Ties that Bind

Imagine that the United Nations proposed to resolve the angry disputes over the status of Jerusalem by building several exact replicas of the holy places on neighboring mountains. Then different Christian sects can each have their own church of the Resurrection. The Jews can have not just a wailing wall but a whole temple. The Muslims can have their own Dome of the Rock. Pilgrimages would be to the replicas, with access to the originals granted on a rotating basis. Would the plan succeed?

Imagine, more radically, that the original shrines were disassembled and their stones used in building the now separated shrines. To end disputes about the Dome of the Rock they would move that hill half to the Jewish replica, half to the Islamic. The original materials would remain; the spatial coordinates would be changed. It would look the same, and it would include the same rocks. What about that plan?

Finally, imagine that the holy places were declared so sacred no one could ever approach them, except perhaps once a century. Instead, pilgrims would visit them through virtual reality experiences. The experience could be more complete, less hurried, less crowded, and so more focused and detailed than an actual visit could ever be. (If you wanted crowds and tension and rivalry over the holy places, an optional version of the virtuality that might contain a greater sense of tension and danger than the real location.) Would that do?

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