Rabbi Pinchas Winston
The world is on fire. And I'm not talking in a good old "fire in your belly," go get 'em tiger, kind of way. I'm talking on fire in a seething, raging, I'm going to shoot you, I'm going to bomb your house, I'm going to annihilate your people kind of way.
Even if all you do is scan the international news headlines, you can't help but get a feeling that all is not right in the world.
Take Israel and Lebanon, for example, which are currently bombing the hell out of each other. Pretty scary stuff regardless of your politics.
It's also pretty gay – or at least caused by gays, according to some Orthodox rabbis.
Is there any great tragedy that gays haven't been blamed for? There was 9/11, Hurricane Katrina, the 2004 tsunami in Asia, ruining all the straight folks' marriages, and Mariah Carey's film "Glitter." Not only do the right-wingers say we're hell bent for world domination, but we apparently want to destroy it, too.
You want to know what's causing the latest tensions in the Middle East? Jerusalem WorldPride 2006, scheduled for August.
Rabbi Pinchas Winston told the WorldNetDaily Web site, "Why does this war break out this week, all of sudden with little warning? Because this is the exact week the Jewish people are trying to decide whether the gay pride parade should take place in Jerusalem or Tel Aviv."
That, according to Rabbi Winston, is making God a little grumpy. "God has told the Jewish people, 'If you are not going to fight for my honour, you will be forced to fight for your own honour.'"
I'm so sure that Israel and Lebanon are trading fire because God wanted to stop Shlomo the homo from marching down the streets of Jerusalem with a rainbow flag.
Rabbi Winston's comments would be ridiculous if he wasn't so serious and the situation in the Middle East wasn't so grave. What blows my mind is his characterization that war in this part of the country broke out "all of a sudden with little warning." Is that so, Rabbi Winston? Ever read a history book? To ignore the decades of conflict in that region just so you can blame it on the queers is disrespectful to everyone involved, not to mention dim-witted.
But then, WorldPride does sound pretty sinister when you read the event's description on their Web page: "Jerusalem WorldPride 2006 will bring a new focus to an ancient city through a massive demonstration of LGBT dignity, pride, and boundary-crossing celebration. In these times of intolerance and suspicion, from the home of three of the world's great religions, we will proclaim that love knows no borders."
Currently the WorldPride march has been postponed because of the conflict, but the rest of the WorldPride activities scheduled August 6-12 are supposed to go on as planned. However, the event is facing plenty of opposition, including the possibility that Jerusalem police might put the kibosh on the whole deal.
"Our hearts go to all the people affected by the violence, as we continue to hope that peace will prevail," WorldPride organizers said in a July 16 statement. "As Jerusalemites, we are acutely aware of the complexities of the reality that we face in our city and in the region. We feel that these days, optimistic messages speaking for tolerance and against violence – as are indeed the core messages of the Jerusalem WorldPride events – are even more significant than during calmer times."
Doesn't sound like the voice of evil to me.
For more info on WorldPride visit http://www.worldpride.net.
