On forcing people to convert for their own good

A Christian minister has said that it should be legal for Christians to enslave atheists, because then the Christian owner can force the enslaved atheists to convert to Christianity. That makes it a GOOD thing, of course.

Puritan minister John Cotton put laws in place that required the police to search every house on Sunday mornings and drag any miscreants found still at home to church. When confronted with the fact that he was thereby making hypocrites of those forced to attend church services, Cotton had no problem with that, remarking that "even hypocrites have their uses":

...better to be hypocrites than profane persons. Hypocrites give God part of his due, the outward man, but the profane persons giveth God neither outward nor inward man. Source

So it's not only for their own good, but because God wants it. Ever notice how God always wants whatever God-believers want for themselves? Yeah O_O

For Soka Gakkai, and therefore for Komeito as well, the program is to realize Rissho Ankoku [the Pacification of the Land through True Buddhism] and Obutsu Myogo - i.e., the welfare of society and the happiness of the individual [through fusing the Soka Gakkai's religion with the political realm]. Although Japan is the immediate focus, even in Nichiren's time it was assumed that the "truth" of Buddhism would eventually be known throughout the world, and today Soka Gakkai often speaks of a goal of “one worldism. The nature and philosophy of True Buddhism and the process of pacification involves the destroying of all heretical religions and replacing the institutions derived from such religions with new institutions that will have True Buddhism as their foundation. The ultimate objective of this program is also called Kosen-rufu (wide propagation), or "the achievement of the state in which all people accept and believe in the teachings of Nichiren Daishonin...".

Notice that there's no real distinction between the concept of "political state" and "personal/psychic inner state".

In the Rissho Ankoku Ron, Nichiren is supposed to have prophesied that within 700 years, during mappo, this objective would be realized. Ikeda recently scaled down the number of converts necessary to constitute Kosen-rufu when he said:

...Kosen-rufu will virtually be achieved when the total membership of Soka Gakkai reaches one third of Japan's population and another third will become supporters of the Komeito even though they do not accept the faith and the rest of the population are opposed to the religion.

Nonetheless, this would theoretically mean political control of the Japanese government, and hence, theoretically, the ability to realize Obutsu Myogo.

The strategy for realizing their program is to bring about the "human revolution" through shakubuku, i.e., the conversion of every person to Nichiren Shoshu. Shakubuku is considered to be jihi, or an act of mercy. By "subduing the will" of a potential convert, that person is enabled to realize the truth and ultimate happiness. Happiness, however, can only be realized through zealous shakubuku efforts by every believer. Through shakubuku, the "human revolution" takes place, and the more persons who undergo this revolution, the sooner Obutsu Myogo and Kosen-rufu will be realized.

But notice that "human revolution" has to be voluntary! HOW does forcing someone to join match up with a process of dedicated self-improvement? You can lead a horse to water...

The closer Obutsu Myogo is approached, the more can individuals realize happiness. Through Obutsu Myogo, the nation and the world will be saved - all due to each person's role in this process. Source

They're assuming, of course, that if you force people to practice religion against their will, they will at some point become devoutly pious despite their initial objections. It's an obscene violation of basic human rights, a concept that Nichiren was just as ignorant of as Jesus was, as the Bible was and is.