Pope John Paul II Quotes
One may sin by greed and the desire for power, but one may also sin in these matters through fear, indecision, and cowardice!
On Social Concern
John Paul II, 1920-2005, Karol Jozef Wojtyla, Catholic Pope, Solicitudo Rei Socialis 1987
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
1st Earl of Beaconsfield
Samuel Langhorne Clemens, 1835-1910
His documentation of Bushido—the way of the warrior—has influenced Japanese culture and behavior even into modern times. This statement in large part explained the behavior of Japanese troops in WWII. Surrender was considered cowardice and therefore fighting to the death was required of all Japanese. This particular work was studied by American experts on Japan and the assumption that this was the Japanese cultural imperative for soldier and civilian alike, was one of the major factors leading Truman and America to use the Atomic bomb in WWII for they did not anticipate any Japanese surrender otherwise and an invasion of the Japanese mainland would have killed more Japanese and many Americans as well. Even after the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, the Japanese would not surrender and it took the Emperor to finally contradict the Japanese culture as stated in Yamamoto Tsunetomo’s writing. See also {586231}.
Pope John Paul II was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his death in 2005. He was elected pope by the second papal conclave of 1978, which was called after John Paul I, who had been elected in August to succeed Pope Paul VI, died after 33 days. Cardinal Wojtyła was elected on the third day of the conclave and adopted the name of his predecessor in tribute to him. John Paul II is recognised as helping to end Communist rule in his native Poland and the rest of Europe.
