Subject: IWG Indianapolis Letter
Date: Sat, 26 Oct 1996 14:36:21 -0400 (EDT)

The following went out on IWG letterhead listing 2 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/.

October 25, 1996

Letters to the Editor
Indianapolis Star
PO Box 145
Indianapolis, IN 46206-0145

Dear Editor:

	Lori Bergman's analysis of the perception of sin
would have made more sense if it were in a publication
aimed at members of a single religious tradition.  In a
metropolitan newspaper it requires major clarification.
	Ms. Bergman has failed to recognize that there are
a large number of religious groups in the United
States, with different perceptions of and emphases on
what is morally important.  She broadly categorized a
number of cultural changes as some sort of conspiracy
to undermine public morality through redefinition of
"sin."   She does not recognize that there is now a
growing effort to correct the corporate sins which we
as a society have committed against sexual minorities. 
The fact is that the only constant there has been in
relation to morality over the last few thousand years
is that there is no one set of completely authoritative
moral absolutes.  
	There have been major disagreements over such
"absolutes" as slavery, war, interracial marriage,
divorce, remarriage, abortion, the role of women, out-
of-wedlock births, what it means to keep the Sabbath
holy, representational art, contraception, dietary
restrictions, and which day of the week the Sabbath
falls on.  If we had all agreed all this time on a set
of moral absolutes, we would not have started the
United States with such a diverse group as Jews,
Catholics, Quakers, Shakers, Methodists, Puritans,
Baptists, Anabaptists, Unitarians, Presbyterians and
Episcopalians.  The framers of the Constitution
recognized this and made possible separation of church
and state, allowing the eventual inclusion in the
religious pantheon of our country of Buddhists,
Moslems, Mormons, Pagans, Bahais, and other groups,
Christian and otherwise, that have found a home in the
Land of the Free.


					Sincerely,
		Barbara Purdom            	Christopher Purdom
			Interfaith Working Group Coordinators