From: Interfaith Working Group Subject: IWG Houston - Different Belief Systems Date: Tue, 10 Mar 1998 22:47:26 -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 Houston Chronicle 801 Texas Ave. Houston, TX 77002 Dear Editors: Morgan Shumate's March 7 letter ignores the possibility that people with different moral opinions are not inconsistent in their logic; they are simply reaching their conclusions based on a different set of moral and ethical values. Religious and secular opinions about such issues as the death penalty, abortion, and same-gender marriage can be informed by many value systems. These systems can include, but are certainly not limited to, believing that: 1) all humans have a sacred worth; 2) we are endowed with certain inalienable rights; 3) rights are only earned; 4) people can be judged by other people; 5) God is the only ultimate judge; 6) procreation is paramount; 7) each person is entitled to control his/her own body; 8) gender roles are predetermined; 9) gender is not important; 10) the spirit of the law is most important; 11) the letter of the law is most important; 12) each individual may interpret scripture for him/herself and draw individual conclusions; and 13) only religious authorities may make legitimate interpretations of scripture. There are people who are well-schooled in both the Jewish and Christian traditions, people from other faiths, and people with no religious background at all; within all of these groups, you will find those who fall on both sides in debates on social issues such as those mentioned above. It is exactly the enormous variation in values and morals among Americans that leads some to believe that teaching "the mechanics of birth control in public schools without the teaching of moral values is a proper course of action." If we are going to teach moral systems in the public schools, it should be a comprehensive survey of all of them. Leave the teaching of any specific system--which the children are expected to follow--to the parents. 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.