>> if you wanted to be sure not to have a reaction, maybe begin building a
>> tolerance to the cherry coke. start a week or so ahead of time, take a
>> teaspoon one day, 2 teaspoons the next, et cetera...

>If I seem fanatical about this, it's because
>I know that giving in or compromising one time makes it that much easier
>to do so each successive time. Being a hunter-gatherer in a world based
>on agriculture is hard enough without the added necessity of personal
>weakness. Why make a conscious choice to start down the slippery slope?
>
>It is only civilized culture, founded upon cultivation and consumption
>of forbidden fruit, which would lead us to adhere to a belief set that
>compromises human health for the sake of maintaining the integrity of
>other species (the crops) and, thereby, of the culture. This is the true
>disease of civilization.

Troy, I hestitate to say this because I don't want to be unkind or offend
you, but you have come across not only in the above post but in past ones
as well as someone who sounds like they would be insufferable to be around
due to your absolutism--unless you are much different in print than "in
real life," in which case I apologize in advance.

Lighten up. There is more to life than food. Karl wants to see if he can
swing taking part in a rare ritual, and you make it sound like a
once-in-a-blue-moon compromise is going to lead him and everyone else in
civilization down the primrose path to hell. Geezus. This is exactly the
kind of religious fanaticism we do not need, if people on Paleodiets are
not to repel people in the mainstream around them, particularly if we want
them to be open to listening to new points of view like Paleodiet. One
thing I have admired about this list is so far it is has been relatively
free from the fanaticism found on lists dedicated to other diets based on
some kind of fundamental principles.

There is such a thing as "winning the battle and losing the war" when it
comes to the influence one has on other people. Most people are never going
to be 100% compliant (I include myself in this, even as someone who fully
embraces the principles of Paleodiet), and it seems to me it would behoove
us to acknowledge that fact, and learn to work with it rather than smother
it with uncompromising absolutism. While for certain people I can
acknowledge you are right any backsliding can land them back in severe
trouble, for many others it's not problematic.

In dealing with other people I come in contact with where opinions are
expressed around areas of strongly held beliefs, I find the emotional level
of the communication has by far the greatest impact in convincing people or
even whether they will listen in the first place. I would find you a lot
more pleasant to read, and would pay more attention to what you say, if you
came across as less draconian and more flexible in your approach.

--Ward Nicholson <[log in to unmask]>