From: Interfaith Working Group Subject: IWG Asbury Park Press letter Date: Fri, 14 Mar 1997 23:27:34 -0500 (EST) The following went out on IWG letterhead listing 3 congregations, 6 religious organizations and 38 clergy from 13 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. March 13, 1997 The Asbury Park Press Press Plaza Asbury Park, NJ 07712 Dear Editors: Bob Kellow has missed the point that there are many different religious definitions of "family." Some religious bodies do not recognize families in which one or more partners have remarried, others do not recognize families in which the married couple are of different faiths, and some do not recognize families in which the children were conceived in any manner other than by the legal parents without the aid of technology. Some religions hold that the definition of family is entirely dependent on the genders of those involved, to some the gender issue is a tradition without strong theological basis, and in others there is no gender component to the definition at all. A religiously free country that accepts people of all faiths must look beyond a single religious definition in order to determine the best legal definition of family. Sincerely, Barbara Purdom Christopher Purdom Interfaith Working Group Coordinators -- Interfaith Working Group Religious organizations, congregations iwg@libertynet.org and clergy supporting gay rights, http://www.libertynet.org/~iwg/ reproductive freedom, and the 215-235-3050 separation of church and state.