Expert: John Mason - 4/24/2007

Question
I have two questions, and I believe you can solve it.

1.Besides Jerusalem, where can I find an important confluence of various important religion? Is Jerusalem the only point in Earth with holy places for catolicism, judaism and islam?
2. Have judaism and islam a power figure or group (as the Pope or Vatican)?

(Please excuse me if my english isn't too good)
Thanks for your atention

Answer
I'm not sure I have a complete answer to these questions. (1) As for a holy place, a large city like New York, Rome, Moscow, Nairobi, and so on, would have a large synagogue, a catholic bishop, and a large mosque--but these would not have the political importance of Jerusalem. For myself, I think that the place of God is in the human heart, and his favorite places are the ones where we live in the right way. For (2), The Jews have no head I know of, even locally. Islam has important figures like the Ayatollah, but I don't know much about their organization. My impression from Muslims I have known is that the important figures, like those in Lebanon, are part of the political and cultural situation and don't reach to the center of the religion. So maybe the answer to the two questions is that no place has a history as deep as Jerusalem, and no, there isn't much of a center for Judaism or Islam.