PHOTO: Skabersjö Church

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I snapped this picture when driving about the Swedish countryside a few days ago.

Leon Wieseltier Fears for Israel’s Future

American writer Leon Wieseltier says, “Unless there is a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, there will not be a Jewish state for very long.”

This is what he’s talking about:

In the next few decades, the number of Palestinians is expected to exceed the number of Jews living in areas now under Israeli control. Those who agree with Wieseltier insist that if Israel maintains the status quo, where Palestinians in the West Bank can’t vote, but Israeli Jews can, it will end the country’s democracy but maintain its Jewish character. Or it could grant Palestinians equal rights, including voting rights, threatening the country’s Jewish majority.

More than 40% of Russians Believe Homosexuality Should Be a Punishable Crime

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The Moscow News reports about a new survey:

Negative sentiment towards homosexuality has grown over the last six years, according to the poll, which was conducted over the weekend. A total of 88 percent support the government’s bid to ban propaganda of homosexuality among children, a figure that has grown by two percent over the last year, ever since the proposals for the ban were introduced. A total of 42 percent said they believed homosexuality should be a punishable crime. In 2007, that figure was only 19 percent.

Meanwhile, the Russian Parliament approves a bill that bans “homosexual propaganda” to minors.

To me, it’s surrealistic that people can hate love between consenting adults so much only because the lovers have the same sex.

Picture: Rembrandt’s (1606–1669) The Stoning of Saint Stephen (1625).