From: Interfaith Working Group Subject: IWG Atascadero News letter Date: Fri, 28 Nov 1997 17:00:33 -0500 (EST) The following went out on IWG letterhead listing 12 congregations and religious organizations and 50 clergy from 15 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. November 27, 1997 Atascadero News PO Box 6068 Atascadero, CA 93423 Dear Editors: In his November 21 letter Richard Kinz complains about "presumptuously misusing" the Bible's teachings to support equality for sexual minorities against God's laws and public disapproval. He specifically cites I Corinthians 6:9 (a list of the types of people who will not go to heaven, including "homosexuals" according to many translators, although the word in Greek means soft or feminine and makes no reference to that person's sex life). Mr. Kinz is ignoring the reality that a) not all Americans are Christians; b) Christians use different translations of the Bible; and c) there is a wide variety of opinion among people of all faiths about what it means to do God's will. Fortunately, the first Amendment to the Constitution contains religious free exercise and anti-establishment clauses that allow each of us to decide for ourselves what it means to live a moral life, to act on our own beliefs within the limits of civil law, instead of being forced to conform to the beliefs and practices of our neighbors. 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.