From: Interfaith Working Group Subject: IWG Colorado Springs Letter Date: Tue, 6 May 1997 23:16:07 -0400 (EDT) The following went out on IWG letterhead listing 10 congregations and religious organizations and 39 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. May 6, 1997 Colorado Springs Gazette-Telegraph PO Box 1779 Colorado Springs, CO 80901 Dear Editors: In his May 4 letter, Will Perkins says that the moral foundation of America is clearly Judeo-Christian, and then describes what he calls "Judeo-Christian beliefs." There is no religion called "Judeo-Christianity." There are many different denominations in the Jewish and Christian traditions, and while most of them do put some limits on sexual behavior, there is little common ground in the limits themselves or in their theological basis. For some Christians and Jews, gender and the appearance of propriety are very important factors in determining sexual morality; for some it is the possibility of procreation, and for others the most important factor is intent, and the mutuality and equality of the experience. Some denominations accept same-gender relationships; some do not accept marriages of divorced people; some do not consider sexual activity to be necessarily restricted to marriage; and others do not accept sexual activity that cannot potentially result in procreation. It is hardly "ironic," as Mr. Perkins suggests, for someone from a Jewish or Christian background to disagree with him regarding the morality of same-gender relationships, nor are laws written to reflect the moral view of one religious tradition, especially one that Mr. Perkins seems to have invented himself. 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.