'I'll kill anyone who insults my god'
Credit where it's due; it doesn't take fundamentalist nutters much longer to swing into action when their god is insulted than it does for Zinedine Zidane to defend his mother's reputation.
In case you'd missed it, leaders of the Big Three religions in Jerusalem have decided that it's A Bad Thing for World Pride to take place there next month.
Now when one of the poor, put-upon mites started talking of bloodshed, it was tempting to put it down to a bad ringlet day. But now we're starting to get some details.
According to news agency Agence France-Presse, one "radical" Jewish group has started handing out leaflets around Jerusalem, offering a 20,000-shekel (£2,659) reward to anyone who "kills a sodomist".
Talk about getting your tallit in a twist.
Not that this would be a new development. During a recent local Pride festival in Jerusalem, an ultra-Orthodox Jew stabbed one of the participants.
And if you imagine that some other voices might be trying to calm the mood with a more moderate tone, then think again. Rabbi Ovadia Yossef, the spiritual leader of the Orthodox Shas party and a member of Israel's coalition government, has called the planned parade an "insupportable abomination".
Two opposition religious parties, the United Torah Judaism and the National Union, put a Bill before the Knesset on Monday calling for World Pride to be banned.
During the debate, Israeli cabinet minister Yaacov Ederi, who holds the Jerusalem affairs portfolio, declared himself "personally against" the festival, but added that it would be up to police to decide whether to let it go ahead.
Some sanity prevailed and the Bill was defeated by 47 votes to 21, with 16 abstentions.
Part of the Pride events will include a "multifaith convocation", where gay and lesbian believers from across religious groups can come together.
Perhaps that's the core of the problem: the nutty brigade doesn't want 'their' god being contaminated by nasty people claiming that He/She/It doesn’t actually "hate fags".
A spokesman for the Israeli gay community has ruled out cancelling anything.
"There are no legal grounds for disrupting the events, and the recent religious opposition is a desperate attempt to undermine the confidence of our community," stated World Pride organiser Noa Sattah.
“With sound legal and public support, we stand united and state clearly: these attempts will fail. We are determined to exercise our basic rights by marching in Jerusalem on August 10th."
In the meantime, if anyone was contemplating starting a website called Fundamentalist nutter watch, they could do worse than begin work in this supposedly holy city.
In case you'd missed it, leaders of the Big Three religions in Jerusalem have decided that it's A Bad Thing for World Pride to take place there next month.
Now when one of the poor, put-upon mites started talking of bloodshed, it was tempting to put it down to a bad ringlet day. But now we're starting to get some details.
According to news agency Agence France-Presse, one "radical" Jewish group has started handing out leaflets around Jerusalem, offering a 20,000-shekel (£2,659) reward to anyone who "kills a sodomist".
Talk about getting your tallit in a twist.
Not that this would be a new development. During a recent local Pride festival in Jerusalem, an ultra-Orthodox Jew stabbed one of the participants.
And if you imagine that some other voices might be trying to calm the mood with a more moderate tone, then think again. Rabbi Ovadia Yossef, the spiritual leader of the Orthodox Shas party and a member of Israel's coalition government, has called the planned parade an "insupportable abomination".
Two opposition religious parties, the United Torah Judaism and the National Union, put a Bill before the Knesset on Monday calling for World Pride to be banned.
During the debate, Israeli cabinet minister Yaacov Ederi, who holds the Jerusalem affairs portfolio, declared himself "personally against" the festival, but added that it would be up to police to decide whether to let it go ahead.
Some sanity prevailed and the Bill was defeated by 47 votes to 21, with 16 abstentions.
Part of the Pride events will include a "multifaith convocation", where gay and lesbian believers from across religious groups can come together.
Perhaps that's the core of the problem: the nutty brigade doesn't want 'their' god being contaminated by nasty people claiming that He/She/It doesn’t actually "hate fags".
A spokesman for the Israeli gay community has ruled out cancelling anything.
"There are no legal grounds for disrupting the events, and the recent religious opposition is a desperate attempt to undermine the confidence of our community," stated World Pride organiser Noa Sattah.
“With sound legal and public support, we stand united and state clearly: these attempts will fail. We are determined to exercise our basic rights by marching in Jerusalem on August 10th."
In the meantime, if anyone was contemplating starting a website called Fundamentalist nutter watch, they could do worse than begin work in this supposedly holy city.
posted by Amanda Kendal at 10:51 am
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