From: Interfaith Working Group Subject: IWG CDA Letters Date: Thu, 3 Jul 1997 23:35:57 -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. July 3, 1997 Philadelphia Daily News PO Box 7788 Phila., PA 19101 Dear Editors: Your coverage of the Communications Decency Act decision was reasonable and balanced, but the front page hype and pictures concentrating on pornography were sensationalistic at the expense of being accurate. Contrary to William Devlin's opinion, this case had nothing to do with pornography and everything to do with the undefined phrase "indecency" which seems to cover anything anybody objects to. The day after the Supreme Court struck down the CDA, police in Oklahoma raided private homes and confiscated copies of the Academy Award winning German film The Tin Drum because it violates Oklahoma obscenity laws. With a national scope and much broader wording applied to every individual's email and web pages, what kind of chaos would have occurred under the Communications Decency Act? Sincerely, Barbara Purdom Christopher Purdom Interfaith Working Group Coordinators July 3, 1997 The Philadelphia Inquirer PO Box 8263 Phila., PA 19101 Dear Editors: Thank you for your thorough coverage of the Supreme Court ruling on the Communications Decency Act. We were particularly glad to see the profile of AIDS activist Kiyoshi Kuromiya, which reinforced the fact that regardless of what the CDA's supporters claimed, it was a ban on "indecency" (which seems to cover anything anybody objects to) and not just pornography. We found it highly ironic that the next day's Inquirer carried a story about police in Oklahoma raiding private homes to confiscate copies of the Academy Award-winning German film The Tin Drum because it violates Oklahoma obscenity laws. With a national scope and much broader wording applied to every individual's email and web pages, what kind of chaos would have occurred under the Communications Decency Act? 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.