Should we ever foster delusion?

[shadow]

Origin of the question:
A few months ago a normal looking guy approached me on a busy subway platform. I thought he might want directions so I removed my headphones to hear to him.

Guy: Can you pray for me? Can you pray for me to get a job and get a driver's license and find a girlfriend?
shadow: It wouldn't do you any good.
Guy: Can you pray for me?
shadow: If you want those things, you have to work towards them. Praying wouldn't make any difference: there's no god watching over you, and if there were, he wouldn't really care what I wanted. The only actual way to actively attain your goals is to work for them.
Guy: Jesus loves me. Can you pray for me to get a job and a driver's license and a girlfriend?
I realize that this guy may be mentally ill. There wouldn't be much point in arguing with him.
shadow: No...

The guy eventually wandered off and bothered other people with the same question. The funny thing was, EVERY other person nodded and smiled to him. Some people said stuff like 'of course' in a fake cheery voice. Once we boarded the train, he pointed towards me and told a group of random people that I had refused to pray for him. Suddenly half the train car was glaring at me.
I know that statistically the majority of people in my area are nonreligious. So, I considered, why is everyone egging him on and supporting his delusions? I'd never considered the question before, but intuitively it would feel almost... evil to lie to someone like that just to avoid confrontation. I felt it would have been misleading and wrong to give a vulnerable person the impression that their situation was going to improve on its own through some nonexistent force.

The issue:
There are some people, and we all know them, who there is no point arguing with. Whether they are mentally incapable of understanding reason or not in a position to reconsider their beliefs, some deluded people seem to be unable of understanding rational argument. My question concerns whether we should ever give up on someone as 'too far gone' for rational thought, and whether it is ever moral to foster their delusion. Should we just let people live in a fantasy land, even when it impairs their ability to make decisions and improve their own condition? Taking this farther, is it wrong oppose the delusion in those who we deem to have no prospects? I'd be very curious to hear the viewpoint of other atheists on this topic.

[Silver]

I would have taken the same stance you did with that guy on the platform.

Many people fail to understand the underlying problem of fostering delusion in relation to religious faith, mainly because religion has become so commonplace as an institutional aspect of society that is considered a norm.

Many people still need to be educated in regard to understanding that religious faith should no more be fostered than adult adherence to childhood mythology.

[ignoramus]

They should be euthanized! lol

After watching a shitload more Dellahunty tubes last night, I understand the frustration....

[Astonished]

I'm of the mind that someone's delusions resulting from indoctrination can result in that sort of mental illness that wouldn't otherwise materialize if not for the massive cognitive dissonance they're juggling in their heads. I mean, if the guy was so firmly of the belief that god would provide everything he was asking for, and was continually disappointed by that throughout his teens and twenties, and had to keep coming up with ways to rationalize how a good god could just so callously ignore a devout believer, then of course he's going to drive himself fucking nuts.

But if they are 'too far gone' as you say, I have no idea. I mean, yeah, they can be institutionalized for the remainder of their sad, empty lives, so what's the harm if the delusion is maintained by their caregivers as long as they don't interact with the general populace in any way? But only if those caregivers don't genuinely believe and are doing it out of pity, otherwise it would probably tend to get a little too weird.

But the idea should be not to instill those delusions in the fucking first place. It's a goddamn human rights violation. Parents should get to name you, and that's it. The rest should be determined by the professionals; vaccinations, education, etc. Parents have proven time and again that they're incapable of doing things properly.

[bennyboy]

If it was a little cancer kid or something, I might do it just to make him feel better. Anyone else can get bent.

[emjay]

Sounds like the guy wanted and expected a pity party but you threw a spanner in the works. Guess you could've told him that his existing band of conforming glarers should be enough... if two or three gather in Jesus's name it should be a done deal according to the Bible. See if that has any affect on his delusions.

If it were me in your situation I wouldn't want to be complicit in either delusion... ie his behaviour may be driven by religious feeling and/or social gain/validation of some kind (such as the pity party) so I'd probably just say 'I'm an atheist, so no' or at the very least 'whatever, dude' if it was the only way to get away... either way imply that I don't believe what he believes and/or that I'm wise to what he's doing.

[Mister Agenda]

It's terrible theology. If the Christian God is real, he doesn't tabulate the number of prayers you get or how much sympathy you can arouse. If the person sincerely prays for God's help, that's enough, and if God doesn't come through, sometimes the answer is 'no'. In fact, going around asking for prayers is the last thing the person should be doing, as a believing Christian, they should be on their knees begging God for mercy, and then get to work in faith that God will come through for them, not soliciting telepathic shout-outs.

Nodding and acceding (or pretending to accede) to the guy's request isn't helping, it's polite apathy.

[brewer]

OP: you can acknowledge the delusion but never foster or indulge it. 

You might need to fake it if your well being is being threatened.

[Fireball]

It's kind of scary that those people would be glaring at you for such a chicken-shit reason. I guess it shows how easily people can be turned on others. I wouldn't have prayed, either. They should be glaring at him for trying to start trouble, IMO.

[Minimalist]

Wait.

Guy: Can you pray for me? Can you pray for me to get a job and get a driver's license and find a girlfriend?
shadow: It wouldn't do you any good.
Guy: Can you pray for me?
shadow: If you want those things, you have to work towards them. Praying wouldn't make any difference: there's no god watching over you, and if there were, he wouldn't really care what I wanted. The only actual way to actively attain your goals is to work for them.
Guy: Jesus loves me. Can you pray for me to get a job and a driver's license and a girlfriend?

You met Mike Pence on a subway platform?