Date: Mon, 04 Dec 1995 00:57:04 -0500 (EST) From: Chris Purdom Subject: hoekstra II IWG letter The following went out on IWG letterhead (2 congregations, 4 religious organizations and 16 clergy - if you represent a congregation or religious organization or are clergy, let us know if you want to be added): December 1, 1995 The Honorable Peter Hoekstra U.S. House of Represenatives Fax: 202-226-0779 Dear Representative Hoekstra: We find it incomprehensible that you have again scheduled the "Parental Values in Education" hearings, stacking them with witnesses who believe that knowledge is our greatest enemy. Your spokesperson has insisted that these hearings are not about AIDS or homosexuality. That is true; they are about denying our children the basic knowledge they require to survive, knowledge that their parents are unwilling or unable to give them because the parents themselves never had access to comprehensive sex education when they were in school. How long must we continue this cycle of ignorance? How many high-risk children will we let die in order to preserve the comfort level of adults who have failed to come to grips with modern science? You do not have to directly attack queer children to kill them; you merely have to deny all children Sincerely, Barbara Purdom Christopher Purdom Interfaith Working Group Coordinators