From: Interfaith Working Group Subject: IWG Hackensack Record Letter Date: Thu, 22 May 1997 23:02:01 -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 20, 1997 The Record 150 River Street Hackensack, NJ 07602 Dear Editors: In his letter regarding "Ellen" and society's treatment of those who dare to come out of the closet, Chet Klope begins with the assumption that homosexuality is wrong, simply because it runs counter to what he views as humanity's biological design for heterosexuality. One could as easily state, and many people have, that human beings were not designed to fly and therefore have no business getting in airplanes. As a society, we praise individuals who had the nerve to step beyond the prevailing social wisdom of their cultures, such as the Wright Brothers, Gandhi and Martin Luther King. Ellen DeGeneres' small act of bravery may not put her in the same league with people who have faced death to fundamentally change society, but she and others who face social condemnation because they speak the truth deserve better than being told that they need to be "cured" by organizations seeking to force everyone to conform to a single, religiously-based, biological standard. 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.