Subject: IWG Sun Sentinel Reclaiming America Church/State
From: Interfaith Working Group <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 4 Mar 1998 23:19:16 -0500 (EST)

The following went out on IWG letterhead listing 12 congregations and
organizations and 53 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.

March 3, 1998

South Florida Sun-Sentinel
200 E. Las Olas Blvd.
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301 

Dear Editors:

Thank you for your coverage of the Reclaiming America
for Christ Conference.   Coral Ridge Ministries is run
by D. James Kennedy, a pastor with the Presbyterian
Church in America who is generally identified as a
Christian Reconstructionist, and who is identified by
the Institute for First Amendment Studies as a member
of the Council for National Policy.  

Christian Reconstructionism is a theological movement
in conservative Reformed and Presbyterian denominations
which essentially holds that America should be governed
by various Protestant interpretations of Old Testament
law.  This belief system underlies many of the ideas
mentioned in the article, starting with the idea that
America was intended to be a Christian nation, is
somehow less of a Christian nation than it used to be,
and therefore needs to be "reclaimed" before Christ
returns.   These beliefs informs the notion that
churches which do not believe and act as they do are
apathetic, rather than sincerely disagreeing over the
role of church in society.  And finally, this
contributes to the continually-repeated false dichotomy
between Christians and those who support gay rights,
reproductive freedom, and the separation of church and
state.  

It is good that Coral Ridge encourages individual
involvement in the current political process, but the
system only works if everyone's ideas are represented.
Those who prefer our Constitutional protections to
church courts and death by stoning would do well to
take the conference participants seriously and follow
their example of active participation.

Sincerely,
Barbara Purdom     Christopher Purdom
Interfaith Working Group Coordinators

-- 

Interfaith Working Group                Religious organizations, congregations
[email-masked]                      and clergy supporting gay rights,
http://www.libertynet.org/~iwg/         reproductive freedom, and the 
215-235-3050                            separation of church and state.