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Two churches balk at parts of violence forum This year's Alternatives to Violence Project came with some unexpected lessons in tolerance. Just one week before the event, Medford's Sacred Heart Catholic Church, which was to host keynote speaker Luis Rodriguez, pulled out because a Planned Parenthood theater troupe was included in one of the events. A second Catholic church, Central Point's Shepherd of the Valley, said the project couldn't use its parking lot as a bus shuttle location because one of the workshops dealt with homosexuality. The Rev. Liam Cary, of Sacred Heart, said he was fully supportive of the program until he learned last Friday of Planned Parenthood's involvement. "When people see our name and Planned Parenthood on a public brochure ... they wonder how serious we are on the subject of abortion," Cary explained. "It certainly doesn't reflect on the aims of the speaker or the (conference) topic. We simply can't be associated with something that Planned Parenthood is involved in." Cary said it didn't matter that abortion wasn't that evening's theme of the teen Cabaret Theater. The Rev. Jim Clifford, of Shepherd of the Valley, couldn't be reached for comment. While the churches' pullout left project organizers scrambling to find a location for their two main events and an alternative shuttle bus location, the organizers take full responsibility for the conflict, which they call an unfortunate misunderstanding. "It comes back to respecting everyone's viewpoints," said McLaughlin Middle School Dean Cathy Bergen. "There are things under our umbrella that do not align with the Catholic church. Nobody is angry." To minimize potential controversy, organizers pulled from their flyer a listing of a workshop on discrimination against sexual minority children, which includes gay teens. "You don't have to like it but you've got to respect where people are coming from," said organizer Risa Buck. "Last thing we wanted to do was offend someone who so generously offered their space to us." Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA