Freedom in the Second World War (Harvard University Press, 2019), Duncan Ryūken Williams recenters the role of faith in the Japanese-American experience in WWII by showing how religious differences underlay the injustices that they suffered before, during, and after the war. American Sutra is also an inspiring account of how Japanese-Americans embodied faith, ingenuity and sacrifice in the face of great adversity. At a time when the religious dimensions of American identity are being contested, American Sutra is a timely book about how Japanese-Americans forged, with their blood, sweat and tears, a space in American identity where it’s possible to be Japanese, Buddhist and American. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
In American Sutra: A story of Faith and Freedom in the Second World War (Harvard University Press, 2019), Duncan Ryūken Williams recenters the role of faith in the Japanese-American experience in WWII by showing how religious differences underlay the injustices that they suffered before, during, and after the war. American Sutra is also an inspiring account of how Japanese-Americans embodied faith, ingenuity and sacrifice in the face of great adversity. At a time when the religious dimensions of American identity are being contested, American Sutra is a timely book about how Japanese-Americans forged, with their blood, sweat and tears, a space in American identity where it’s possible to be Japanese, Buddhist and American. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
In American Sutra: A story of Faith and Freedom in the Second World War (Harvard University Press, 2019), Duncan Ryūken Williams recenters the role of faith in the Japanese-American experience in WWII by showing how religious differences underlay the injustices that they suffered before, during, and after the war. American Sutra is also an inspiring account of how Japanese-Americans embodied faith, ingenuity and sacrifice in the face of great adversity. At a time when the religious dimensions of American identity are being contested, American Sutra is a timely book about how Japanese-Americans forged, with their blood, sweat and tears, a space in American identity where it’s possible to be Japanese, Buddhist and American. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
In American Sutra: A story of Faith and Freedom in the Second World War (Harvard University Press, 2019), Duncan Ryūken Williams recenters the role of faith in the Japanese-American experience in WWII by showing how religious differences underlay the injustices that they suffered before, during, and after the war. American Sutra is also an inspiring account of how Japanese-Americans embodied faith, ingenuity and sacrifice in the face of great adversity. At a time when the religious dimensions of American identity are being contested, American Sutra is a timely book about how Japanese-Americans forged, with their blood, sweat and tears, a space in American identity where it’s possible to be Japanese, Buddhist and American. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
In American Sutra: A story of Faith and Freedom in the Second World War (Harvard University Press, 2019), Duncan Ryūken Williams recenters the role of faith in the Japanese-American experience in WWII by showing how religious differences underlay the injustices that they suffered before, during, and after the war. American Sutra is also an inspiring account of how Japanese-Americans embodied faith, ingenuity and sacrifice in the face of great adversity. At a time when the religious dimensions of American identity are being contested, American Sutra is a timely book about how Japanese-Americans forged, with their blood, sweat and tears, a space in American identity where it’s possible to be Japanese, Buddhist and American. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
In American Sutra: A story of Faith and Freedom in the Second World War (Harvard University Press, 2019), Duncan Ryūken Williams recenters the role of faith in the Japanese-American experience in WWII by showing how religious differences underlay the injustices that they suffered before, during, and after the war. American Sutra is also an inspiring account of how Japanese-Americans embodied faith, ingenuity and sacrifice in the face of great adversity. At a time when the religious dimensions of American identity are being contested, American Sutra is a timely book about how Japanese-Americans forged, with their blood, sweat and tears, a space in American identity where it’s possible to be Japanese, Buddhist and American. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
In American Sutra: A story of Faith and Freedom in the Second World War (Harvard University Press, 2019), Duncan Ryūken Williams recenters the role of faith in the Japanese-American experience in WWII by showing how religious differences underlay the injustices that they suffered before, during, and after the war. American Sutra is also an inspiring account of how Japanese-Americans embodied faith, ingenuity and sacrifice in the face of great adversity. At a time when the religious dimensions of American identity are being contested, American Sutra is a timely book about how Japanese-Americans forged, with their blood, sweat and tears, a space in American identity where it’s possible to be Japanese, Buddhist and American. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
On February 19th, 1942, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt issued an executive order designating military zones along the West Coast and laying the groundwork for US authorities to remove citizens of Japanese descent from their homes and imprison them in camps. While it is widely acknowledged that racism was central to this shameful chapter of American history, the role of religious discrimination cannot be overlooked, says scholar and Soto Zen priest Duncan Ryuken Williams. Here, Williams joins Tricycle Editor and Publisher James Shaheen to discuss his new book, American Sutra, how Japanese Americans stood up for religious freedom, and how this disturbing legacy of persecution has taken on new relevance.