Reply #60: In the end [View All]

[Lithos]

Religious uniqueness is often never unique when history is laid bare.

If you wish to use the Hopi as an analogy, your article hints at some of the issue invovled. The Hopi have NOT been living as a tribe in the area for thousands of years. The Hopi are a fairly recent (last 500 years) development and in turn are related to the Anasazi Indians who had similarities and differences (ie, the Hopi are distinct). However, the Hopi are NOT the Anasazi. Also related in some fashion (not Pueblo Indian, but still related) are the Navajo whose own religions and cultures seem derived and interlated to the Chaco Canyon culture. Obviously the Hopi and the Navajo are different, yet both claim ties to the same area and the same tradition.

Who is right? Who is wrong?

The Palestinians and the Israeli's are similarly tied though there is much greater overlap than the Hopi and the Navajo. Palestinians comprise not only those who settled from adjacent lands over the intervening time periods, but also a fair amount who can trace their lineage back to the Canaanites, Jebusites and Israelites all of whom have long standing ties to the area.

Who is right, who is wrong? Both claim that God gave them the area, both are brothers (the analogy to the sons of Abraham is an old chestnut which sometimes is fit to bring out on the appropriate occasion), both have ties back to pre-history.