REL-3180 Lecture Notes - Lecture 18: Fetus, Bricolage, Shinto
Document Summary
William lafleur"s article abortion in japan: towards a middle-way" for the west? . Writes a paper comparing western views vs. japanese views of abortion. Tend to be framed in terms of rights. And can see terminating it when needed. It"s okay to lose the life because it can come back . Japanese and west both think of the value of the fetus. Pragmatism - taking stock of reality, looking at it, and finding solutions. Mizuko-jiz - leech child - aborted fetus. Leech child - adam and eve-like couple are having a baby, but do the rituals wrong so they put baby in reed basket and let it float away (liquid life) Post-wwii generation in japan with increase of abortion rate. Lafleur doesn"t care that it isn"t a buddhist ritual, as long as japanese buddhists are doing it. If you dig deeper this is a result of archaic rituals in japan + bits and pieces of.
