Whatever, people were defending him when he called everyone idiots and for some reason when I said he needed to change his attitude towards his party/guildmates and to go gung-ho I got piled up on.
Clerics are also warriors, they brandish weapons and they wear armor. Unless you gimp this side of them deliberately it is very possible to carry on that role to the very end. How far you delve into these two distinct sides of them is up to you.
Some people can't heal and fight, it might be too much for them. That excitement to me is too much to pass up. Some people cringe at the idea and scream bloody murder when the party presses forward to the next encounter before being completely healed calling them zergers and every other name in the book. That isn't me.
If you haven't met a decent battle cleric, your loss...really. I met several fine battle clerics in my short time being here on all levels. To me that is what a cleric is.
Go ahead make a boring cleric... see how long it takes you to go to something else. As for me, I want that edge.