-JAMUS LIM-
Around two decades back, I visited Jerusalem for the first time, to attend a summer school in economic theory. One of the standard tours one does is to go round the Old City, which encompasses sacred sites for the three major Abrahamic religions—Judaism, Christianity, and Islam—as well as quarters for each of these groups (along with the Armenians).
One of these sites is the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, a Christian pilgrimage site that was built at Calvary, the hill where Jesus was crucified. The church itself is a somber place, one that is full of meaning for believers. But the memory that has stayed with me is the so-called “Immovable Ladder,” literally a ladder that leans against a window, that has not moved since 1728. Yet despite looking irrelevant and out of place, it is protected from removal or even alteration.
This is because of the law of the status quo, which is an understanding among six religious sects that have a claim on Christian holy sites in Jerusalem and Bethlehem (the town where Jesus was born). The status quo requires the agreement of all parties to bring about change, and since that has not been forthcoming, the ladder has never been moved. It has even become a symbol of the agreement.
In and of itself, the status quo law isn’t all that remarkable. The world is full of social and political compromises between different communities, and such undertakings help preserve the peace between them. But for me, if compromises become so immutable and sacrosanct that it impedes simple, commonsensical changes, then I regard them as impediments to progress. We are all in a worse place than if, somehow, we could come to an agreement to move forward on issues of common interest, rather than being trapped in an endless cycle of asking for tit-for-tat exchanges.
My hope, on this Good Friday, is that the social and political compromises we have made in the past will never come in the way of our progress for our nation. And by the same token, that we will be willing to recognize that diversity—whether in ethnicity, religion, language, or sociopolitical identity—can be a source of pride and strength, and is something that we should all embrace. In a world rife with conflict, the need for such understanding and acceptance is even more urgent, and sorely needed.
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