Response to Richard Cohen's 4/5/05 Column

Entitled "Not all his Choices were Good", Mr. Cohen's column criticizes Pope John Paul II as "stubbornly conservative", for his "implacable opposition to birth control", and for his support of "abstinence, a wholly unrealistic piece of advice". He condemns the Pope for not abandoning his religious principles to use his charism to fight AIDS and prevention of pregnancy.

What Mr. Cohen does not understand is that the Pope was so popular because he called everyone to be far more than the low expectations modern culture places on us. His belief in the inherent dignity of every human being drove him to inspire all of us to be dignified and to shower others with respect for their own dignity. He urged us to love as Christ loved us with a sacrificial, boundless love. He placed sex within the context of that level of love. He taught that the sexual expression of love is freely given, faithful, fruitful, and forever within a sacrament of marriage. He elevated sex to insure the dignity of the couple, their mutually supported growth in holiness, and the betterment of their children and their society.

That is how he fought AIDS, sexual use and abuse, poverty, and injustice. That is how he helped the Third World. He gave us a choice. We can choose to become the people that our inherent dignity calls us to be or we can choose to wallow in the demeaning behavior those that say abstinence is a farce condemn us to.

He did not fire a shot nor urge anyone else to do so and yet he is credited with a large part in the collapse of communism. How? He appealed to the dignity of Poles and all Eastern Europeans and urged them to demand that their dignity be respected.

A condom or a contraceptive does nothing to raise the dignity of the human race. Ultimately, they will not be a solution. The Pope was incredibly consistent throughout his teachings. He gives us a choice. His recommended choice will not harm anyone. Those that make it will be changed in many ways that can only benefit our world. Condemning him is counter-productive. and short-sighted.

Read his books on love-Love and Responsibility and the Theology of the Body. Anyone of any faith or no faith will be touched by his insight. Then decide.