Subject: IWG Providence Boy Scouts Letter
From: Interfaith Working Group <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 26 Apr 1998 00:05:43 -0400 (EDT)

The following went out on IWG letterhead listing 12 congregations and
organizations and 56 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.

April 24, 1998

The Providence Journal-Bulletin
75 Fountain Street
Providence, RI 02902

Dear Editors:

In his April 20 letter, Stewart G. Hall assumes that
one cannot be gay and repeat the Boy Scout oath.  The
oath does not say, "I am only attracted to women," it
says that the individual will do his best to be morally
straight.  Given the lack of detail in the oath, and
the Scouts' apparent willingness to work with people
from a variety of theistic religious traditions, it
would seem that the definition of "morally straight"
should be a matter between the Scout, his religious
institution, and his God, and there are certainly many
religious institutions that do not see an inherent
conflict between morality and non-heterosexual
orientations.  The fact that the scouting oath is
written so an 11-year-old can understand it does not
mean every 11-year-old from every religious tradition
is going to understand it the same way.

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.