Yep, it's your plane and you can do as you please, however I do brlieve you would be more comfortable with everything neutral when the handle is neutral.
There are two basic ways to fix the problem which is the pusrod is too long. Either snip an end and redo or just bend a double 90* in the pusrod and adjust from there. Using your pictures that may not take more than 1/8" to 3/16. So use caution. The bends won't hurt with a 1/2A. In 1/2A, bending a couple bends is standard method for me. In fact I have a 15 powered RC machine that I built from scratch that uses same on elevator and rudder. It scoots and no troubles.