Eido Shimano didn't do it

It's not as if it weren't expected, but now it's in black-and-court-docket-white: Eido Shimano did not engage in "inappropriate sexual relations with anyone."

Shimano and his wife Yasuko sued Zen Studies Society on Jan. 3, 2013 for $2 million in pursuit of retirement payments they alleged they were due and had not received. The suit seeks a jury trial in the Supreme Court of the state of New York. Zen Studies Society responded that Shimano had breached a "faithful servant" understanding by initiating inappropriate sexual conduct with various Zen students ... among other allegations... and is likewise seeking $2 million from Shimano and his wife.

Now, in a response to the ZSS response, comes the court-filed document denying "inappropriate sexual relations with anyone." The document is dated March 11, 2013.

OK ... what else did you expect?

What is interesting is the use of the word "inappropriate." It seems to suggest that there may have been "appropriate" (i.e. consensual) sexual liaisons, but, hey, what the hell ... screwing is not against the law. More important, however, the word relegates the whole argument into a he-said-she-said context in which each party may have a point of view and discerning which view is correct is impossible since there were no witnesses to corroborate.

The only fly in this ointment may be seen in the centuries-long denials and cover-ups used in the Roman Catholic Church when it comes to priest sexual abuse. No one believed the victims ... whether church or civil authorities ... or, if they did believe it, they were willing to sweep the matter under the rug in a variety of ways. But of late, the circumstantial evidence has become so great and the similarity between allegations so heinously obvious that the church can no longer hide behind an elevated status and civil authorities have brought down the hammer of judgment. The church is hemorrhaging money in an attempt to quell the clamorous cries.

Similarly, the desire to quell the complaints against Shimano has lost its oomph in the face of numerous witnesses retailing similar stories ... and documented in the 6,000 pages of the Shimano Archive 
and elsewhere. For decades, Shimano used the he-said-she-said defense in a variety of ways. He, like the Catholic Church, was well-dressed and granted a good deal of humble latitude. Since he had done 'good things,' the 'bad things' were inconsequential. These were the plots of the jealous and the misinformed. In the end, it was just a matter of he-said-she-said and what Shimano said was given a pass.

But now the matter is in court, a place that tries to winkle out facts rather than devotions. And the social environment seems ready to listen more attentively to the she-said's of the world. There is a critical mass to the accusations that once went unheeded.

Will the matter ever reach a courtroom? I wish it would, but I sincerely doubt it will. Shimano, like the Vatican, cannot be expected to willingly square off against the great unwashed who assured his rise to the position he assumes he has. It would be 'beneath' him ... not to mention a vast embarrassment.