Speaking about ontology, what's the black rock about?

Submitted by Barry Thompson (Canada), May 23, 2009 at 02:05

I'm sure you realize that it's very difficult for Westerners to communicate with Moslems because of a seething superiority they carry with them, even when they are doing very humble work. You talk about the ontology of the Koran -- but isn't that a matter of faith? If this is your central point, it is certainly not one one that will be persuasive to a skeptical Western secularist. Do we take the words of the Koran as the arbitror? Then, why are we even bothering to have a discussion.

By those rules, all Moslems support all Moslems, no matter how stupid, immoral, or evil their acts. Are you willing to set that aside, to join the rest of humanity as just an ordinary person? I have a different question, and it has to do with the black rock ... I don't see any mention of any black rock in the Bible. What's the story? Is it a paganism from the time when people in your region worshipped fire? Or stones? What is the connection to the Biblical past, recorded in the Bible? I see none. It looks to me like a pagan practice, likely incorporated into the body of belief in one of those instances where conversion at sword point didn't work that well. In other words, it's in the religion of Islam not because of revelation, but because of politics. I look forward to your response. If so, what are Moslems travelling around the world to go to it for, as if it has some special status as a Holy Relic? And why can't I go to see it?

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