h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

It's me azahar. I thought it might be nice to try and clear the air between us outside of that other thread as you often seem to misunderstand me, and perhaps I also misunderstand you sometimes.

Firstly, I am not any sort of bigot. I have nothing against people who are Catholics. I used to be one myself, when I was a child. Later I chose another path. But my time spent with Catholicism gives me some experience to draw upon and to have an opinion based on my own personal experiences.

You have sometimes accused me of sounding 'superior'. Who me? I honestly don't think of myself as being in any way superior to anybody. Perhaps what you mistake for a 'superior' tone is just me trying to be as unemotional and calm as possible while posting. Maybe that makes me sound a bit distant and cold. But I've learned that on these highly emotional threads that it does not help me get my point across if I become too emotional.

Della told me on the god thread that I had accused you of being a 'hypocritical pill-using Catholic'. I did no such thing. Okay, I was mistaken in assuming you were Catholic. I was only asking, when I thought you had taken the pill, (and when I thought you were a Catholic) how this might affect your feelings about the Vatican's no-contraception stance. Most Catholics I know think the Vatican is quite wrong in this and they use various means of contraception without feeling hypocritical at all. And I think they are right for themselves to feel so.

I tend to ask very direct questions. They are not meant to sound like an attack, not at all. As I say, I am just trying to word things as unemotionally as possible. And so I hope in future when I ask you something you will take it as an honest question with nothing 'nasty' meant behind it.

I suppose that Hoo has got your back up so you might be feeling quite defensive on that thread. Hence you may feel that other people are also 'attacking' you. I am not doing this. I hope you will believe me.

You may have noticed that I have been challenging Hoo on some of the more totally stupid things he has posted recently, but he continues to ignore me.

Meanwhile there are some very fine people on that thread to debate with. So I hope you and I can continue to debate with less misunderstandings between us, okay?

az

Hello, azahar... You're absolutely right, Hoo has got my back up, and I am *very* defensive! That has caused me to be quite unfair to other people sometimes. He has a habit of getting over-emotional, testerical, if you like - and I often feel I want to react the same way. I am 'treating him with ignore' as my aged mother used to say, but it ain't easy!
Abortion is a very emotive subject, and I thought at first, I should avoid that thread, but I gave in, posted, and from my point of view, got attacked.
I am a Christian, but not of the Catholic persuasion - in fact I started out with a Scottish Presbyteriamother (they are by and large dedicated anti-Catholics, Scottish presbyterians.) In a way I am atoning for family bigotry, and that makes me over-sensitive. My brother is engaged to a Catholic, the first in the family...
Not for any reason, but just as things have worked out, I have never used the pill, but I have no objection to contraception in principle. The pill itself worries me for health reasons, I have another sister who is a pill user, and has high blood pressure, a possible recipe for disaster...
Yet another sister has had two abortions and has had difficult pregnancies since. Hence some of my agitation on the subject.