Category Archives: Religion

Folk and Pop Culture, Religion

Mecca: The Hajj and the Big Hotel

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A few weeks ago it was announced that a new hotel will be built in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. New hotels are announced and built on a seemingly endless basis, what makes this one special? Size.

Developers are planning on making it the world’s largest hotel with over 10,000 rooms. A full 3,000 more than the current leader, the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

While it may seem a daunting task to fill such a large hotel there is one time a year that there should be no problem at all, the annual hajj. The hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam, requiring Muslims to make one trip in their lifetime to the birthplace of the religion’s founder Mohammed. This pilgrimage happens once a year during the final month of the Muslim calendar.

Millions of Muslim from around the world come to share in the ceremony. So many Muslims arrive that it is considered the largest annual gathering of people on the planet. Come the annual hajj, the reality is that even with 10,000 rooms, the problem they will face is not too many rooms, but still not enough to accommodate everybody in attendance.

This sacred trip taken by Muslims is a theme that comes up repeatedly in Human Geography. It is the most well known pilgrimage taken by believers among the major religions and is commonly used as an example on tests and exams. Being able to identify the hajj, or using it as an example on an essay, might be the difference between failing and passing  the AP® Human Geography Exam.

Alarming Fact, Political Geography, Religion

Human Geography: Alarming Fact #7

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Boko Haram, an extremist Islamic jihadist group, has been terrorizing the people of Nigeria for several years. On January 3rd they committed their largest atrocity when the moved into the town of Baga in the northeastern part of the country and opened fire with machine guns and grenade launchers. They had no specific targets and it appears that their objective was simply to kill as many people as possible, unfortunately they were successful. So many were killed that an accurate body count has been impossible to ascertain since Boko Haram is still operating in the area. Current casualty estimates vary from several hundred to over 2000.

While the western world mourned those killed last week during the terrorist attack in Paris it continued to ignore the mass violence taking place in western Africa. It reminded me of a problem I encounter constantly while teaching Human Geography, if something happens in Africa nobody cares. The most interest western media has shown in the current Nigeria crisis took place in May when social media was trending with: “#BringBackOurGirls” in response to Boko Haram kidnapping 273 girls from a school. It’s 9 months later and the girls have not been returned nor has any information about their status been received. One would think that such horrendous crimes would receive continuous attention and that media and the public would place pressure on our leaders to help bring the crisis to an end, but it’s Africa. There are no votes to be gained for politicians, dollars to be made for big business, or ratings to be increased for media so they ignore it, the public ignores it, and Boko Haram continues to kill indiscriminately.

Political Geography, Religion

Israel and Gaza: A Photo Essay of Destruction

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For the past two months global headlines have been dominated by an all too familiar conflict that seems to repeat itself every few years. Israel and Palestine have again failed to find a way to peacefully coexist. The religious and political tension that exists between these two groups of people has become so overwhelming that many believe the fighting will never come to a permanent end. I have been often asked by my students if this conflict will ever have a final resolution. My honest answer is always the same, “Not in my lifetime, or only if one group manages to achieve the catastrophic result of the total destruction of the other.” I can only hope that my analysis is wrong but past experience has given me no reason to think otherwise.

Over the course of the fighting there have been several brief cease fires that have mostly ended prematurely. Yet, in the past 24 hours they have agreed to an Egyptian brokered cease fire with no set time limit, this is the most promising agreement since the fighting started in early July.

The primary weapon in this round of fighting has been rocket fire or air strikes which can inflict a high level of damage from a far off distance. The New York Times Magazine sent two photographers to show the world the realities of the physical and emotional devastation this latest round of fighting has created. Below is a link to their haunting portrayal of life in the war torn zone.

http://nyti.ms/1tHYL7P