That's what I like: tolerance!

Two dispatches from the world of the religious.

First, from our open-minded ally in Israel:

The Netanyahu government's Ministry of Immigrant Absorption is sponsoring advertisements in at least five American communities that warn Israeli expatriates that they will lose their identities if they don't return home.

Supporters of Israel love to talk about how Israel is the best, most tolerant country in the Middle East, but as we've noted here before, the government of Israel, or at least the current incumbents, are as oppressive and narrow-minded as anyone else in the Middle East. Watch the videos. Even if you don't speak Hebrew, you'll get the idea.

Of course, we expect better in the good old USA, right?

One eastern Kentucky community is divided after a Pike County church voted Sunday not to allow interracial couples to be members or participate in church services. According to members of the Gulnare Freewill Baptist Church, not everyone is in agreement with yesterday's vote. Melvin Thompson, who actually submitted the proposal to the church, defended his position, and says he doesn't feel this will affect the Gulnare Freewill Baptist Church at all. "I do not believe in interracial marriages, and I do not believe this will give our church a black eye at all.

Apparently it's a small church, and there was opposition, but it's still hard to get around how scummy people can be in the name of god, huh?

Or, as my brother Dan points out, religion can be such a comfort.