Since its inception in 1997, the Tulsa Interfaith Alliance has stood strong on many controversial issues of religious freedom, human rights, peace and justice. Increasingly, the TIA has become the mainstream voice in our community for people of faith that often counters the shrill rhetoric of the political-religious right on many issues. Among the most difficult have been the debates over evolution/creationism, racial profiling by the Tulsa police department, religious tolerance in public education, discrimination/harassment against the Muslim community (especially after 9/11), and human/equal rights for gay persons. As set out in the TIA mission statement, on these issues, we have always come down on the side of "compassion, civility and mutual respect for human dignity in our increasingly diverse society."

The Tulsa Interfaith Alliance is an organization of individuals of many faiths. In some areas, those faiths may take divergent paths on important issues. One of the most difficult of those issues is in the area of human reproduction. It is a complex area that encompasses differing religious, medical, legal, social, ethical, political, and scientific interpretations.

But the most important aspect of this issue is that of human rights. Reproductive rights are the most basic of human rights. If a woman has no control of the most fundamental biological function she has, how can she control anything else in her life - her economic situation, her education, her social condition, her health, her very survival?

The essential human rights question is this: Should the control of an individual's reproductive function belong to that individual? Or is that control to be given to the State? Do women have the right to be moral agents in making these difficult decisions, or will the State usurp that right? If women are deemed not to have the ability to make moral decisions, are they, in fact, being relegated to a second-class status, not only as citizens but also as human beings? To deny the moral agency of women is to deny the humanity of 50% of the population and, thusly, to deny the most basic of human rights - the right to respect, dignity, and bodily integrity.

It is acknowledged that people of faith may profoundly disagree on this important issue. However, in keeping with the Tulsa Interfaith Alliance's purpose of "promoting compassion, civility and mutual respect for human dignity in our increasingly diverse society," we support the right to reproductive options for women that include motherhood, as well as sexual abstinence, birth control, and abortion. We encourage the continued use of education, not legislation, to urge personal responsibility in this area.

The Tulsa Interfaith Alliance affirms the human right of all women to make this, the most personal of all decisions, in keeping with their faith and conscience, without interference by government or subjection to coercion by religious or political influences.

Just graduated from Harvard Divinity School, and having been a journalist in the Middle East, Stephanie Saldana will speak on Muslim-Christian dialogue Sunday, July 25^th. She will speak at 9:30 a.m. and worship at 10:30 at Fellowship Congregational Church (2900 S. Harvard); 4 p.m. at St. John's Episcopal Church (4200 S. Atlanta) and 7 p.m. at the Islamic Society of Tulsa (4620 S. Irvington). The public is cordially invited to these events.

Stephanie leaves for Damascus, Syria in September, where she will be a Fulbright scholar, researching "the Muslim Jesus," focusing on how the figure of Jesus has been and may continue to provide a springboard for interfaith dialogue.

"Stately, high profile occasions of public prayer may make for a great photo opportunity, but the effectiveness of prayer is not measured by how many people see and hear it. The sacred experience of prayer can only be measured by the faithfulness and generosity of God alone who sees and hears it."

Andrew Daugherty, Assistant to the

General Counsel, Report from the

Capital, Newsletter of the Baptist Joint

Committee, May 2004, Vol. 59 No. 5

The Interfaith Alliance is a non-partisan, grassroots organization dedicated to promoting the positive, healing role of faith in civic life and challenging intolerance and extremism.

Contributing Editor: Russell L. Bennett Typing and Layout: Janet Storts