Question & Answer Time

Today we went to take a tour of the place where people gather to pray. It was the only one in the country that we were allowed to go into, and due to this fact it was swarming with tourists. The purpose of the tour was to promote understanding and tolerance between cultures. It was quite interesting to hear what the two hosts answered to all the questions. The woman host was Swiss and converted when she was a teen. She now lives here and has fully embraced the religion and culture. She’s quite smooth and always PC when answering questions, a good choice for the program. Some of the tourists asked ridiculous questions, but others asked some good ones. One woman asked, “If you believe in the earlier two books and ascribe importance to them, why don’t you read them?” The guy didn’t understand the question and proceeded to give the schpeel that everyone believed in the same G-d and all the same messengers. He didn’t give the usual answer that the books had been corrupted by other people and therefore could no longer be trusted. The woman who asked the question had a good point, one I’ve brought up many times when talking to people. If these texts were also inspired, why doesn’t anyone read them? Even if they’ve been corrupted you could trust G to show you what parts were true and useful for life. The guy giving the tour just kept saying that there was the same “list of do’s and don’ts in all the books” and that was what was important. It’s all about obligation. Doing good things. Making sure that scale on the right side is heavier than the one on the left.

He made another interesting comment, “All the messengers were illiterate and uneducated.” It is common belief that the last great one was illiterate and unlearned, but I never heard anyone claim that ALL the messengers were illiterate. How then could J read the scroll (Is 61)? This claim that they were all unable to read doesn’t hold with tradition at all. Minor point, but interesting. I think the woman knew that she had no excuse to why everyone didn’t read the other two important books, so she didn’t have any good PC answers for this one!

After the question/answer time we all watched a short video on the pilgrimage, which strangely enough was from NightLine about 9 years ago. An American who had connections to the media had gone for the first time and gained inside access to everything that was going on. I’d seen it before, but it was quite funny to have Ted Koppel talking to us here!

During the video I was so overwhelmed with a desire to pray. I mean, there is definitely fear of G-d, but not real relationship. The guy during the talk kept saying that the word for prayer really meant “connection” with the Creator, and that it is the way of being closer. They long to submit to a higher power. They long to have lives that are significant, and those who truly believe it will go to all lengths to find this. They’ve resurrected legalism times 10, and yet still have no assurance of what will happen after they’ve left this earth.