Re-Post: Nearing Midnight for January 16th (Part 1)

Satan Devours Another Group of Pilgrims

In Mina, Saudi Arabia, the annual Hajj came to a deadly conclusion. On the last day of the pilgrimage, several people tripped over luggage that spilled from moving buses, causing a stampede in which at least 345 people were killed and 1,000 injured.
This year's Hajj already had been marred by the collapse of a hotel being used by pilgrims. The January 5 disaster killed 76 people in Mecca.
The stampede occurred while pilgrims were in the process of completing a symbolic stoning of the devil. In the shrine complex is a series of three pillars representing the devil that the faithful pelt with seven stones to purge themselves of sin.
The pillars are located on a pedestrian bridge the width of an eight-lane highway. A number of ramps and walkways lead up the bridge to give pilgrims access to the site.
This is not the first time the Hajj has been visited by calamity. Over the years, several tragic events have been related to the stoning ritual. Here is a timeline of some of those headlines reported by the world press:
2004: At least 244 persons died and hundreds were hurt.
2003: At least 14 people were killed.
2001: 35 people died in stampede during stoning.
1998: At least 180 were trampled to death.
1997: 343 pilgrims died and 1,500 were injured in a fire.
1994: 270 were killed in a stampede as worshippers surged forward during stoning.
1990: 1,426 pilgrims were killed in overcrowded pedestrian tunnel leading to holy sites.
1987: 400 died in an Iranian-Saudi confrontation.
The stampedes are not the result of gross neglect on the part of Saudi Arabian officials. In fact, the Saudi Arabian government has taken a number of steps to try to prevent the loss of life. They recently widened the bridge, built extra ramps, and extended the time frame during which pilgrims can carry out the ritual. They keep more than 10,000 security personnel on duty, and they monitor traffic via 300 cameras that have been installed.
Considering that mass death stampedes are a rarity, their frequency in Mina defies logical explanation. I don't recall hearing of a regular body clean up after partygoers celebrate the New Year in Times Square, New York, or after national sports championships. It could be noted that these events even have an added danger because of widespread alcohol consumption.
I firmly believe the devil is the reason Islamic pilgrims are trampled to death with such strange regularity.
Because Satan is the true god of the Hajj, one would think he would want the pilgrimage to be a smoothly run operation. The ironic twist of having people die during the stoning ritual apparently is just too tempting for Satan and his host of fallen angels to pass up.
In response to the latest loss of life, the Saudis have announced plans for further modifying the site in the coming years to allow some 500,000 pilgrims an hour to carry out the stoning. I think they could expand that number to a million, and people will still be going home in body bags. Nothing will change until Muslims realize something is fundamentally wrong with their whole belief system.
"Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour" (1 Peter 5:8).
--- Todd