From: Interfaith Working Group Subject: IWG Bergen County - Boy Scouts, Homosexuality, Morality Date: Tue, 10 Mar 1998 22:42:25 -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 8, 1998 Bergen Record 150 River Street Hackensack, NJ 07602 Dear Editors: James Ahearn's March 8 commentary about the Boy Scouts decision did have some merit. One would hope that private clubs, within reason, would be able to set their own standards for membership. We would also be alarmed if New Jersey declared that churches were public accommodations and subject to state regulation. But the Boy Scouts are a strange case. They are not a church, and have taken full advantage of that, getting support from, and working closely with, all levels of government throughout the country. Nor do they have specific theological requirements; a belief in God and a pledge to be "morally straight" are vague enough that they have managed to enjoy close relationships with religious institutions from many faiths and denominations. It is also not at all clear that "morally straight" precludes homosexuality. Many religious institutions believe that same-gender relationships are morally equivalent to mixed-gender relationships. Also, homosexuality is an orientation, not a behavior. Other than the slangy use of "straight" as a synonym for "heterosexual," we see no evidence that being gay implies that a scout is not "brave and reverent and straight and true." 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.