Report: Muslim Leaders Want Mecca to Be Center of World Time Zones

Jeff Z. · 04-22-2008, 10:09 AM

It might sound a bit amusing right now, but if current trends continue I wonder if this isn't a glimpse into a not too distant future.

Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) could be replaced by "Mecca Time," if a group of Muslim leaders get their way.
At the conference, "Mecca, the Center of the Earth, Theory and Practice," Muslim scientists and clerics called for the change, arguing that the holy city in Saudi Arabia is the center of the Earth and should be the reference point for world time, not Greenwich, England, the British Broadcasting Corp. reports.

FOXNews.com - Report: Muslim Leaders Want Mecca to Be Center of World Time Zones - International News | News of the World | Middle East News | Europe News

WickedLou9 · 04-22-2008, 10:17 AM

That's stupid and serves no purpose. It would be a huge expense and would lead to countless problems of people mixing up the times. All sorts of software would need to be changed. It would effect the airline and shipping industries.. And there is zero benefit to anyone other than an ego boost for those muslim "scientists". They can go fuck them selves.

motivez · 04-22-2008, 11:42 AM

It's all arbitrary, I don't think it makes any more or less sense than any other spot as being the yard stick from which all others are measured (other than they're using religion as justification instead of a need for ship captains to know what time it was elsewhere in the world)

The current place has just been agreed on by society as empires grew and began spanning the world, Islam already has their own calendar and it doesn't impact those who don't use it, I don't think this would be any different really.

TankRizzo · 04-22-2008, 11:53 AM

Arbitrary or not, since they switched BC/AD to BCE/CE, I'd hope they don't do this.

motivez · 04-22-2008, 11:54 AM

Originally Posted by TankRizzo

they switched BC/AD to BCE/CE

What?

TankRizzo · 04-22-2008, 12:04 PM

Originally Posted by motivez

What?

From what I gather, they're teaching children BCE (Before Common Era) and CE (Common Era) rather than BC/AD.

WickedLou9 · 04-22-2008, 12:04 PM

Originally Posted by TankRizzo

Arbitrary or not, since they switched BC/AD to BCE/CE, I'd hope they don't do this.

That's a cosmetic change though. This would change time zones.it would change all of those GMT+4, GMT+6 things that we base time zone calculations on.

7960 · 04-22-2008, 12:05 PM

Originally Posted by motivez

What?

Controversy over the use of CE and BCE to identify dates in history

trying to get "god" out of the calendars

7960 · 04-22-2008, 12:07 PM

Originally Posted by Jeff Z.

It might sound a bit amusing right now, but if current trends continue I wonder if this isn't a glimpse into a not too distant future.

FOXNews.com - Report: Muslim Leaders Want Mecca to Be Center of World Time Zones - International News | News of the World | Middle East News | Europe News

So while (it seems like) the rest of the world is trying to get religion OUT of govt practices, the muslims are going the exact opposite way and trying to center govt practices around religion?

TankRizzo · 04-22-2008, 12:10 PM

Originally Posted by WickedLou9

That's a cosmetic change though. This would change time zones.it would change all of those GMT+4, GMT+6 things that we base time zone calculations on.

I'm just saying if it did go through it would be extremely hypocritical.

WickedLou9 · 04-22-2008, 12:12 PM

Originally Posted by 7960

So while (it seems like) the rest of the world is trying to get religion OUT of govt practices, the muslims are going the exact opposite way and trying to center govt practices around religion?

That's pretty much business as usual for them.

7960 · 04-22-2008, 12:44 PM

YouTube Video

In a strange way it makes me feel better to know they have their well dressed, well spoken (I guess) religious fucking nutjobs just like we do.

Rouger2 · 04-22-2008, 02:11 PM

Originally Posted by 7960

So while (it seems like) the rest of the world is trying to get religion OUT of govt practices, the muslims are going the exact opposite way and trying to center govt practices around religion?

That is exactly their problem. We learned long ago to keep religion and government seperate while they have yet to learn it, and it has keep their society in the dark ages when, we or western civilization, was just like they are now.

motivez · 04-22-2008, 04:44 PM

Originally Posted by Rouger2

That is exactly their problem. We learned long ago to keep religion and government seperate while they have yet to learn it, and it has keep their society in the dark ages when, we or western civilization, was just like they are now.

Islam evolved out of a system of what could be called "government" though, so it's not an easy thing to separate

Dispatcher · 04-23-2008, 03:03 PM

Originally Posted by WickedLou9

That's stupid and serves no purpose. It would be a huge expense and would lead to countless problems of people mixing up the times. All sorts of software would need to be changed. It would effect the airline and shipping industries.. And there is zero benefit to anyone other than an ego boost for those muslim "scientists". They can go fuck them selves.

Here, here

Dispatcher · 04-23-2008, 03:14 PM

Originally Posted by 7960

YouTube Video

In a strange way it makes me feel better to know they have their well dressed, well spoken (I guess) religious fucking nutjobs just like we do.

I resent that...and just for that i'm gonna wrap a towel around my head and kneel to the east...where is the east anyway? Never mind, all I can find is a beach towel, and I look like one of the Supremes in the 70s.