>You were home free, then decided to >prolong the conversation to talk about how he was doing a >subpar job of a thing you didn't want to put up with to begin >with.
First, it happens a lot out here and I keep it short and sweet when I decline.
The atheist thing doesnt even come up unless they press in.
That doesn't mean that I don't see some practical value in religion. In this case, it's a recovery ministry. I thought it was worthwhile to show him how his MO looks.
And your characterization of this as me telling him he's doing a subpar job wasn't at all my tact. We can mince words and say it's essentially the same thing, but there's an insistence and casti bug as negative a light as possible at every turn.
>So now that he's heard your words, what next? > >Does he get more aggressive with his pitches? Lead off the >next person with a heartfelt anecdote about how he got saved >instead of just asking for money? Do you think you made him a >better person by prolonging it?
I think he may actually witness to people instead of just asking for money. If you're asking me to imagine what form that takes, I'm not interested in speculating on that.
I'd like to think I planted a seed that allows him to put some stock in himself though. But who knows. It's not as though I planned this interaction and had some overarching goal.
>I just can't fathom being hit up for money by randos on the >street (which is always annoying particularly when they do the >"I'm a pastor just trying to . . ." angle) and then going "no, >I'll teach him a thing or two, about my personal religious >beliefs."
No, this had nothing to dk with teaching him about my *lack of* religious belief.
Again, you're naking an effort to characterize this in a very different way.
If it's not the choice you'd make, so be it. Is the barometer for whether or not an in action is worthwhile, whether or not it's an action you would take?