From: Interfaith Working Group Subject: IWG Manchester letter Date: Fri, 18 Jul 1997 23:05:11 -0400 (EDT) The following went out on IWG letterhead listing 10 congregations and religious organizations and 43 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 17, 1997 Richard Lessner Manchester Union Leader Box 9555 Manchester, NH 03108 Dear Mr. Lessner: Your editorial about NOW and Promise Keepers was so riddled with problems that we hardly know where to begin. First, the oppression of the transgendered is a very real and serious problem in this society, caused by needless enforcement of strict gender roles and an inability to deal rationally with people who do not fit into those classifications. The point of Promise Keepers is to a) conquer the country for Christ, and b) make men "better, more responsible and loving husbands and fathers," (as you put it) through gender stereotyping. Many of us who believe in religious liberty, including some very conservative Christians, are understandably taken aback by an organization so bent on the imposition of a single religious ideology at the expense of local religious institutions. And those of us who favor a gender-neutral society do not believe that gender stereotyping is the best way to make men more responsible and loving. But above all, we object to your characterization of people who disagree with you as "the secular left." There are both religious and areligious people opposed to the Religious Right. What is the point of continuing this fiction that all religious people think alike? A quick perusal of any newspaper in the country shows that American religious institutions are in a state of turmoil over gender issues. If you really find it necessary to editorialize in favor of Promise Keepers and against NOW and People for the American Way that's your privilege, but keep your facts straight. 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.