From: Interfaith Working Group Subject: IWG Akron letter Date: Sun, 22 Dec 1996 00:39:36 -0500 (EST) The following went out on IWG letterhead listing 3 congregations, 5 religious organizations and 36 clergy from 12 faiths and denominations. If you are in the general Philadelphia area and represent a congregation or religious organization or are clergy, let us know if you want to be added - all faiths are welcome. We will also be happy to help start similar organizations in other areas. December 20, 1996 Akron Beacon Journal 44 E. Exchange Street Akron, OH 44328 Dear Editor: Scott Ryan's definition of Christianity completely fails to take into account the diversity of beliefs that fall under that label. The fallability or infallability of the Bible is one of many questions that Christians disagree on. There are disagreements over the relationship of the Bible to Christianity, over which books should be included, over translations and interpretations, and over which sections are most important and should take precedence when there are apparent contradictions. Anyone looking up "Churches" in the Yellow Pages of a major city can see just how many denominations there are, and even within those denominations there are new disagreements over the Bible, governance, sacraments and worship services which will lead to official changes in doctrine, or to splits and mergers, just as they always have before. Criticism of the Mennonite church for its position on homosexuality is coming not just from "half- believing liberals" (whatever they are) but from Mennonites who disagree with their own church's teaching. Mr. Ryan might be suprised to learn that these disagreements are also occuring within such traditional strongholds as the Catholic, Mormon, Seventh-Day Adventist, Christian Reformed and Southern Baptist denominations. Christian churches which support sexual minorities are not simply acting as "feel-good havens of spirituality for people they regard as unrepentant sinners." Their reasons are as diverse as the churches themslves, but two of the most- often cited are a) they do not view homosexuality is a sin and/or b) they are acting on what they believe is a Biblical mandate to act on behalf of the most marginalized members of society, especially those who have been marginalized by the religious establishment. Mr. Ryan is completely right that anti-gay churches have the right to believe as they see fit, but in a free society we also have the right to try, through the power of speech alone, to change each other's beliefs. It happened with slavery, it has been happening slowly with women, and now it is happening with sexual minorities. Sincerely, Barbara Purdom Christopher Purdom Interfaith Working Group Coordinators