Hi FG, Agree, ridicule not polite. In the spirit of politeness, might the phrase " one step in a different direction" be better than" one step further". Otherwise I have a feeling an argument may start about direction.
If I may go back to the start of the thread, "What is an atheist", it is not a god hater, not a child molester, not even someone who doesn't like cats, it is simply somebody who doesn't believe there is a god.