Imagine standing on the Mount of Olives, looking over at Jerusalem, and then looking into the camera to say, “The land Israelis and Palestinians occupy is, for a third of humanity, literally holy land. And Jerusalem marks its sacred center. To Christians, this is where Jesus was crucified and resurrected. To Muslims, this is from where Mohammed ascended to Heaven. And to Jews, it’s where the Temple of Solomon stood. The crossroads for three great religions, the Holy Land has been coveted and fought over for centuries.”
Sometimes this work — what I sometimes playfully think of as tour guiding for couch potatoes — is so exciting that I can’t say my lines without losing my composure.
Comments
5 Replies to “The Temple Mount: Is This God’s Idea of a Joke?”
I recall a visit to a well-known church in Paris when I saw a friar ask a man to please remove his cap. The young man did but when the friar was out of sight, the fellow put the cap back on. Then there were the two young women in Istanbul who refused to remove their shoes, pushing past the doorman and into the mosque. Then there was the polish tour guide leading a group of maybe 40 people down to the tomb of Saint Paul and speaking in a loud voice, even though the group was equipped with closed circuit sound, disrupting the individual prayers of worshipers there and the referent atmosphere. Perhaps I was out-of-line but I shushed her.
I may be wrong, but I believe that Muslims believe that the prophet Abraham was going to sacrifice his son, Ishmael.
Rick,
Regarding the photo of Karel, I probably would have chosen a slightly different vantage point, so that it didn’t appear he was wearing a gold dome on top of his head. Or did you arrange that composition deliberately?
I’ve been enjoying reading your Blog entries, as that’s a part of the world I’ve often been curious about, but have never visited. Such incredible history!
I think Cynthia is right. Islam teaches that Abraham was to sacrifice his other son,
Ishmael.
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I recall a visit to a well-known church in Paris when I saw a friar ask a man to please remove his cap. The young man did but when the friar was out of sight, the fellow put the cap back on. Then there were the two young women in Istanbul who refused to remove their shoes, pushing past the doorman and into the mosque. Then there was the polish tour guide leading a group of maybe 40 people down to the tomb of Saint Paul and speaking in a loud voice, even though the group was equipped with closed circuit sound, disrupting the individual prayers of worshipers there and the referent atmosphere. Perhaps I was out-of-line but I shushed her.
I may be wrong, but I believe that Muslims believe that the prophet Abraham was going to sacrifice his son, Ishmael.
Rick,
Regarding the photo of Karel, I probably would have chosen a slightly different vantage point, so that it didn’t appear he was wearing a gold dome on top of his head. Or did you arrange that composition deliberately?
I’ve been enjoying reading your Blog entries, as that’s a part of the world I’ve often been curious about, but have never visited. Such incredible history!
I think Cynthia is right. Islam teaches that Abraham was to sacrifice his other son,
Ishmael.
I noticed that it’s hard to find your site in google, i found it on 23th spot, you should
get some quality backlinks to rank it in google and increase traffic. I had the same problem with my blog, your should search in google for – k2 seo services – it helped me a lot