Slashdot Mirror
Japan's Population Falls At Fastest Rate Since 1968
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Reuters: Japan's population, excluding resident foreigners, fell at the beginning of this year at its fastest pace since comparable figures were kept in 1968, highlighting the demographic challenge to economic growth. As of Jan. 1, the number of Japanese people fell by a record 308,084 from a year earlier to 125,583,658, marking the eighth consecutive year of declines, government data showed Wednesday. The number of births fell 2.9 percent from the previous year ago to 981,202, the lowest since comparable data became available in 1974. People aged 65 or older accounted for 27.2 percent of the total population, the highest ratio on record, while the ratio of those aged 14 or younger fell to a record low of 12.7 percent, the data showed. The number of registered foreign residents increased to 2,323,428, up 6.9 percent from a year earlier, according to the data.
Sorry to blow your mind, but the USA is BEHIND Japan on penis size:
https://www.pri.org/stories/20...
You must know that it's not typical for people to work 12 to 16 hours a day, 7 days a week...
That's alittle bit of an exaggeration, but not much of one for your typical Japanese salaryman. Sometimes they get Sunday off, but if they get it "off" they usually have other obligations on that day. (source)
Karma: Terrifying (mostly affected by atrocities you've committed)
> It should go OK as long as they don't let Christians in. They want people who want to support and be part of the society. Cristians are mandated by their belief to undermine non-Christian societies and when they have sufficient numbers take over.
While to certain extent this is true there is a big difference between what all but a tiny minority of Christians would want. Firstly very few of them oppose secular democratic governments. They would be happy to convert all the non-Christians that they can, but still have a secular government employing people of all faiths and representing everyone. Secondly all but a few support equal rights for all, whatever religion. They would not want non-Christians to be unable to testify in court against Christans, nor would they want to prevent non-Christians from building or maintaining places of worship, or worshiping in public. They would not see expression of another faith as blasphemy, punishable by state law.
Also they would not want non-Christians to be subject to a punitive tax to make them feel subdued, nor believe that they should be killed if they did not accept the inferior treatment. On a personal level, very few would condemn Christians for having non-Christian friends apart from befriending them in order to convert them (though I have met a number of Christians who only seem to befriend non-Christians for this purpose themselves)
Very well said. Christianity is explicitly clear about not undermining the societies they live in. Jesus himself commanded that we be obedient to the Government "render unto Cesare's the things that are Cesare's and to God the things that are God's". Sadly it appears that many people's perception of Christianity is based off of a limited experience or sample size. As an example, the MAJORITY of so called "Christians" that appear on "Christian Television" thumping their Bibles and selling their Holy Water so people can receive "God's Blessing" are nothing more than Charlatans. Yet sadly, this is what a lot of non-Christians see and they understandably draw conclusions that Christians are nut jobs because of the limited sample size. Unfortunately for Christians, Christianity (along with other religions of the world) has often been subverted by people seeking power or fortune and used it to further their goals. The result has been a negative backlash against religion in general and Christianity in particular (in the Western world) that makes it difficult to have an honest discussion about one's faith with non-believers.
If one is able to cut through the negative perceptions people have of Christianity they might realize that many of the core beliefs are just good principles of a modern society. The ten commandments for example (with the exception of the first) lay the foundation for modern secular society:
1. Being aware that God exists
2. Not to have other gods or idols (don't let possessions or things control your life)
3. Not to use God's name falsely or uselessly (don't swear in public out of common decency)
4. To keep the Sabbath (don't work yourself to death...)
5. Honor your parents
6. Do not murder
7. Do not commit adultery
8. Do not steal
9. Do not lie
10. Do not covet
Keep in mind that when these commandments (and the rest of the "law") was given to Moses, the civilizations of the day were absolutely brutal and barbaric. An oft repeated mission given to Israel was to destroy those other civilizations that worshiped idols and we think "how terrible"! The rest of the story (and just one example) is that one of the "idols" some of these civilizations worshiped was Moloch and the custom of the day was to heat the idol as hot as possible and throw humans (including their children) into it to be burned. There are many parts of the Bible that are brutal and difficult to understand in the context of our modern world but as a whole, I'd much rather live in a predominantly