I know. We had a close friend pass away from Leukemia and the whole time people tried to console her parents by telling her "It was for the best." I found that to be highly insensitive.

www.godlesssunday.com

You're right that sending back "counter-argument" material would escalate him.

However;

It may be worth it, if for no other reason that to do something for yourself, to write a letter reminding him that such doing such a thing is rude, opportunistic, cold, and heartless. Perhaps remind him of the less-than-subtle line between condolences and proselytizing. Then, should you feel it should be sent to him, send it after you and your family have had time to deal with the loss. Should he choose to be an even bigger prick, you'll be in a position to deal with it better.

A loved one's death is a time folks are leaning hard on their beliefs and philosophies so the grief doesn't tip them over. It's supportive to say things like "he's in a better place" if the family believes such things. But here there are lines one just should not cross. He's scum for crossing that line.

Run the shit through a paper shreder, put it in a box, and send it back with a note to go fuck himself.

I didn't have to ask. She said it was extremely rude. When she realized he did it that way she was pretty shocked. The guy claims to be in his 80s. Obviously he has too much time on his hands and needs a hobby. To me this is worse than the Mormons going around baptising dead people (how they do it I wonder?)

Had a similar experience at my mother's funeral. The whole thing - after her wishes and those of her immediate family - was entirely without religion at all, something that didn't suit one branch of the clan who turned up (uninvited) outside the crematorium chapel in which we held our little humanist ceremony. They had roped in a priest and, when the coffin was arriving, he stepped up to it and sprinkled "holy water" on it, then made a few "magic gestures" with his hands while his cronies broke into a loud "decade of the rosary".

All too much for my brother. With a loud shout he jumped between the priest and the casket and ordered him to "clean that mess of my mother's coffin - NOW!". The "decade" from the nutters behind came to a sudden and premature halt. The priest, whose faith in god at that moment was something he held with less certainty than he did his faith in the fact that my rather large and muscular brother was about to pulverise him, pulled out a handkerchief and got to work.

They had the nerve to come into the chapel anyway and we didn't stop them, but we each in our turn at giving an oration made reference to the cynical opportunistic and arrogant behaviour that we had all just witnessed and how the woman being buried had spent the best part of her life despising both the behaviour and those who practised it. It was too much for the priest (who was a total stranger to us). He upped and left when my brother observed that the Catholic Church had now seemingly stooped so low as to emulate dogs pissing in an effort to stake territorial claim on the "souls" of the departed.

He took his magic bottle with him.

Yeah, that's the Mormons. They managed to royally piss Jews off I remember by going through lists of holocaust victims to do this to them. Up until now I never heard of JW's doing anything like this but it wouldn't surprise me if they do - they are very intrusive. Thoug I don't know if this is a JW thing or just this particular asshat.