And the greatest threat to the Holy Land is ...

The International Gay and Lesbian Pride Parade! At least according to Jerusalem's chief rabbi, Shlomo Amar, who sent a letter to Pope Benedict asking the pontiff to condemn "strongly and unequivocally . . . this terrible phenomenon, out of hope that a general protest from different religious leaders will awaken the lost hearts who are deceiving themselves and immeasurably harming their souls, and discourage the willful wrongdoer from cursing and corrupting the human way." The rabbi is likely to find sympathy with the pope, who will no doubt issue at least a strong condemnation of same-sex marriage when he arrives in Spain this week for a big family conference.

Better yet, though, are comments by an Israeli member of parliament: "The gay parade in Jerusalem is a parade of swine on Temple Mount. It's a revolting parade of filth. Do you want to set Jerusalem alight? Do you want to force your sexual tendencies upon us?" Evidently Muslim, Jewish, and Christian groups are all condemning the parade. At least they can agree on one thing. All this while Israel and the Palestinian Authority teeter on the brink of yet another bloody conflict, light years away from any real peace.

And we wonder why modern folk are barely interested in the religions of the Book. Could it be that instead of seeking the "peace of Jerusalem" after nearly 60 years of conflict, they'd rather have hissy fits over a parade that will last a single day?