Joseph Matthew Dolan never imagined he would be pounced on and arrested by heavily-armed anti-terror policemen for carrying a large cross around Jerusalem.
Joseph Matthew Dolan, 33, a Christian from New York, was arrested at last week's Jerusalem March when he tried to join the parade carrying a large cross. Dolan crafted the 50-kilogram, two-meter-long cross himself after gathering the wooden planks in a remote forest in New York state five years ago. Last week, while attending the Jerusalem March - the annual Feast of Tabernacles event that hosts thousands of evangelical pilgrims - Dolan, two of his friends, his 21-year-old fiancé and their puppy were detained for questioning after they joined the march with the cross.
"Jerusalem Syndrome," as experts have classified this phenomenon, refers to a psychosis involving obsessive, religiously-themed ideas, delusions or experiences triggered by or leading to a visit to the Israeli capital.
Prof. Eliezer Witztum, a psychiatrist who studied this phenomenon with his colleague Prof. Moshe Klein and researched the behavior of 82 sufferers, said the syndrome was not unique to one religion or denomination, but has affected Jews and Christians of many different backgrounds.
"Most of the people who suffer from this ancient syndrome have previous mental problems. When these people come to Jerusalem - which constitutes the trigger, not the reason, for their outbursts - they have certain expectations and religious visions, and when they don't come true, some of them fall apart, some are hospitalized and others create provocations," said Witztum.
from J'lem Post
Speaking of world religions and such, there's a new letter (pdf) out to the Pope from a collection of Muslim clerics and scholars. From the BBC. This latest letter comes almost on the anniversary of another letter, published last year by Islamica magazine, (see here), which I blogged about last October.
In an unprecedented move, an Open Letter signed by 38 leading Muslim religious scholars and leaders around the world will be sent to Pope Benedict XVI on Oct. 15, 2006. The letter, which is the first of its kind in several centuries, was a collaborative effort signed by such prominent figures as the Grand Muftis of Egypt, Russia, Bosnia, Croatia, Kosovo, Istanbul, Uzbekistan and Oman, as well as leading figures from the Shia community such as Ayatollah Muhammad Ali Taskhiri of Iran. The letter was also signed by HRH Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad bin Talal, the Personal Envoy and Special Advisor to King Abdullah II of Jordan...
I have not had a chance to peruse the new letter yet, but if you have, let me know what you think.
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