Poor sods didn't know what hit them.
They did all the right things; engaged with my pop culture shirt, very kindly demeanours, asked non-probing questions about beliefs, very gentle and good natured - they even changed their wording to adjust to my stated beliefs, which was a good gesture!
But, dear reader, this was sport for me. Like hunting prey. 3 against 1, they did not send enough men. I could make a Rabbi blush for how thoroughly I defended my position.
They asked me if I was in some manner a man of faith, how I felt about it, etc. I hit them with the 'I know enough to know I don't know, and proof is my biggest concern. I don't claim it doesn't exist, but I'm about the here and now.' And, as trained, they dug into it, coming back to 'proof' a few times. I also repeatedly hammered home how the underpinning lessons are more important than any of the metaphysical elements, which is why 'every missionary I'd met was at least half decent'. I set their bar for them, and early, too.
They asked about whether or not I trust myself to have faith, and I countered with talking about ego-death via psychedelics and the fallible nature of man including the self. They asked if I thought a 14 year old boy writing a 523-page scripture 'believed to be inspired by god' was a type of proof, and I stated that if others can't repeat it, it's not provable, and thus not proof, and that I don't know the inner workings of another's mind, so how can I know it to be true - that is, after all, the nature of faith. And, further, I was also writing 500-page works at age 14, and there's no way to prove they weren't inspired by god, either!
When asked what would be proof, I went back to repeatable, testable claims, but an alternative that also stumped them after a laugh - I'd also take an experience that happens to everyone all at once, regardless of faith - a rapture, for example. It was about here that I saw one of them start to feel a little uncomfortable internally.
I even hit them with a real ballsy classic: "If at the end of it all, I'm standing at the pearly gates, and the thing that prevents me from crossing that line is that I didn't 'believe', I'll take that loss, as a man of my convictions. But I don't think any of us here believe that'll be the case. If I'm a good person, if I treat my fellows with dignity and respect, and help where I can, if I lift others up, and live all the lessons without ever cleaving to them, I think points upward might think that's good enough, y'know?"
"Plus, I'm Greek Orthodox baptised, anyway. I've got a front-row ticket, regardless."
In between all of this, I was dropping some absolute knee-slappers to disarm them with genuine laughter, and I was very clearly unsettling them with the grounded nature of my stated worldviews. In talking about how the Living Prophet can 're-interpret' works (fallible man, et al), and that many archaic things change, though some things are obviously 'core' to the faith, I hit them with the banger, "Yeah, obviously, some things are carved in stone."
I knew I'd won when they paused, looked at each other, exhaled, and their head man asked "Anything to add, lads?" "Nup." "No, that's... That's pretty much it." And they left of their own accord. I'm pretty sure I broke one of them. I wanted three, but I'll take one.
I was just getting warmed up, too. >:3