Reply #112: I agree

[Dookus]

that some of those things were good things to do, though I think you overstate some of them.

I never claimed he was evil. I never claimed he was a bad man.

But I DO think much of what you admire about him were symbolic actions, and as a gay man, I think his attacks on me outweigh them. As somebody concerned with poverty and women's rights, I think symbolic acts don't measure up to what needs to be done.

Claiming that his wishes weren't followed as regards American elections is silly. He had merely to say the word, and the bishops would stop their political activities against Kerry and other Democrats.

I, too, admire his forgiveness of his would-be assassin. I admire his outreach to other faiths. I admire his words against the war. But in the end, none of those acts made a single lick of difference in the lives of real people. His positions on gays, on women, on birth control, have made HUGE differences in the lives of many millions.