Sacred Spaces and Compromise

Mircea Eliade introduces the idea of sacred spaces in chapter one of The Sacred and the Profane. I found sacred spaces to be extremely significant because even if you don’t have a place that is sacred to you, other people believe in sacred spaces and that has a huge impact on politics everywhere. One of the most prominent examples of how sacred spaces effect politics can be seen in Jerusalem. For centuries, Jerusalem has been the center of conflict between Muslims, Jews, and Christians, and that conflict is still prevalent today.

People who are nonreligious and do not consider Jerusalem a sacred space may jump to say something like “it’s just land, they could move somewhere else and it would all be settled.” However, that is simply not possible for these three religions because they all consider Jerusalem to be sacred. Eliade explains the significance of this sacredness, spelling out how sacred space is a connection with heaven, and that connection makes the sacred space the center of the world we live in (Eliade, 37). If a place is sacred, it is not “just land” it is the most important land in this sphere of existence.

How can we value sacred spaces of these religions and also seek peace between them, especially in regards to Jerusalem? Each religion wants to worship at these places in a different way, and having others worship differently there would profane the sacred space. This means that when deciding who gets control of a sacred space, only one religion can control it because only then can it retain its sacredness. There is no impartial solution. But how can we decide that only one religion is allowed to worship at a space where many different religions believe in its sacredness? An integral part of these religion’s belief systems requires their specific rituals in these spaces. There seems to be no way to get a compromise where everyone is happy. Yale Review of International Studies published an essay which details the current political situation in Jerusalem and suggests that the only solution is a committee comprised of Jews, Muslims, and Christians to have joint jurisdiction over the Old City. That may be the best solution, as the people who understand the significance of their sacred spaces are the ones who get to control it. However, the question still remains, considering how valuable sacred spaces are, and how sharing sacred space with others profanes it, would a compromise be possible?

Yale's Essay: Jerusalem: Political SIgnificance of a Holy Site