I feel that is true in spiritual world rather than material world. In material world, you can build the new beside the old. It makes the world even more beautiful. In the spiritual world guided by conscience, however, you have to destroy old to build new eg, to develop rational thinking on has to destroy bias; to develop peace on has to destroy prejudice..

I feel that is true in spiritual world rather than material world. In material world, you can build the new beside the old. It makes the world even more beautiful. In the spiritual world guided by conscience, however, you have to destroy old to build new eg, to develop rational thinking on has to destroy bias; to develop peace on has to destroy prejudice..

Dear Marcelo,

Examples do not match up always each other. Often we are glad to be able to build on the old fundaments. New houses are often organic continuations of old ones.

Dear All,

The negation of negation may be continuation.

It depends. If the old structure has undergone many distortions, dislocations, and deformations (summarized as damages), then an overall change into a new structure becomes a necessity because it is difficult or nearly impossible to rectify that old demised configuration. If the old structure has undergone slight imperfections by human endeavors, then the structure can be restored by proper remedial actions carried out by capable persons.

This is a good question with many possible answers. 

Already, many good answers have been given.    For example,

@András Bozsik: New houses are often organic continuations of old ones.

A lot depends on the house (or religion) that we live in.   Some houses persist comfortably and beautifully with very little change, since the houses were initially designed very well in the beginning.    Change creeps in  when houses start to deteriorate and repair and refurbishment are needed to prevent a house from falling apart.   In terms of religion, those  religions that have survived the longest are those that had very simple, well-thought out tenets and prescriptions for a good, a holy, a spiritual life.   Changes in the surrounding region where a religion flourishes sometimes have a  disruptive influence on religious practice.   That prompts reactions in various forms to preserve what is holy, good and spiritual.

Going back to what @András Bozsik: has written, we can rephrase the observation:

New structures are often organic continuations of the old ones.

Dear Marcelo

The entire cosmos is undergoing evolutionary changes continuously. Sentient and insentient beings come into existence, become (change) and are extinguished to create space for new ones. Change is the law of life. Old ones have to give way to new ones eventually, the time scales may vary depending on the reference materials or beings and the desires and aspirations (good and bad included) of the societies.

There have been several recent devastating landslides that resulted in widespread destruction and even death. In the spring of 2000, a vast expanse of hillside in the south of the city, above the highway leading out of the city towards the Bayil district gave way to a massive land slide. More than 70 houses and shops were completely destroyed. The scale of the destruction was blamed on substandard infrastructure, prompting Soviet authorities to forbid any future buildings to be constructed higher than five stories.

http://www.azer.com/aiweb/categories/magazine/ai133_folder/133_articles/133_khanlou_construct.html

Dear Marcelo

Please check this interesting paradoxical link.

https://www.researchgate.net/post/what_is_the_advantage_of_keeping_old_buildings_for_the_sake_of_heritage_while_there_is_an_increasing_demand_for_land_in_the_cities_for_their_dewllers#550a8bd9d767a67e688b46b9

Although this is by no means my area of expertise, I feel I have a relevant contribution. The Qutb Minar & Mosque in Delhi is, partly, build out of the remains of the Jain/Hindu temples which were initially on the site and then destroyed to create the Qutb complex. When on a tour of the site, in 2003, I was shown certain parts of the complex which contained specific bricks/blocks from these Jain temples. These bricks contained representations of Hindu gods on them, and had been turned upside down by those who created the Qutb site.....a small anecdote which, hopefully, is relevant to your question re. religion/destruction of the old to form the new.

They were symbols of the faith triumphant and were made saints in the municipalities. 

One of the reasons they were so important was not for their spiritual merit, which was pretty dubious, but for their social importance.

They were thought to be miraculous and really solidified people's bond with a town. This reaffirmed the prestige of the town itself.

 'It's impossible to put a modern-day value on the skeletons.'

https://www.google.co.in/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=63&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CC0QFjACODw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dailymail.co.uk%2Fnews%2Farticle-2413688%2FIncredible-skeletal-remains-Catholic-saints-dripping-gems-jewellery-dug-Indiana-Bones-explorer.html&ei=tNYLVf-jLpH5aqmFgMAE&usg=AFQjCNFNOFteOfbStAeioQPKky6s6XDr6g

Ankur has put it very well. To add to that, if we have to destroy something let it be IGNORANCE as the great sage Patanjali advised thousands of years back. Check this link

 http://www.yogajournal.com/article/philosophy/who-do-you-think-you-are/