You’ve got me: I’m an XY.

As for “fighting badly”–there is something to be said for not sinking to the level of one’s opponent, but (as the Peacebang-Rieux, er, dialogue demonstrates) I’m on par with plenty of other commenters on the Net in being prone to fighting vitriol with vitriol. I have a hard time responding to lines like “Who are these people who still think that it’s special and unique to reject traditional images of the Deity?” with love and kindness.

I’m not sure that “the machinations of snarky Christians and our well-honed gallows humor” really does justice to some of the prominent shots that I’ve seen nonbelievers take from UUs. The very legitimacy and worth of UU nonbelievers as people is called into question by some of this stuff–and not infrequently it’s from high places in the UUA. The trend you see (and I do too) toward UU theism and Christianity being on the “sexy” rise wouldn’t trouble me if I didn’t get the idea that some of the (ever-more-) powers-that-be don’t plan to treat the “less-fashionable set” terribly kindly.

I’m not asking for your permission to be an atheist and humanist. I just want the ugly treatment to stop. I’m happy to apply the same criteria to folks on my side of the theological aisle, if that matters–I’d love it if the mud fight stopped in both directions.

Do you see any risk, any potential problem with UU believers treating their nonbelieving neighbors poorly? Is there any way we can object to such matters without being silly victimologists?

And gloating about the progress UU Christianity is making doesn’t sound very “Christian” to me.