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07/07/2004: "Trying to be more tolerant than thou"

This, from Ecumenical News International, has to be a late April Fool's joke:

Worried that the reputation of the Netherlands as Europe's most open-minded society is diminishing after the government in recent months has taken tough positions on immigration, the country's council of churches has launched an initiative to promote tolerance. "Tolerance is not the same as indifferent living alongside one another or striving for uniformity," the Council of Churches in the Netherlands said in a statement announcing the publication of a book on tolerance as a resource for church congregations.

Because the government takes a dim view of terrorists coming into the country, the CoC is worried that drug-legalizing, euthanasia-practicing, same-sex-marrying Holland will soon be a pariah among open-minded Europeans. "What, the Dutch haven't legalized bestiality yet? Sacré bleu! Expel them from the EU, the scoundrels, the crypto-fascists!"