I'm glad UncleDave posted the manifesto (and I was clear both that he claimed no authorship and included the email for the author).

I've enjoyed the playfulness of the names.

But at least for myself, I'm going to think more about how to put the spirit of the Unitarian Jihad to work in the place where it'll do me the most good: in my own life.

I am going to work harder at reading or listening to opinions I don't disagree with, trying to see the point the other person's making.

I'm going to try and train myself to see my own rising temper as a sign I need to slow down. If Ted Kennedy and Orrin Hatch can manage to collaborate on legislation, there's some middle ground available.

More difficult for me, I'll try to use genuine humor, rather than sarcasm, as a way of lowering the temperature of disagreement by a degree or two.

I read a review in this morning's Washington Post about Kingdom of Heaven, the new movie about Muslims retaking Jerusalem. The reviewer made a point about the dichotomy between "zealots and cosmopolitans."

At first I was sure I knew who he meant -- as in, which side was the zealots, and which the cosmopolitans.

But, no -- the point was that both sides had zealots, people sure that their beliefs were true not only for them but for everyone. And each side has cosmopolitans, meaning in this case people able to tolerate differences even as important as the right way to live.

One principle for me in this jihad, and one I offer in case it's helpful to you: it's not what you don't know that gets you in trouble; it's the things you know that aren't true.

Speramus meliora,
OtherDave
Bro. Lochaber Axe of Geniality