by Rabbi Jeremy Rosen, Daily Jews
Fundamentalists across the religions have more in common with each other than they do with liberal members of their own religion. The gay parade's saga is the ultimate example
In an uncharacteristic show of unanimity, the Jewish, Muslim and Christian clerics of Jerusalem have united in calling for a ban to a projected Gay Parade in the Holy City. This confirms an opinion I have long held, that fundamentalists across the religions have more in common with each other than they do with liberal members of their own religion. There are many shared values amongst fundamentalists of different religions, even though they each loudly proclaim that they are the sole purveyors of absolute Truth and all the others are in error.
In a free society one simply has to learn to live and let live. This allows people to choose their own personal lifestyles as well as allowing for abuses. But letting the other ‘live’, cuts both ways. At the moment it seems to me that both sides are wrong in their different ways. Sadly, this is an example of gratuitous offence from people who ought to know better, if only because they too have suffered from intolerance. The fact that this is taking place in Israel underlines the general mood of destructive divisiveness and depersonalization that permeates Israeli society in the way it deals with its own. How can one, therefore, expect much understanding of Christians, Muslims and other religions (let alone politics), if we can’t show minimal sensitivity to our own? Gay news for the Queer Australian
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