A: I knew some of the church people who were victimized by the vandalism, and

B: they don’t have a problem with me wearing my “Hi, I’m your friendly neighborhood atheist” t-shirt while helping them.

Of course, it’s one thing to sit at my computer and speculate as to how I might behave in some hypothetical situation, and what I would actually do if faced with such a situation–together with all the nuances that are missing from the hypothetical.

And yes, I know: “atheism isn’t an ideology”. I don’t imply by the term “atheistic ideology” that atheism is an ideology–just that certain ideologies are based upon an atheistic premise.

Is it just me, or does anyone else think that photo looks doctored?

No, I see no reason to think so. Posed, yes, but not doctored. If you think the lighting looks a bit odd, it’s because the foreground is in shadow, and the photographer has used a fill-in flash.

I’ll go along with Glen in saying that the idea of a drive-through nativity scene is pretty bizarre, and one to remember when theists next accuse atheists of lacking taste. And I’ll go along with everyone in unreservedly condemning the vandalism.

I know many of you have expressed more eloquently than I how horrid this is, and I echo the hope that the vandals who did this wretched act are caught (and punished to the fullest extent).

One of the UPS drivers that I work with noticed Mary, Joseph, and Jesus plastic figurines sticking out of the melting snow this past spring. They were pitched out in a cornfield…he knew where they belonged, so he returned them. (Small town; he knows his customers!) I know it’s a case of vandalism and it’s valuable property to somebody but it was still a funny story at the time. And it had a happy ending. The case mentioned above sounded a lot more serious and mean-spirited.

As a former Christian, I know what it’s like to feel a certain reverence towards these displays. When I heard about this I was sad — not about the symbolism but because the people who put it together probably had their hearts broken when this happened.

It’s one thing to not believe in their religion or even go so far as to write a book explaining why we feel their religion makes no sense. But it’s another to drive an emotional stake into their hearts, something I refuse to do.

This is probably going to sound kind of strange to a lot of people, but one of my biggest concerns about me being so vocal against Christianity is that of hurting people’s feelings. I don’t want to do that. These are people, first and foremost, no matter how much I disagree with their ideas (and even at times question their intelligence). They’re people with feelings, and hurting those feelings doesn’t promote our cause in the least. And even if one doesn’t feel empathy towards the people, if nothing more, attacking them just emboldens them.

And “emboldened” is probably how these people felt a day or two later. I would almost bet, having been a Christian myself, that the next day these people are feeling stronger in their conviction that they’re fighting evil and that God is with them even more.