--- Elisabeth Carvalho wrote: > > Dear Mario, > I really do think you are suffering from a rare form > of PDD, known as PDD by Proxy. Not only do you feel > the need to defend your point of view ad infinitum > but you feel the obsessive need to either defend or > take umbrage at someone else's point of view or > emotional state of being, be it shame or > disappointment, and then label it as you would like > it to be. > Mario responds: > Elisabeth, Please pardon me for excercising my freedom of speech and defending my point of view in a public forum, in my apparently mistaken belief that that is what a public forum is all about, without someone putting a pseudo-psychological spin on my motives. Who is to say that any PPD I may have is any worse than the PMS that others may have?:-)) I don't know about "ad infinitum" either, since I am a relatively new member of Goanet. > I have never understood expressions of general discomfort with how, when and why I express opinions rather than specific rebuttals of specific opinions. > I can debate specific differences of opinion, or agree to disagree. I am pretty immune to generalized insults, sarcasm and ridicule. Like water on a duck's back. I learn nothing from those. > Regarding how I label any tendency I observe, others are just as free to agree or disagree. For example, you may have noticed recent references labeling my "rightist diatribes" without a single specific example from my rather detailed and frequent diatribes. Another label I am not responsible for is "Talibanisation" which I consider rank hyperbole designed to gain an unfair debating advantage and out of all proportion with the problem. > I must confess that I have remarked on the relatively new tendency of some to be "ashamed" at the drop of a hat, of things they have no involvement in. Can't an issue be addressed and discussed without such emotional histrionics that may seek to subtly influence the debate and put anyone who disagrees on the defensive? > Elisabeth writes: > > To put hyperbole in context, according to you and > Gilbert, the Association of Goan Atheists and > Agnostics, are frequently seen running the streets > naked, burning kastis and culminating in an orgy to > rival Dionysus. It's another matter that none of us > have ever be fortunate enough to witness such an > event. > Mario observes: > You must not attend many of the meetings of the Association of Goan Atheists and Agnostics. I'm told their nakedness cannot be shown in public though :-)) > The only opinion I remember advancing on atheists, in response to a barrage of overt attacks on religion by Kevin and Marlon, and covert attacks by you and Cornel, can be summed up in the differential societal checks and balances that exist or not exist, while agreeing that on the margin individuals from both camps can have rock solid moral codes. > However, if you are looking for a more specific statement of moral equivalence, we may have to agree to disagree. > Elisabeth writes: > > In anycase, I shall take your point under advisement > and write to the PTA, to stop robbing our young > girls of their self-worth and reinstate a Britney > Spears version of the good ole school uniform. > Mario observes: > I'm not sure if they have formal PTA's in Goa. If they do, I'm not sure if it is these PTAs that were responsible for the decision on female school uniforms. > I clearly recall characterising the decision as "misguided", "stupid" or "prudish". You are so concerned about my suggestion that it may be counterproductive to be ashamed and terrified you seem to have missed what I said. > However, if you are willing to go to Goa and lead a morcha against the policy, I will gladly endorse your position with a barrage of e-mails :-)) >
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