Most importantly, I write for Peninsula because I often agree with the moral sentiments of other Peninsula writers. However, I often disagree with their application of these moral sentiments to life, and this often leads to conflicts between me and other Peninsula writers.

There remains, however, the question of why I wrote for this particular issue and why, if I sometimes disagree with the publication, I continue to lend my name to it.

In answer, I can only say that I know that Peninsula will always be associated with orthodox or conservative Catholicism; that it will be thought of as the most strident Harvard voice in favor of conservative thought; and that I care about both these strains of thought and how they are perceived on this campus.

I almost didn't join Peninsula when it debuted in the spring of 1990. I never believed its writers were evil people (remember, I think it's difficult to say that someone is evil). But I thought that its writers were out to get one particular friend of mine, a gay member of the Catholic Students Association Steering Committee who graduated last year. Nothing could convince me to join a publication which was "out to get people."

Obviously, I have since decided that Peninsula has no such agenda. I joined to see what these campus conservatives had to say, and to help shape Peninsula's ideological topography. After spending much time speaking with Peninsula staffers, I know that their intentions are benevolent.

If Peninsula professed Catholic and conservative thought and lacked my voice, I would have a harder time convincing people that what some members of its staff write are not the only Catholic or conservative positions on moral or political issues.

Finally, I attempt to apply the same standard to Peninsula staff members and Peninsula itself that I attempt to apply to everyone. That is, I recognize their fallibility and make excuses for it. But because Peninsula seems to have stumbled upon some of the same truths I have, I feel compelled to attempt to influence its direction.

Some people have found the latest issue of Peninsula "tantamount to hate speech," as one acquaintance told me recently. Knowing those who wrote for it, however, I must protest this characterization. There may have been inaccuracies, some flawed logic and some lack of understanding of the problems that gays face. No one on Peninsula's staff was uniformly pleased with this issue either. But hate was no motivating force for its creation.

I must consider the flaws of Peninsula as I consider everyone else's flaws. When something is done out of malice, I shy away from it. When it is done out of concern, as this issue of Peninsula was, I must respect it. But until I think human beings capable of absolute perfection, I will never cease to give them the benefit of the doubt.

We all have faults, but that doesn't make us bad people. I think that homosexual sex is immoral, but I don't think that homosexual are evil. After all, I could be wrong.