In what universe is that an effective approach to witnessing? Regardless of what he was talking about (which I'll post on soon), did he really expect to convince anyone who didn't already agree with him of anything? Did he really think that because of his threats of hellfire another soul would find salvation? Maybe I'm off the mark here, but I see a plethora of problems with this approach. What this gentleman probably believed to be an desperate plea for his beloved brothers and sisters to act in righteousness was at best ineffective, at worst (and much more likely) painfully counterproductive.
First, I would like to point out that it is generally difficult to have a thoughtful exchange of ideas among a large group, unless that group essentially exists for that very purpose. In case it wasn't painfully clear, buses do not exist for that purpose. Most people on the bus would rather keep interaction to an absolute minimum. In fact, this applies to the majority of people in public areas. While plenty are perhaps open to having meaningful discussions, even they are generally offended if you approach them with that assumption in mind. Productive conversations, especially unanticipated ones, are best left to very small groups, such as perhaps the person sitting next to you. I have had plenty of meaningful conversations with the person sitting next to me, but never from a podium.
Second, framing a conversation with threats of hellfire is not likely to win you many supporters. Damnation doesn't scare people who don't believe in it, nor those who don't believe they've done anything wrong. What it will do is indicate that you are more interested in fearmongering than an open discussion of values and ethics, which will cause most people to assume there is no use in attempting to have a meaningful conversation with you. I do believe that there is room for discussion of judgment, but it should generally be left to discussions among Christians, not as a threat against those outside. I could go into a long discussion about "judge not lest ye be judged," but I'll save that for another time.
Third, if something does compel you to loudly proclaim judgment in public, don't claim peoples' negative reaction to your comments as justification. While doing the right thing in many circumstances will get you in trouble, it does not mean that anything which gets you in trouble is the right thing. Yes, the truth will upset people much of the time, but so will lies, personal attacks, ignorance and arrogance, and none of these things merit reward.
I wish to conclude by emphasizing that while faith is absolutely personal, it is certainly not private. It is something to be lived out and discussed, but like so many other things in life, how we choose to live it and discuss it is critically important. I was once on a panel discussing issues facing modern Christianity, and one matter brought to my attention was evangelizing and missions work. While I agreed with the rest of the panel that the Church has a very questionable history in these areas, filled with regrettable and indefensible actions, I made it clear that it is no less crucial now than ever. What Christianity needs is not to abandon all attempts at witnessing out of fear, but to learn new and wholesome ways to show what Christianity is really about. Simply because we can no longer waltz into the marketplace and begin proclaiming the word of the Lord, we should not abandon living as imitators of Christ, seeking to show love and compassion to the world. We need fewer curbside prophets, and more creative ones.
PS: while I don't want to distract people from this blog, I have one of my own which I've been working on for quite some time. While I will post here on occasion, more of my thoughts can be found at http://wannabeprophet.blogspot.com/
