What would happen if the Temple Mount in Jerusalem was annihilated?

Say by a mid-sized tactical nuclear weapon that detonated the entire mount and all structures on it, relasing enough radiation to make it utterly uninhabitable for 100,000 years or so.

We can assume this was the act of a lone individual and does not represent any terrorist or religious group. We can also assume, for the sake of argument, that all parties accept and believe this as the truth (i.e., Israel and Iran don't get into a nuke-lobbing free-for-all). Say the man who detionated the bomb was a disenfranchised Tamali Hindu with no opinions about the Abrahamic religions but just simply saw the place as an accursed source of possible future global apolcalyptic violence based on inter-religious tension, and wished to avioid the Abrahamic religions from dragging the rest of the planet along with their medieval apocalyptic fantiasies of final Armmagedic showdowns and heavenly third and fourth temples.

What would the immediate, intermediate, and long-range implications be?

They would rebuild? Another place in Jerusalem perhaps? Would make sense.

Originally posted by infolurker
They would rebuild? Another place in Jerusalem perhaps? Would make sense.

Well, a lot of people are very attached to that particular scrap of land. First of all, it is the location a rock said to be the rock upon which Jacob would have sacrificed his son had God not supposedly intervined. The same rock is also sacred to the Muslims because it is seen as the location where Allah took Muhammed on his Night Journey to heaven. After Mecca and Media, it is the third-holiest place in Islam and is currently covered by the golden Dome of the Rock, a very venerated mosque.

At the same time, it is the historical location of the first and second Temples of Israel, and there is a prophecy that when a third temple is built there, the Judaic messiah will return. Many Christians also want to rebuild a third temple there according to the rather exact plans given in the book of Ezekiel. believeing this will signal Christ's return to earth and the final End Times. Of course, with Islam's third-holiest mosque currently covering this rather coveted piece of real estate, hilarity ensues on an almost weekly basis, as some nut from one of the three religions attempts some sort of shenanagans usually based on paranoid psychosis. So "moving it somewhere else" isn't really the issue here, at least not for most.

Personally, I advocate encasing the entire location in a perfect cube of highly reinforced glass and pumping in purified, clean seawater. It would become the world's largest acquarium for exotic sea cucmbers and aniomines. Just think how lovely it would be to see peacefully floating electic jellyfish and other exotic ocean fauna instead of a bunch of barren old dusty rocks:

Just giving my opinion... you stated it would be uninhabitable. If it was, they would rebuild the temple somewhere else.

But there are plans to build the 3rd temple on the mount (not disturbing the mosque)
meridianmagazine.com...

Evidence has been presented for the location of Solomon's temple having been situated between the existing Dome of the Rock and Dome of the Tablets. This evidence consists of 1) a central axis row of stones that may contain original bedrock stones directed nearly perpendicular to the east wall of the Temple Mount, 2) a set of drainage channels on three sides of the location, 3) cisterns located below this area fed by holes in the drainage channels, as would be needed for Solomon's temple, 4) a pillar base in about the correct location for the Boaz pillar, and 5) all of the measurements between these features approximately corresponding to the Biblical dimensions. Thus, it is proposed that this site may indeed have been the original site of Solomon's temple. If this location is indeed correct, then the exact location and orientation have been pinpointed in a place where no building currently stands. Thus the temple could be restored there without impacting the Dome of the Rock in any way.

[edit on 15-11-2009 by infolurker]

Im pretty sure would result in a lot of Muslims and Jews and some Christians angry as hell and with nothing to lose... probably a lot of backlash against all hindus as the abrahamic faiths tend to hold grudges (you killed our messiah! remember the crusades! you broke the commandments!)

I am betting all my chips that it will be the place of the NWO beginning though, because its just waiting to blow, not by nuke I believe. There are a lot of right-wing Jews believe the dome is keeping their messiah from coming, so naturally want it removed, and a lot of Muslims who believe it needs to be there for THEIR messiah to save them...

My guess is like yours though that one person desperate enough will ruin it for everyone and soon all the neutral people will be sucked in to the war.

God would purify the area and cleanse it of the radioactivity. Then He would rebuild His temple in its rightful location.

Originally posted by Ridhya
Im pretty sure would result in a lot of Muslims and Jews and some Christians angry as hell and with nothing to lose... probably a lot of backlash against all hindus as the abrahamic faiths tend to hold grudges (you killed our messiah! remember the crusades! you broke the commandments!)

I am betting all my chips that it will be the place of the NWO beginning though, because its just waiting to blow, not by nuke I believe. There are a lot of right-wing Jews believe the dome is keeping their messiah from coming, so naturally want it removed, and a lot of Muslims who believe it needs to be there for THEIR messiah to save them...

My guess is like yours though that one person desperate enough will ruin it for everyone and soon all the neutral people will be sucked in to the war.

I feel like this is the most logical response, however horrible and annoying it would be. Also, I feel like a "holy site" would be recreated outside of the radiation zone, for people who wanted to make pilgrimages. Or maybe some radiation suits would be donated for people to use.