From: Interfaith Working Group Subject: IWG Inquirer letter Date: Tue, 28 Jan 1997 10:34:15 -0500 (EST) The following went out on IWG letterhead listing 3 congregations, 5 religious organizations and 37 clergy from 12 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. January 21, 1997 The Philadelphia Inquirer PO Box 8263 Phila., PA 19101 Dear Editors: We greatly appreciated Cathy Young's critique of right- wing charges that judges are legislating from the bench. In a diverse society not everyone sees themselves as a minority, but when religion, race, country of origin, political affiliation, marital status, age, language, sexual orientation, and physical and mental disability are taken into consideration, almost everyone at some point in their lives depends on Constitutional and judicial protection from the tyranny of the majority. Lately, conservative Christian organizations have been highly selective in leveling "legislating" charges against members of the judiciary, depending upon the minority group receiving protection. We were pleased that Young noted the increasing support for same-gender marriage, a trend which has been overlooked in mainstream media reports. However, we found her analysis of Roe v. Wade to be somewhat superficial. Balancing the rights of a person not yet legally recognized as such by the state against the legal rights of the person whose body they are completely dependent on has not been a simple question for either the religious or legal communities. Sometimes the Supreme Court must answer questions which were never remotely imagined by the framers of the Constitution. If every social and technological change had been anticipated by the Constitution's framers, the need for a Supreme Court would have been minimal. This year, for instance, the Court will be forced to decide whether freedom of religion, speech, and the press are applicable to the internet. Referring to these decisions as "legislating from the bench" or "making up rights from thin air" implies that individual rights do not extend beyond the technological and social framework of the late 1700s. Under such a system, given the speed at which things are changing, very few people would soon have any rights left at all. 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.