Pray in the hole or follow the dirt? (1 Viewer)

[csbrown28]

We know what a holy city Jerusalem is for both Christians and Muslims. So much so that many wars have been fought to control of it.

So my question is sort of a thought experiment. If it were possible to dig a hole 30 miles in circumference and 1 mile deep with it's center in the heart of Jerusalem and you took all that dirt and you dumped it into the Australian outback, would people pray in the hole or follow the dirt?

To my Australian friends, remember it's just a thought experiment :2wave:

 

[blaxshep]

We know what a holy city Jerusalem is for both Christians and Muslims. So much so that many wars have been fought to control of it.

So my question is sort of a thought experiment. If it were possible to dig a hole 30 miles in circumference and 1 mile deep with it's center in the heart of Jerusalem and you took all that dirt and you dumped it into the Australian outback, would people pray in the hole or follow the dirt?

To my Australian friends, remember it's just a thought experiment :2wave:

I got a better experiment, lets Nuke it and see what happens.

 

[csbrown28]

I got a better experiment, lets Nuke it and see what happens.

Blax, why doesn't this surprise me coming from you? :doh

 

[Gathomas88]

We know what a holy city Jerusalem is for both Christians and Muslims. So much so that many wars have been fought to control of it.

So my question is sort of a thought experiment. If it were possible to dig a hole 30 miles in circumference and 1 mile deep with it's center in the heart of Jerusalem and you took all that dirt and you dumped it into the Australian outback, would people pray in the hole or follow the dirt?

To my Australian friends, remember it's just a thought experiment :2wave:

People would likely honor both spots. They'd visit the hole to honor the actual location, and the dirt to honor the structures (or remains thereof) of religious significance in the city itself.

 

[lizzie]

So my question is sort of a thought experiment. If it were possible to dig a hole 30 miles in circumference and 1 mile deep with it's center in the heart of Jerusalem and you took all that dirt and you dumped it into the Australian outback, would people pray in the hole or follow the dirt?

My guess is for praying in the hole, as the geographical location seems to be the focus, and not the actual particles making up the location.

 

[digsbe]

Jerusalem for Christians is mainly a historical place, there are no religious requirements tied to the city. It's mainly important for Jews and Muslims.

I would venture to say that the physical dirt is not what is important to them, but the holy cites and the location is.

 

[DDD]

My guess is for praying in the hole, as the geographical location seems to be the focus, and not the actual particles making up the location.

Great, praying in the hole. I guess the credo that "One lives from/by/to the hole" would have an added meaning then.

 

[lizzie]

Great, praying in the hole. I guess the credo that "One lives from/by/to the hole" would have an added meaning then.

Frankly, I think praying can be beneficial, no matter one's location.

 

[head of joaquin]

The idea that God finds some real estate holy is pitiful. I support the hole.

 

[DDD]

Frankly, I think praying can be beneficial, no matter one's location.

I use to have friends that would believe that their lives revolve around holes. They came from a female hole, they live their lives for other female holes, and they will die and be left on a hole. Now this praying on the hole raises their credo to a new "holy" level then does it not?

 

[Fisher]

They'd kill all the atheists, throw them in the hole, and then go to the Australian outback, retrieve the dirt, and finish filling the hole the rest of the way in.

 

[ashurbanipal]

People would likely honor both spots. They'd visit the hole to honor the actual location, and the dirt to honor the structures (or remains thereof) of religious significance in the city itself.

I think it would be either this, or neither. To understand why, you have to understand why people pray at holy sites in the first place. Some do so because they think there's something magical about the place itself. Most do so, I think, because there is actually something magical about the place, which is namely, that it has a powerful effect on the consciousness of a believer such that it puts them in mind of the deeds done on that spot. So, for a Jew, the Western Wall is a holy place because it puts them powerfully in mind of the time when they had a national temple. For Christians, Jerusalem is a holy place because it puts them very much in mind of where Christ was crucified. For Muslims, it puts them powerfully in mind of where Mohammed ascended to heaven. And this state of mind is useful, as it inspires like devotion. Taking away the place is like taking away a photograph of a deceased loved-one. It blurs the memory, but doesn't do away with the devotion.

 

[lizzie]

The idea that God finds some real estate holy is pitiful. I support the hole.

It isn't that God finds it holy. It's that the location has religious significance to religious adherrents of the Abrahamic religions. I would pay due respect to the holy places of Buddhists and Hindus as well.

 

[Goshin]

Moderator's Warning:

Inappropriate for the Religion Forum in at least two ways... both the inflammatory nature of the suggestion and the issue of whether this should have been a Middle-East Forum thread.... This thread is Closed.