Is Anything Sacred Anymore?

ESSAY
Colin Chastain
14105127
Is anything sacred anymore?   Some would say yes and some would say no.   It all depends on the individual. The sacred is subjective and transcendent of all things. Something separate from the material world and beyond the control of humans. It aids human overall wellbeing and determines the aspects of human existence.   With this being said what could be considered sacred in the world today?   In reference to the study of religion it could be a lot of things.   If one keeps an open mind, the sacred can be something a person relates too like Ground Zero where the World Trade Center once stood.

“After the bombing of the World Trade Center, there was and continues to be an intense discussion about how that location where the buildings once stood is to be remembered. For those who lost loved ones, the remains of the trade center were considered to be a ‘sacred place’.” (Cunningham and Kelsay, page 25)

This is a prime example of a place marked as “sacred ground” and correlates with the hermeneutics of suspicion.   The hermeneutics of suspicion states that everything is an interpretation and that humans should be suspicious of everything by deciding whose interests are or are not being served.   Ground Zero is considered sacred because it was a place of tragedy and death.   The idea of death or losing loved ones is considered sacred because it is out of human control and definitely determines an important aspect of human existence: survival.   When deciding how the location of where the buildings once stood should be remembered, it was established that it was sacred ground in order to support the interests of the people who lost loved ones there.

Death is not the only thing that is sacred anymore though, there is also the aspect of living that people take for granted.   Life and time is probably the most sacred part of human existence.

“As for the days of our life, they contain seventy years, Or if due to strength, eighty years,...