Problem
Watch "Japanese Martyrs" (see lecture "The Sea Empire of Portugal"). The lecture gives a brief background of the history of the sixteenth and seventeenth century efforts of Catholic missionaries (predominantly Jesuits) and their persecution by Japanese leaders. But the lecture is mostly about historical memory. Alec Ryie does a lot of work examining how religious atrocities are used and frequently abused by interested parties. He holds up the example of how the surviving Japanese Christians remembered their martyred ancestors as exemplary. He notes that the mood of their commemoration ceremonies is penitential rather than triumphal. And goes on to state that they "remember atrocities with sorrow and repentance rather than righteous rage which might be the beginning of wisdom." Compare and contrast how the European Catholics used the memory of the Japanese martyrs versus the surviving Japanese Christians. Why do you think Ryie praised the way the Japanese Christians remembered the atrocities of their Catholic ancestors? How might things be different if they remembered the atrocities with righteous rage rather than repentance? Do you agree with Ryie? Why, or why not?