(July 14, 2011 at 6:03 pm)Minimalist Wrote: Do they have a stone-throwing contest the way we have a hot-dog eating contest on the 4th of July?
Yes, and the ritual is called "Jamarat," or stoning of the devil.
The pillar itself is not the devil, but it represents the devil, and the stoning is a symbolic act which is to show that we hate the devil and that we are fighting against the devil.