I had the good fortune of once being the first atheist that one women had EVER spoken to (or at least who had admitted that to her face). The conversation started with a lot of back-and-forth that was very enlightening. By the end, things weren't so amicable, but the interim was fantastic.

I don't wish/intend to open up a can of worms, but feel it is worth relating the major point of departure in the conversation: We differed on the importance of what I guess you might call "purity of intent". That your inner thoughts/motivations for an action matter as much or more than the tangible effects of that action, even if those effects are completely indistinguishable, into perpetuity.