You can accept a church's authority with regard to doctrine while acknowledging corruption in its ranks. Most devout Catholics wouldn't be surprised to learn in the afterlife that various popes didn't make it to heaven. Besides, there are two ways to deal with corruption in any group to which you belong: leave, or work to heal it from within. I have enough hope to do the latter.

I'm not sure if I am among those who should take responsibility for Kerry's loss. I talked some of how I and others saw a Kerry vote as a better choice for Catholic values -- Bush doesn't seem pro-life in the most literal sense, and he certainly doesn't favor the poor as much -- but I was only so vocal about politics at all this year. Mostly I talked about it to people of similar bent. (By contrast, I got into more than one debate with a stranger at the start of the war.)