Date: Fri, 09 Jun 2000 00:48:33 -0400 From: Interfaith Working Group Subject: IWG Ogden Utah response to anti-gay letter June 7, 2000 Standard-Examiner Box 951 Ogden, UT 84402 Dear Editors: In his June 1 letter, Mark E. Baxter asserts, `If lies are repeated often enough, some will begin to accept them as truth.' There is a corollary to this assertion: if enough stereotypes, bad assumptions, misused words, and disproved statistics are used in a letter to the editor, nobody will have the patience to refute all of them. We can, however, address three fundamental problems with his letter: many of the items cited appear to be based on studies by Paul Cameron, whose work has been discredited by professional associations, since the methodologies used were guaranteed to produce skewed results; it is generally acknowledged that many sexual minorities do have some of the problems mentioned by Baxter, but these problems can easily be attributed to systemic social abuse; and it is not the duty of religious institutions to `control same-sex attractions,' but to work for love and justice, and to put an end to the kind of discrimination and underlying prejudice that Baxter's letter represents. Sincerely, Barbara Lamond Purdom Christopher Purdom Interfaith Working Group Coordinators The above letter was sent on IWG letterhead listing 19 congregations and religious organizations and 65 clergy from 16 religious traditions. You can show your support by wearing an Interfaith Working Group shirt: http://www.iwgonline.org/clothes/ -- Interfaith Working Group PO Box 11706 Philadelphia, PA 19101 http://www.iwgonline.org/ iwg@iwgonline.org voice: 215-235-3050 fax: 215-232-0829