Clerics agree

NYT reported 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."

Religious leaders from the three major faiths, all with significant interest in the area, gree on something. Praise God.

Jan Haugland of Secular Blasphemy blogged It really takes something special to bring Jewish, Christian and Muslim leaders together. Unfortunately, what brings them together is opposition to the planned gay WorldPride festival in Jerusalem in August. It's touching how common bigotry can bring old enemies together. Not.

Taegan Goddard blogged Quote of the Day - "This is not the homo land, this is the Holy Land." -- Yehuda Levin, of the Rabbinical Alliance of America, quoted by the New York Times in an article about Jerusalem WorldPride 2005, a gay festival to be held in Israel. He also called the event "the spiritual rape of the Holy City."

Orrin Judd blogged Odd that the three great Abrahamic faiths would unite around morality.

Jeff Jarvis blogged Giving God a bad name - The front page of The New York Times today reports that religious leaders from Islam, Judaism, and Christianity came together in a rare meeting and rarer agreement in Jerusalem to unite in a single cause. What cause could that be? Peace in the Middle East? Regaining God-given freedom in the Middle East? An end to economic despair in some parts of the Middle East? A call to condemn terrorism as murder? No. Gay bashing. Bigotry. Hatred. That's what brought them together. They oppose a gay pride event in Jerusalem

Pudentilla blogged old guys in drag peeved at pride event in jerusalem

I repeat. Religious leaders from the three major faiths, all with significant interest in the area, gree on something. Praise God.