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| Hajj | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Jan 6 2006, 01:51 PM (118 Views) | |
| TBlack | Jan 6 2006, 01:51 PM Post #1 |
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The baby killer
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'Watching as many as two million people do that at this time of year is incredible. You share a sense of community - we are all here for the same purpose, we are all equal.' Edit: I guess I should explain why I put this here. To me there is something almost mythical about Hajj. I know people who have done it, hell; I know people have done it more then once, but it absolutely amazes me. I think, in a way, Islam has a sense of unity other religions don't. At the core there is God and the Qur'an. The Qur'an is the word of God. There is very little doubt on that. There is a shared belief and part of that is the sense of duty. To me Hajj does represent the unity of Islam. The teachings of Islam have been perverted since the death of Muhammad - of course they have, it's a religion and people seem to like buggering them up - but to me the Hajj is hope that maybe Islam will reach a better state. Back to where it was in the beginning and then going further. Maybe. |
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"You would think it obvious to anyone, with a grain of intelligence, that there are far too many people born in England." .:I'm melting!: http://alwaysautumn.etsy.com :. | |
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| The Eternal Kawaii | Jan 10 2006, 03:01 AM Post #2 |
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I personally have little respect for Islam as a religion (the HOCEK is, after all, a parody of some of its more dogmatic aspects), but I have to admit an admiration for the hajj. Anything that can pack 2 1/2 million people into a square mile and not result in murder, rape or arson speaks volumes about the social unity and fellowship it engenders. |
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| Ausserland | Jan 10 2006, 04:02 AM Post #3 |
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Resident Curmudgeon
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About 30 years ago, I was on a plane from Muscat to Jiddah. 4 of us Westerners and about 150 Hajji pilgrims--hardly any of whom spoke English. I won't bore you with the story of the flight and its several pleasant incidents, but I came away with a profound respect for those people and what so many of them had sacrificed to make that pilgrimage. |
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If at first you don't succeed, give up. There's no sense getting frustrated. (\ /) ( ..) C('')('') ![]() ![]() ![]()
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| Ardchoille | Jan 10 2006, 12:14 PM Post #4 |
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Figurehead, SS Petulant Snit
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The BBC and America's National Public Radio have been running features to similar effect, with one interesting sidelight on the number of young people now completing the hajj (previously, according to the BBC, it was done at the end of a life because completing it meant that one's sins were forgiven). I share the admiration for the mass coming-together for one purpose, without crime and without leading to crime, at great personal sacrifice, but it does happen elsewhere, for other reasons. It's not the sole prerogative of religion. I've talked to trade unionists from New Guinea who literally walked barefoot over mountains just to get to educational meetings organised by Australian unions (from which most unionists I know would run a mile). I know people who really do feel spiritually stronger, renewed, cleansed, whatever, since the big Australian Council of Trade Unions demos last year. One of my son's friends wrote to him in similar terms about the Stop The War rally that filled London. Then there's the music festivals: I know, some of them are pure commerce and crime-free only because somebody's hired Hell's Angels as security. But there are and have been such gatherings from which people took lasting strength. I have a friend who used to work for Greenpeace; I've met (and, frankly, consider quite lunatic) a woman who was a human shield in Iraq. Both of them talk about feeling 'buoyed up' by the number of people backing them. People do insane things for ideals. If many (thousands, millions) gather for the same ideals, we're still group-animals enough to find it awesome, inspiring, strengthening, even when it's just fireworks in Hyde Park for some Royal wedding. Don't get me wrong, Clare, I'm sharing your wonder and joy at people behaving decently en masse. I'm just demanding a share in the kudos for all the other things that make humans act reasonably. |
| I'm not the real me. | |
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| Ecopoeia | Jan 10 2006, 12:21 PM Post #5 |
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E-u-o-c-o-u-p-i-e-i-a-u-o-e-a
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Hallelujah and amen, ardchoille. I completely agree. |
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Enough is as good as a feast To Ill-Advisedly Go! | |
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| TBlack | Jan 10 2006, 02:19 PM Post #6 |
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The baby killer
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Yeah but I'm talking about Hajj and how religion isn’t all bad. To say 'some other things aren’t bad either seems a bit… unrelated to Hajj and religion. Incidentally, Deeply Vale!! |
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"You would think it obvious to anyone, with a grain of intelligence, that there are far too many people born in England." .:I'm melting!: http://alwaysautumn.etsy.com :. | |
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| Compadria | Jan 12 2006, 08:57 PM Post #7 |
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Guardian
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Yet tragically seems unable to prevent people trampling each other to death: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4606002.stm Such a tragedy and all because they wanted to throw some pebbles at three pillars, it seems rather unfair. |
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"What does your conscience say? — 'You should become the person you are". -Friedrich Nietzsche "Oh, I could spend my life having this conversation - look - please try to understand before one of us dies". -John Cleese Your scored -2.5 on the Moral Order axis and -0.5 on the Moral Rules axis. ![]()
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