Environmentalists say pollution makes baptism at sacred spot in Jordan River unsafe

[kpete]

Source: Washington Post

Environmentalists say pollution makes baptism at sacred spot in Jordan River unsafe

By Janine Zacharia
Friday, July 30, 2010

QASR AL-YAHUD, WEST BANK -- Environmentalists claim that the hallowed spot along the Jordan River where Christians believe John the Baptist baptized Jesus Christ has become too filthy for human use.

"Untreated sewage continues to flow both directly and indirectly into the river," said Gidon Bromberg of Friends of the Earth Middle East, a group calling for baptism to be banned at a site where thousands of Christian pilgrims immerse themselves each year in the green-brown water.

Israeli authorities vigorously dispute the claims of unhealthful levels of pollution at the sacred bend in the Jordan. They rushed this week to reassure pilgrims about the site, which is a major draw for the more than 2 million Christians who visit Israel each year.

Eli Dror, head of environmental monitoring at Israel's Nature and Parks Authority, said he is so confident of the quality of the river's water that he let his infant grandson play in it recently.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/29/AR2010072905915.html

[leftofcool]

1. Just do what American Baptists do

Build a concrete tank and fill it full of water. Problem solved. Oh, be sure to put the pretty backdrop of Jesus on it

[xchrom]

2. then i guess we will see over time if it's safe.

if it isn't -- well...

[FiveGoodMen]

3. If it's sacred, you'd think an all-powerful god could keep it clean

No miracle there, apparently.

[BEZERKO]

4. Funny,

but that's the way it's been at all of the holy rivers. The Ganges, the Jordan, the Bagmati because most holy rivers are located near population centers. Population centers polute their resources.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

5. W. C. Brann had it right.

W. C. Brann ran a newspaper called The Iconoclast in Waco, Texas, the "Vatican City of the Baptists", as Molly Ivins put it, back in the 1890's. He was plugged in the middle of Main Street in Waco in 1900 for his outspokenness. Fortunately he pulled his own pistol and killed his murderer.

One of his famous quotes:
"The trouble with our Baptists is that we do not hold them under water long enough".

:rofl:

[martymar64]

6. I use that phrase frequently, truer words never spoken

Must've seeped it's way into the Texan Lexicon.