Subject: IWG Akron letter
From: Interfaith Working Group <[email-masked]>
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