Please reply off-line next time. Thank you.

--- José-Carlos Martins Barbosa
<jcmbarbosa52@...> wrote:

> Dear Geoff:
>
> I donīt know if any part of this message will make
> sense to you. But
> I want to think that I am not writing totally in
> vain.
>
> I think I owe you an explanation.
>
> First I was wondering if I should handle this with
> you in public or
> privately. Then I chose to be public because I
> realized that some
> people on this forum know me from other fora. So
> there might be some
> interest or justification in my being public.
>
> Of course the two of us also know each other from
> the live-food
> forum. Maybe from elsewhere, too, but I donīt
> remember. Even though
> we didnīt have an intensive exchange there; even
> though we may have
> disagreed a lot more than agreed on various topics
> concerning
> rawfoodism, never was our exchange hostile and
> aggressive.
>
> I know very clearly the objectives of this very
> forum, namely to
> promote raw paleo diets and give support to such
> dieters, and not to
> attack them.
>
> You know that I am not a total raw-foodist. You know
> that I have
> certain reservations regarding total raw-foodism, in
> fact regarding
> not the diet itself, which I hold to be healthy, but
> rather regarding
> the social and personal consequences of being a raw
> foodist.
>
> Whatever the case is, I recognize that I am not
> fully entitled to be
> here. So what is up? Why have I come along again? Am
> I betraying
> myself? Something?
>
> I presume you must have been surprised to recently
> see my name here.
> I for one wouldnīt be too surprised to be told that
> a certain thought
> ran through your mind when you read my first post, a
> thought in terms
> more or less like these: "Oh that troublemaker
> again. What is he
> after this time?"
>
> Maybe you think of me as a persona non grata, but
> due to your
> education, you decided to tolerate my presence,
> provided that I
> didnīt overstep the boundaries.
>
> In my self-defence, I will say that whatever I said
> in the past
> concerning rawfoodism was not an attack; at least I
> didnīt intend my
> words to read as an attack. I like to think that I
> function rather
> like a Devilīs Advocate, because Iīm aware (I may be
> wrong) that no
> system whatsoever is perfect, but it can be painful
> for some
> followers to admit even the minor defects thereof.
>
> If nothing is perfect, it may be silly then to pass
> judgement.
> Judgment will probably not improve something. But
> thereīs a salutary
> side to passing and then listening to sound
> judgment: it makes us
> more human, because we are asked to see our
> limitations.
>
> Also, I think that whenever you expose yourself by
> whatever means,
> even on this specific forum, you must be prepared to
> cope with
> criticism. But I donīt mean offenses, which are very
>
> counterproductive. If you donīt want to hear
> negative things, youīd
> do better to stay inside your shell.
>
> I never entertained the agenda of debunking
> rawfoodism. I know there
> are very good grounds for it. You can talk of it as
> a miracle. It
> heals. I simply find it being in most cases used
> without a context,
> if you see what I mean, especially when you adopt it
> as unnegotiable
> lifestyle. Maybe it has to be unnegotiable, but
> precisely here you
> can see its weak point.
>
> But why am I back? And precisely why am I here?
>
> I came here by chance, during some Internet surfing.
> I didnīt know
> that you had created this forum. When I came in, I
> told myself: I
> wonīt post anything, I donīt have the right to, I
> will just be an
> observer. But then I was too weak to resist my own
> initial
> proposition, and suddenly I found myself posting
> again and not being
> able to stop it. See my defect?
>
> I thought I would do well to tell you all these
> things, so you can at
> least conclude (I hope so) that I am not completely
> crazy and that I
> donīt behave totally inconsistently.
>
> The fact is I enjoy being in groups discussing foods
> and diets (among
> other things) and I feel, in all modesty, that I,
> too, can bring some
> insight now and then to a group. Like everybody
> else.
>
> I also like polemics - the art of debating with
> politeness and
> measure.
>
> You donīt have to worry, Geoff. I wonīt try to cause
> any uproar on
> this list. I will be very parsimonious with my
> critiques, if any, of
> raw paleo, and there will be no attacks.
>
> And even more important, I will just stay for a
> while, not too long
> as to become a burden, not too short as not to
> appear superficial.
> And will leave without rambling. I promise. If I
> fail, you can pull
> me by the ears.
>
> Lastly, only a few hours ago I read your response to
> my last post on
> the live-food forum. I donīt know if you waited for
> a rejoinder. As I
> left the group, I was unable to give it to you.
> Maybe prolonging the
> discussion would mean prolonging the agony. But I am
> still open to
> it. So maybe someday, maybe not here, but elsewhere,
> we can resume
> it, if you wish.
>
> Please donīt think only evil of me. I am just maybe
> too talkative,
> but I know when it is high time I stopped.
>
> Not that I am telling you what to do, but if you
> find this letter to
> be too provocative and if you decide that, in the
> interest of the
> group, itīd be better for me to not post anymore,
> that itīs too risky
> for me to be here anyway, you can of course exert
> your authority.
>
> Like the Little Prince of Saint-Exupéry, give me a
> reasonable order
> and I will follow it.
>
> Best to you, Geoff.
>
> José Carlos
>
>
>
>


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