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I would immediately shoot them a question in return, "Why do you wish to know?"
Depending on their answer and demeanor, my response afterwards will vary:
- I don't feel like discussing it.
- It's a sensitive subject.
- No.
- I'm not religious.
- I don't believe in gods.
- No, I'm agnostic.
- In that case, it's none of your business.
Most likely, a simply "No" will suffice, and if they probe, "I don't care to discuss it any further." I'm not one to argue with strangers over metaphysical ideas, primarily due to the futility of it and some unfortunate situations in the past.
As a teenager around the age of 13, I was spending the day with my grandfather and we went to a nursing home to visit with one of his friends from the Korean War. While they were talking privately, this middle-aged man in a wheelchair rolled on up to me in the hallway and started rambling about his time in the Coast Guard, followed by rants on the poor care he received at this particular nursing home. He was being a real bastard, shouting rudely at one of the nurses to bring him some water.
Abruptly, he asked if I was a Christian. I told him that I'm an agnostic atheist. His face turned beet red and he started flinging obscenities, repeatedly telling me that I was going to hell, at which point I walked away, past a room full of seniors with their jaws dropped, out the front door, and back to the car.
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