Comments on Advance Indiana™: Croddy Responds: "I Have Love In My Heart For You Not Bigotry"

Mr. Croddy,Advance Indiana appreciates the dialogu...

2005-06-30T08:59:00.000-05:00

Mr. Croddy,

Advance Indiana appreciates the dialogue you have openned up with us on these important issues. Most politicians we criticize do not even bother to defend their views, such as city councilor Virginia Cain. I respect you for that.

On the other hand, I understand your opposition to same sex marriage, even if I don't agree with it, but you have made no effort to explain your opposition to Proposal 68. Also, you have not explained why you chose to use "lifestyle" and "extremist" in explaining your opposition to Proposal 68. Those comments are very offensive to the GLBT community, and Advance Indiana wanted you to understand that.

If Indianapolis is to be a world class city that is economically vibrant, it must be hospitable and welcoming to all people. I still don't understand how someone being from Illinois could be of any relevance. It is, whether you like it or not, nativist sentiment, much like that advanced by the KKK, which also used religion to defend its views.

I should explain my reference to Tupelo, Mississippi. It is home to the American Family Association, which has led a major assault on the GLBT on a number of fronts across the country, including Indiana. Their rhetoric has been very divisive and very bigoted towards the GLBT community.

Again, I very much appreciate your willingness to have a dialogue. I sincerely hope that in so doing we can all achieve a better understanding of each other's positions. Our goal is to change hearts and minds.

If Mr Croddy is a native Hoosier (as am I) and is ...

2005-06-30T08:48:00.000-05:00

If Mr Croddy is a native Hoosier (as am I) and is so in touch with what his fellow Hoosiers want, and Julia Carson isn't - then why does she keep getting re-elected by a substantial margin every election?
Perhaps Julia is more in tune with her voters than she is given credit.

Newsflash - not everyone in this congressional district is a native life long Hoosier. I know many, many people who have moved here from other cities, states and countries who now make this their home and have a right to be heard and have their opinions counted. Just because another state does something differently, doesn't make it wrong. In fact, given the current condition that Indiana is in, we could learn a lot from other states/countries. Funny how Gary's opinion is discounted because he grew up in Illinois, yet the state spends all this money trying to woo corporations to locate here from out of state and bring their professional, college educated employees with them. Guess what.....that would describe Gary.

I also know many REPUBLICANS who are progessive enough to want Indy to be a world class city and know that the GLBT community needs to be included in the HRO. I have to wonder if Mr Croddy is letting his religion speak for him and if he is only reaching out to those who are carbon copies of him and not the entire district he wishes to represent?

Advance Indiana and Friends in Indianapolis,To com...

2005-06-29T22:50:00.000-05:00

Advance Indiana and Friends in Indianapolis,

To compare me to the KKK is the most absurd thing I have ever read in my life. Anyone who reads this has to discount your rhetoric. I come from a religious minority community that was persecuted by the KKK in Indianapolis. That is a well documented fact in Marion County. When I was a boy I remember the KKK burning a cross at our high school in Center Township to intimidate us. As a boy my Mother told me many stories of the persecution that our community received over the generations.

Love for humanity is in my heart not the KKK or discrimination, Gary.

If you are a homosexual and read this, I love you for who you are, but that does not mean I am for same-sex marriage. And the fact I am against same-sex marriage does not mean I hate anyone. I have met many homosexuals who say same-sex marriage is not that important to them. They understand that they came from a mother and a father and without that we would not exist. Therefore they understand the importance of a family consisting of a mother and a father like they probably had growing up.

I assume “Advance Indiana” is Gary R. Welsh. Advance Indiana stated in its last report: “then he [me} should consider running for Congress in Tupelo, Mississippi.” Your report leads readers to believe that you have a real understanding of the history of the people here in Indianapolis. That you have the pulse of this city. My point is…I have a better understanding. Gary has lived here a small part of his life and comes here from Illinois. Again my point is, I don’t know how people think and live in Illinois but I do understand Little Flower, Brookside, Beech Grove and Speedway.

I understand that thousands of voting Democrats and 5 City-County Councilors agree with me. Those 5 represent a much greater percent of people in the Democrat Party that are divided on this issue than Republicans. It appears to me that large amounts of Democrats and most Republicans agree with me. So why am I extreme and compared to the KKK?

No sir, I will not be labeled as an etremist like the KKK. I detest organization like the KKK who have persecuted people like me and my family for generations in Marion County.

The fact is...I have only love in my heart for my fellow man/woman. I am no judge or jury on these matters.

Bob Croddy

Mr. Croddy stated facts. Advance Indiana merely f...

2005-06-29T20:25:00.000-05:00

Mr. Croddy stated facts. Advance Indiana merely fumes and calls names in response.
“…homosexuality is a normal, natural, and fixed sexual orientation.” WRONG! “If homosexuality were truly genetic, you would expect to find an absolute, one-to-one correlation of sexual orientation for identical twins. In other words, any time one twin was homosexual, the other sibling would be, too. Yet, that is definitely not the case—findings of 40% to 50% correlation don't match up to the 100% standard needed to "prove" genetic causation” (http://www.exodus-international.org/exodus_faqs.shtml).
May I ask; whose tone is sincere, and whose is sarcastic? I come to the opposite conclusion to the one of Advance Indiana.

The guy sounds like a total idiot. Extreme libera...

2005-06-29T16:35:00.000-05:00

The guy sounds like a total idiot. Extreme liberal special interest groups from San Francisco? Ms. Carson represents me, and I have never been to SF.

Also, who the hell cares if you are originally from Illinois? Are you not a tax paying Indiana citizen with a permanent address in Indiana? My God, with attitudes like that, no wonder nobody wants to move here. Its bad enough that people don't want those damn 'feriners here, but minus Chicago - Illinois is a carbon copy of Indiana.

Mr. Croddy will set us back even further than we are already headed, with his stupidity. Julia Carson still gets my vote.