Muslims hold the key to the church where Christ is buried.. but no Mosque for them

[Peacetrain]

Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem is the church that traditionally Christians go to on Easter and is where Christ is said to be buried.


Now to all those rightwingers and Glen Beckers and Limbaugh nut job followers... Two Muslim families, one for hundreds of years keeps the doors open to the Church that holds the greatest meaning for all Christians.

Think about that.

[DireStrike]

1. Well, that can only mean one thing

It's time for WAR!!!!!!!!!!:sarcasm:

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

2. The reason for that is interesting

Different Christian sects would fight so violently for control of some of the Jerusalem holy sites that it was feared the sites would be destroyed. So operational control (maintenance, controlling entry, etc.) was given to Muslims as neutrals.

[Peacetrain]

3. Yep..

[JuniperLea]

5. They have a long history of nutral behavior...

See my post below... stunning documentary.

[JuniperLea]

4. I watched this PBS show earlier this week...

http://www.pbs.org/citiesoflight/

snip

"From the days of Charlemagne to Christopher Columbus, Islamic Spain represents one of the most productive intercultural relationships in Western history down to the present day. The lemon tree, the water wheel, the astrolabe and Aristotle’s lost philosophy all arrived in Europe through Islamic Spain. Churches and temples that strongly resemble Muslim mosques, the pinnacle of Hebrew literature’s Golden Age, the roots of modern medicine and mathematics, and the transmission of Greek philosophy into Western Europe are just a few of the collaborative achievements that form the legacy of Christian, Jewish, and Muslim cultures interacting on the Iberian Peninsula over seven centuries."

snip

"The legacy of Muslim Spain is rooted in the two hundred fifty year reign of the Umayyad dynasty. This first, long interaction between the Arab Middle East and European Spain laid the basis for a legacy of pluralism—the Spanish term is convivencia. Nowhere in Medieval Europe was central government more lasting, more extensive, or more successful than in Cordoba, Spain’s capital under the Muslims. By the tenth century it was Europe’s largest, richest, and cleanest city, with running water, public hospitals, and lighted streets—(hence the film’s title). The film lingers on the creation and expansion of this stunning capital, where religious and civil institutions were joined in a single governing center with a national tax base."

snip

"Unlike the Romans and Visigoths before them, Muslim rulers seemed to grasp that the Jews and Christians who preceded them to the Iberian Peninsula were necessary partners in a productive society. The fascinating story of a central bureaucracy staffed by elites from all three faiths, with Jews in all but the highest post and Christian scholars outperforming “native” Arabic speakers in their own language and culture, is a fascinating and powerful antidote to our modern stereotypes concerning Christians, Jews, and Muslims."

We really do owe a lot to these people.

[Peacetrain]

7. I wish I had seen that.. thank you for the synopsis.. I will look for

it locally!

[Grey]

14. replayed again today. You should check your listings.

Really, Really good show.

[JuniperLea]

15. Glad you caught it!

It's amazing... I'm thinking of getting the DVD. This is important history.

[geardaddy]

16. PBS is evil

Don't you know they're left-wing, bleeding hearts determined to destroy everything good and white in America?

:sarcasm:

[JuniperLea]

20. So I've heard!

:rofl:

It's almost all I watch on the BoobTube. I watch the librul news there too... shocking, I know!

[Crystal Clarity]

19. Another important thing many do not know is

the fact that Christian (Palestinians) have lived in peace among Muslim (Palestinians) for approx. 1900 years in Palestine/Israel. Prior to 1947, the Christian Palestinian population was approx. 40% and though they've mostly migrated to other countries since, Christian Palestinians still make up approx. 3.4% of the Palestinian population in Israel. The majority of them live in the West Bank and most of them in and around Bethlehem... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_Palestinians

BTW- remember shortly after 9/11 (in 2002) how the media played up the story of Palestinians seeking refuge from Israeli soldiers in Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity? How they supposedly trashed the place blah, blah, blah? Well, what the media failed to mention was the fact that many of them were Christian... It was just another post 9/11 Bush regime propaganda piece intended to fan the fires of American hostility toward Muslims. They just conveniently chose to not mention the fact that Christian Palestinians existed, let alone the fact that many of those taking refuge were Christian. It didn't fit well into their story line I guess. They needed that American RW Christian fundy crowd to get all hot and bothered in order to further make their case for attacking Iraq.

So anyway, I make this point only to show the level of religious tolerance Muslims have historically shown toward other religious beliefs...

I intend to check out that program you've posted JuniperLea. Based on your info it looks fascinating. Thanks! :-)

[JuniperLea]

21. Great info, CC! I'd forgotten about that particular bit of Bush propaganda...

Have tissue handy when you watch that documentary. It's a wonderful, beautiful story... but it doesn't end well. Could be that I'm just an old softy... but I was pretty puddled up a few times.

The things people do in the name of God... very distressing.

[Crystal Clarity]

23. I need to amend the above post...too late to edit (calling myself out)

Not that it matters a whole lot; This thread appears to have moved on and no one has called me on this anyway... BUT... I'm too much of a dorky perfectionist to let a minor but important mistake stand.

In the post above, I incorrectly calculated Palestinian Muslims and Palestinian Christians to have lived together in Palestine for 1900 years (D'oh!)... Muhammad wasn't even born till 570ad which would make that figure off by about 500 years or more. Just sayin- lol! :blush:

[rug]

6. Christians don't believe Christ is buried.

[Peacetrain]

9. I understand.. but we do say he was buried for three days and then arose

[truebrit71]

8. Okay...wait..he was buried? I thought he was whisked off into the sky...

...by "angels" (aliens) in a "flaming chariot" (UFO)...or did I miss something...

[Peacetrain]

10. Day three

[glinda]

11. Maybe there is still a body there. Blows the "rose again" thing.

[Peacetrain]

12. No body..

Rolled away the stone after three days.. Christ was gone..no body..

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

17. Church of the Holy Sepulchre

Supposedly the church built over the top of the site where Christ was crucified and also the cave where he was buried.

It does not contain Christ's burial shroud, the blood of christ, the various crosses he was crucified too, and his multitudinous foreskins. Those are all in other churches.

[JuniperLea]

22. My cousin is a docent there...

I'll ask her if there's a basement. Could be enlightening.

[mzteris]

26. that doesn't make sense

(of course nothing about this story really does, but...)

the cave where he was buried wasn't right next to where he was crucified.

[zipplewrath]

13. You might want to edit that.

"...where Christ WAS said to be buried."

[WinkyDink]

25. IS said to have BEEN...... :-)

[JVS]

18. "Church that holds the greatest meaning for all Christians." Not all.

I can tell you that there is at least one Christian who doesn't give a flying fuck.

[WinkyDink]

24. That would be "was" buried, to a Christian. J/S.