The Feb. 5 story regarding local reaction to the defrocking of the Rev. Steve Sabin contained some incorrect statements. Employment and civil rights laws, including the proposed Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), typically carry religious exemptions. Opponents of ENDA who wish to engender opposition among religious conservatives have spread the false notion that ENDA could be used to regulate the hiring of clergy. It was especially confusing to see supporters of ENDA repeating this idea.

There are many activists inside the Evangelical Lutheran Church and many other denominations who are working to change policies to allow for the ordination of sexual minorities, but those policies must be changed from within, not through government regulation, which would violate the free-exercise clause of the First Amendment.

Barbara Purdom

Christopher Purdom

Interfaith Working Group

Philadelphia, Penn.