Tolerance 1, Hatred 0

Although Israel is fighting terrorism and trying to return its kidnapped citizens in Gaza and Southern Lebanon, the Jewish world seems to be more focused on the WorldPride March happening this week in Jerusalem.

Ultra-Orthodox leaders have joined other religious leaders to condemn the events and its participants in hateful and unprintable (at least by me) words.

In response, a Conservative Rabbi penned an article supporting the parade out of disgust for a call to violently stop the event:

"Therefore, their statements are the greatest imaginable desecration of Gods name that has ever happened in Israel. They are much worse than the desire of a particular group to march legally through the streets of Jerusalem. I want to warn that the way in which these rabbis have chosen to express their opposition to both the parade and homosexuals themselves will lead to bloodshed, as it did last year."

The reader response reaction raised the hateful rhetoric (as it often does on the web). I usually don't participate in these types of things but I found one response to be particularly offensive. A quick read of the site's Terms of Use and a post with a citation from their rules led to the post (#15) being removed.

One point for tolerance, zero for hatred. If only we could solve the rest of the world's problems so quickly!

Shalom u'vracha,
Rabbi Bruce

PS. Hours after writing the post, I received an email from a friend who saw that it was successful. The internet makes the world very small.