From: Interfaith Working Group Subject: IWG Boston Globe marriage letter Date: Sun, 12 Jul 1998 23:08:01 -0400 (EDT) July 9, 1998 The Boston Globe Box 2378 Boston, MA 02107 Dear Editors: The July 7 piece about marriage was a very confused piece of writing. There is more than one institution called "marriage" in this country--fifty different states and countless religious bodies give that name to some form of relationship between two or more people. Some religious bodies recognize marriages that are not accepted by most states, and all of the states recognize marriages that are not accepted by some religious bodies. A dictionary definition is simply not adequate for sorting out this completely bewildering mess. Some say that marriage "by definition" only applies when both people are of the same faith, and others say that marriage is reserved for those who belong to a particular faith. Until just over thirty years ago in some states, marriage was "by definition" only for two people classified as being the same race, and in certain states it was denied altogether to people of a particular race. Lots of folks have learned to accept that the government definition of marriage doesn't match their own. The government recognizes interfaith marriages and remarriages after divorce. It also refuses to recognize religious marriages between people of the same gender. The latter, however, is not just a question of semantics, but an issue of basic fairness. Unless the writer is going to argue that any marriage that anybody objects to should just be called a "union," he should stop harping on those that involve two people of the same gender. Sincerely, Barbara Purdom Christopher Purdom Interfaith Working Group Coordinators The above letter went out on IWG letterhead listing 15 congregations and organizations and 58 clergy from 15 religious traditions. 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. -- 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.