Subject: IWG Detroit Free Press letter ftr-l@aquilapub.com, religion@critpath.org, jmwindgate@aol.com, waibling@calvin.usc.edu, amerunited@aol.com, joed@rabbit.com, RAARONS@aol.com, denkulp@aol.com, BCS41@aol.com, ncac@netcom.com, axiosusa@aol.com, 74344.2361@compuserve.com, pflagntl@aol.com, submit@qrd.org, jerobert@mail.airmail.net, pa-expose@critpath.org Date: Sun, 3 Nov 1996 11:32:00 -0500 (EST) From: Chris Purdom The following went out on IWG letterhead listing 3 congregations, 5 religious organizations and 37 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. Visit the web page at http://www.libertynet.org/~iwg/. November 1, 1996 Detroit Free Press 321 W. Lafayette Blvd. Detroit, MI 48231 Dear Editors: Maggie Gallagher has either missed or intentionally avoided the correct analogy in her analysis of civil rights for sexual minorities. She says that if being gay is just like being black, then orthodox Christians, Muslims, and Jews are just plain bigots. Being gay is like being an orthodox Christian, Muslim or Jew or a member of a particular political group in that gays are largely being criticized because of those with whom they associate and what the public thinks it knows about that group's behavior. People who oppose legal protection on the basis of sexual orientation try to focus us on the question of whether sexual orientation is an innate characteristic, as though legal protection against discrimination only extended to physical traits. It's not true. You are legally protected against discrimination on the basis of religious and political affiliation, neither of which is innate. Legal protection against job discrimination does not make it illegal to have prejudices. Given the wide range of behaviors and traits that various religions condone and condemn we could not have religious liberty if prejudice were illegal. However, the law makes it illegal to act on one's personal prejudices in certain situations, such as discriminating against people in jobs and in the schools. Gallagher fears that the passage of anti-discrimination laws will land her in a class to make people sensitive to sexual minorities, contrary to her religious beliefs. Most minorities, especially sexual and religious minorities, have to put up with indoctrination around the clock. We work against discrimination because we want to raise our children in a society that respects them for who they are, regardless of their genders or the genders of those whom they may eventually decide they love. Sincerely, Barbara Purdom Christopher Purdom Interfaith Working Group Coordinators -- Chris Purdom phone:610-993-1134 Development Team Leader email: purdom@rabbit.com Tangram Enterprise Solutions homepage: http://www.tesi.com/~cpurdom/ Bernard Harmon made the world better.