[300winmag]

Was it you who had the idea of dropping the 82nd into Mecca, taking the black moon-god meteorite chunk they worship as the ka'aba rock, and bringing it back to NYC?

No, my suggestion was to hit it with a bunker-buster, and blow it into a million little pieces. Then sell them as paperweights, as "a piece of the rock". It worked for the Berlin Wall.

There is no way an object of such evil veneration could be purified for recasting as a religous symbol of any proper religion. Bigger pieces would also be useful for holding down garbage can lids in a high wind.

[wildandcrazyrussian]

I have always had the impression that Islam is (from the very beginning) nothing more than monotheistic paganism. There is no way any "belief" system based supposedly on strict adherence to the concept of the utter righteousness and justice of God would still maintain such superstitions. Wouldn't the theorists have done away with the pig taboo as being contrary to the justice of their deity?

However, if in fact you simply have a death cult based on MoHAMmed's picking one deity out of the lineup of 360 (that he and his family used to carve images for), then it is quite understandable how paganistic vestiges are still an integral part of the system.

[river rat]

I like the way you think!
You've got your head screwed on straight...
Semper Fi