From: Interfaith Working Group Subject: IWG Inquirer Bishops/Haunted House Letter Date: Tue, 28 Oct 1997 22:42:44 -0500 (EST) The following went out on IWG letterhead listing 10 congregations and religious organizations and 49 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. October 25, 1997 The Philadelphia Inquirer PO Box 8263 Phila., PA 19101 Dear Editors: Your October 23 issue presented quite a contrast in the comments from Joe Patrick Bean on the pastoral message from the American Catholic Bishops on the one hand, and Gwen Florio's article about Abundant Life Christian Center's haunted house on the other. The bishops urged compassion and understanding for sexual minority teenagers; the haunted house, according to Florio, "begins mildly enough, with a funeral for a young man who has died of AIDS." A "devil character" pointing at a coffin and screaming about an "alternative lifestyle" is hardly a "mild" experience, especially for a closeted gay teenager. It is exactly this kind of nonsense that concerns the Catholic Bishops. 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.