Jerusalem? The land title issue

Submitted by lltotes90 (Australia), Aug 5, 2008 at 23:19

var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https://ssl." : "http://www."); document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + gaJsHost + "google-analytics.com/ga.js' type='text/javascript'%3E%3C/script%3E")); I'll apologise in advance for my ignorance on many subjects and hope I don't insult too many people for expressing an opinion that may offend. From what I've read in the 'posts' above the issue for most people seems to be ' who has the most right to Jerusalem'. Some base their opinions on their preferred religious writings, some on the issue of prior residency and some on their own religious leanings.

This is where I become a little confused. When studying history, I was always taught that several major sources should be resourced and compared, whilst at the some time taking into consideration the agenda of the author. I was also under the impression that any conclusions were merely assumptions and should always remain open to further evaluation in the light of new evidence. Do you think that this approach could also be applied to religion? Hasn't the Christian religion under gone many conversions? Could every belief system hold pieces of the truth?

I'm also a bit stumped by this idea of occupancy. Perhaps I'm wrong, but I was of the opinion that most of the countries (include here entire continents) at some time or another have seen a change of 'ownership' , often to the detriment and sometimes to the complete annihilation of a pre-existing culture. Being an Australian born citizen and not of indigenous blood I can relate to this situation, as I'm sure non-native American born residents can. Should we just pack up and go home? Where is home? The earliest ancestor that I can trace back came out on a convict ship. Apparently England didn't want her either. Now aside from that small detail, other generations of my ancestors have come from many and varied parts of the world. So once again, I ask where is home? ..... And once I get there will they not want me?

Now at the risk of making my ramblings even longer, I'd like to put forward a couple of questions regarding the 'father' of both religions. What do you think of Abraham's behaviour in marrying his half sister..... considering what we know today, was it genetically a wise choice? How do you feel about him forgetting those marriage vows and focusing on the sibling aspect whenever it was profitable? Would taking a mistress and then discarding her and your own child be something you would admire in a person? Please believe me when I say that I mean no disrespect..... I'm just trying to suggest that as the human race evolves and understanding of the world around us increases, perhaps we'd be wiser to follow both Abraham's and Mohammed's actions and find solutions that are relevant today.

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".