From: Interfaith Working Group Subject: IWG Atlanta Journal letter Date: Wed, 25 Jun 1997 23:18:50 -0400 (EDT) The following went out on IWG letterhead listing 10 congregations and religious organizations and 41 clergy from 14 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. June 25, 1997 Ms. Martha Ezzard The Atlanta Journal 72 Marietta Street NW Atlanta, GA 30303 Dear Ms. Ezzard: In your June 24 column you suggested that there was room for constructive discussion between those opposed to same-gender marriage ceremonies and those opposed to discrimination against people who are attracted to others of the same gender, and that it is actually possible to hold both positions. Certainly it is within the legal rights of any individual or religious institution to hold discriminatory beliefs, including a belief that the commitment of mixed-gender is superior in some way to that of same-gender couples and thus more deserving of "the traditional institution of marriage" (whatever that is). And if those beliefs are religiously based, it is reasonable to act on them in a religious context. The United Methodist denomination is no more compelled to approve of same-gender marriages than any other religious institution is required to approve of interfaith marriages or marriages after a divorce. Other institutions, however, are compelled to operate from a broader and less discriminatory worldview. There is no question in our minds that a failure to give equal recognition to the relationships of same- gender couples is ultimately based on, and reiterating, a belief that those relationships, and by extension those involved in them, are inferior. As long as one institution, especially an institution as ingrained in the culture and law as marriage, is denied to any particular group, then society is both discriminating and encouraging discrimination. Far from being an exception case, marriage is case. Under the circumstances, until this question is finally settled, determining the ownership of the University chapel seems to be the only reasonable solution. 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.