Saudi Arabia to head conference on religious tolerance

And the conference is being sponsored by...wait for it... the United Nations! The same folks who brought you a Commission on Human Rights chaired by Libya!

UNITED NATIONS, Nov. 11 -- Saudi Arabia, the oil-rich Islamic kingdom that forbids the public practice of other religious faiths, will preside Wednesday over a two-day U.N. conference on religious tolerance that will draw more than a dozen world leaders, including President Bush, Israeli President Shimon Peres and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

Notice how the dateline reads "United Nations?" Where do you suppose that is, exactly?

I don't want to lapse into the usual eye-rolling dismissiveness, just because the nation leading this conference is one of the worst religious-freedom abusers in the entire world. I'm a big believer in engagement: any chance we have to talk about religious freedom while Saudi Arabia is in the room is an opportunity we shouldn't miss.

But. For crying out loud. The "world community" takes this stuff seriously.

Of course, the "world community" hates George W. Bush and just loves Barack Obama, pretty much sight unseen. So. Maybe this all says more about the "world community" than it does about anything else.