Yeah, you’re right. I think I may just try too hard to give other participants in the conversation the benefit of the doubt. (This may have something to do with the fact that I have occasionally been called a “troll” merely for having controversial opinions.)
The really sad part, though, is a couple posts down where MR explains to me that exactly this sort of trolling/being-a-jerk was “effective in convincing [them] in [their] own journey from belief to non-belief”–this is one of the few times I’ve seen anyone acknowledge the efficacy of internet-forum-style discussions in causing them to change their views, and it’s for precisely the wrong reasons, as far as I can tell. (No comment on the actual subject of those views, i.e., whether it’s better to believe in God or not.)