I read your homily "Usurpers of the Vineyard" with interest as I had also been disappointed by PBS' presentation on the Pope. Although it was cool to see so much of the Pope's early life--I left work early to see as much of the show as possible--, I thought there was way too much screen time given to dissenters and complainers such as Hans Kung, Marian Wagner, and the woman bawling about how she wanted to become a priest. That woman's complaint reminds me of a question a Muslim friend asked me, "Why do American women want to be like men?". In other words, he noticed how many women want to be able to do anything a man can do. Of course, much of this may be due to centuries of falsely limiting beliefs about womens' abilities (such as the Victorian notion that women were such 'delicate creatures', etc.) Still, why look upon the Pope as some kind of tyrannical patriarch trying to return society to the dark ages? As far as I know, he doesn't say women shouldn't be doctors, lawyers, indian chiefs, or other non-clerical traditionally male occupations. Apparently the feminists can't abide any male authority whatsoever. Anyway, I was impressed by your dissection of the PBS show. It was quite a pleasant surprise to see it on your website after I'd seen the show.

Dan Desai

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