I mean, normally I don't care what people believe, as long as it doesn't harm me. If someone grabbed me however and encroached their religion upon me, I would unkindly tell them to fuck off.

Yup. Self defense. Also, loud refusal, demanding to be let go and some fluent cursing could be useful.

Faith healing is what put me into a deep depression for many years of my life. It took a very long time to trust God and people again. I thought I was healed and was not

The man was mentally ill. When someone has a mental illness you can't change their version of reality. All you can do is meet them in their reality. What I mean is instead of telling him he's wrong. Just tell him thank you but you're in a hurry or something. If he was not mentally ill I would start a conversation about it. But you can't fix his warped version of reality so there's no point in having a conversation.

I was at the mall with my girlfriend a while back and two guys cornered us as we were getting off an escalator and proceeded to pray for me for 20 minutes at the bottom of said escalator. Good times.

My general rule of thumb for “grabbers” is to say “i’m not interested, thanks” or “I don’t need help, sir/ma’am.” and sorta turn away. A lot of people are just misguided and will get the idea.

If they refuses to fuck off for some reason, then I’ll firmly (and if necessary, loudly) insist that they get their hands off of me. Usually that will get someone to stop, or at the very least attract outside attention. If all else fails I guess it would be self-defense time, though I’ve never had to use that. De-escalation and escape is almost always preferable.

I’ve insulted more than one wannabe faith healer getting into my face unasked for. Not sure that’s good advice.

I would recommend some self defense classes, I would probably have broken his arm, I am not one to be grabbed or otherwise touched while riding public transit of course am 6'1 and a fifth degree black belt

"No thank you. I also don't appreciate being grabbed."

If that doesn't work then escalate. It's always better to start out kind and polite if possible, but that guy obviously didn't start out kind and polite himself (he likely has mental problems as well).

>Seeing as I’m a non religious small female

Even the most hardcore "religious" man doesn't want to be grabbed by a stinky stranger... lol. Most normal religious people don't believe if "faith healing" either. That's not how most people think their god works.

So, this is something I have put a lot of thought into and had to deal with a lot back in the day. I went to a university in the deep south, and I was weekly approached on the streets by students who wanted to pray over me and heal me; no joke, I once had two separate students approach me during one 15-minute walk.

Before I get into my thoughts I just want to say that, for the most part, I am not talking about people who forcibly grab you. It is probably going to be best to just politely say no to such people and keep moving. Most of the faith healers who have approached me have been polite and have not touched me without asking. Also, what I’m about to suggest might not be an option for you, depending on your own religious background and what you’re comfortable with.

Now with all of that out of the way, here are my thoughts. For the longest time I responded with hostility and dismissiveness whenever people wanted to pray over me and “heal” my blindness. I do not believe in “faith healing” and I personally find the whole concept insulting and ableist. However, after one particularly nasty interaction I had with a well-meaning student, in which I know I hurt their feelings, I began to question my approach.

For one thing, I realized I was doing nothing to help explain to the faith healer how I felt about what they were trying to do. I don’t personally have an issue with someone praying for my general well-being, or for something other than blindness. For example, if I was working with a classmate on a group project and I complained about being overwhelmed with course work, I would not have a problem with that classmate saying they would say a prayer for me. When I stopped by the coffee house and chatted with the barista, complaining that I had a cold, I was fine if they said a quick prayer for my cold. Do I think these prayers do anything? I don’t know and that is beside the point. For me, the point is I personally have no moral objection to these kinds of prayers and in social situations I consider it a kind gesture when a Buddhist/Muslim/Christian/Hindu prays for me in an appropriate way; yes, I have received prayers from members of all of these faith groups, and for me it is pretty equivalent to when someone says they will be thinking about me. Of course, these kinds of exchanges normally happened with people I know, not total strangers on the street, but for me, it’s definitely the blindness healing aspect of the prayer that really bothers me. If a friend asked to pray about my blindness I would be hurt, but I would try to explain to them why.

So, I decided to try and make this delineation for faith healers I met on the street. I soon got my chance as I was rushing to a final exam that I was not feeling great about. A student came up behind me and started asking if he could say a prayer over me. I kept walking, annoyed for a moment, about the request and also that I was in a hurry, but then I remembered the new tact I wanted to try. So, without slowing down I began to ask him what specifically he wanted to pray about. He said he wanted to pray for me to be healed. I told him that I did not want him to pray about that, but I went on to explain that I was on my way to a test, that I was not feeling good about the test, and that if he wanted to pray about something that would help me I would appreciate his prayers for that. He started chuckling as he tried to keep up with me, at first taken aback, I think, but he said ok. So, when we got to a red light he said a quick prayer for me. When he was done I asked him what issue he had at the moment. He said something, I believe it was also school related, so I quickly said a prayer for him and his issue, and then I went on my way.

This experience was so much more positive then any I had previously had with faith healer types. I thought there was a small chance that the nuances of my issues and feelings about the topic may have come across better than when I had simply told people no. What is more, the interaction felt much more equitable then previous exchanges. When someone wants to “heal” you it implies that you’re the one with the issue and they are the one with the solution. As we were standing waiting for that red light we were both students, equals, worried about our course work, and we were both offering each other comfort.

I went on to use this approach for everyone who wanted to pray over me while I was at the university. I probably had the opportunity to do this at least six more times and every time the interaction went as well as the first one. Of course, this is just my own personal evolution on the topic. I don’t expect that everyone will be comfortable with this approach, especially praying for other people yourself. Maybe aspects of my experience will be helpful to others, maybe not. Whatever you decide to do I do firmly believe it is important for each of us to explore our reactions to things, and to consider when those reactions might not be appropriate. Above all, our default should always be politeness, weather or not our eye balls work.

So, I’ve never been grabbed but have had people who wanted to pray for me or rub oils all over my eyes. I can come from both perspectives here, but I am a Christian and do believe that if It’s really God’s will he can absolutely heal. I think that man may have had some good intentions there. I use to be skeptical but God has worked some interesting miracles and have worked in my own life. I believe in God deeply, and have a good relationship with the Lord. I do see how the grabbing could be interesting,. I just don’t believe it was intended for ill. Touching some part is some sort of healing practice I think. I use to be skeptical but yeah. I mean directly looking for signs for miracles for vision back just may not be the best ideas but the opposite could be interesting too. I would say politely decline if possible.