Islamic, Jewish, and Christian clerics meet together in Jerusalem! They stand united! They stand together! They speak as one!
The subject? The reason for this ecumenism? A cry for peace between Israel and the Palestinians? A condemnation of terorrism? A call for brotherly love? A recognition of humility and common bonds between them?
Of course not. They’re there to oppose a gay rights festival.
International gay leaders are planning a 10-day WorldPride festival and parade in Jerusalem in August, saying they want to make a statement about tolerance and diversity in the Holy City, home to three great religious traditions.
Now major leaders of the three faiths — Christianity, Judaism and Islam — are making a rare show of unity to try to stop the festival. They say the event would desecrate the city and convey the erroneous impression that homosexuality is acceptable.
“They are creating a deep and terrible sorrow that is unbearable,” Shlomo Amar, Israel’s Sephardic chief rabbi, said yesterday at a news conference in Jerusalem attended by Israel’s two chief rabbis, the patriarchs of the Roman Catholic, Greek Orthodox and Armenian churches, and three senior Muslim prayer leaders. “It hurts all of the religions. We are all against it.”
Abdel Aziz Bukhari, a Sufi sheik, added: “We can’t permit anybody to come and make the Holy City dirty. This is very ugly and very nasty to have these people come to Jerusalem.”
Well, at least they’re united on something.
(via Jeff Jarvis)