I think it's the dumbest thing I've heard so far today.
The thief doesn't care.

Hopefully she will learn from this to secure her wallet/purse and keep a higher level of situational awareness. Especially if she intends to go into social work.

Stupid the thief doesn't give a shit

More information - I have it from a reliable source that the Thief was also a Christian.
He had been praying for weeks for $500, without success.
Then someone told him that wasn't the way God works.
So, he used the proper method - he stole $500, and now he is praying for forgiveness.

Thanks Emo Phillips

I am hoping that it isn't a "tactic." I hope she means every word she wrote. I am an atheist, and I believe all religions are fundamentally bad. But people are mostly good, in spite of their religions. If it is a "tactic" then she is just like the majority of the faithful: those who believe or profess to believe for their own selfish reasons. But then there are those who believe, genuinely, that their god wants them to be good, kind and forgiving, no matter what the cost. I hope she is the latter, and she probably is.

imagine an atheist who would write a note: "To someone who took my wallet. You probably needed this more than I. i wish you the best of luck, and hope you rise above whatever difficulties you now face." I would find that sentiment laudable.

Well, he's got the money in his hand and he's already forgiven .... Wooo Hooo!!!

Dear thief,
I understand you needed the money, so did I. I hope it served you well, i survived without it. I hope we don't meet in the future, for your sake.....
Signed
Me.

If this reflects her true self, then it is a nice, but I believe ,useless thing to do. Someone commented that this shows that she did not trust her god to protect her wallet, but I can see someone say that the god had her put it in there in order to get the god's message to the thief- pure horse shit.

So she planned ahead for when god would not protect her. She did not realize that she did not trust god at all. In fact she trusted that god would do nothung to help her. She was simply paying it forward!

Another example that christians live in fear. I dare say there are very few of you that would think it's very likely that your wallet would be stolen. Not because we have more faith in human nature but because we do practical things to safeguard our possessions and then we just don't worry about it.

Its a slap at the thief, they get to pretend they are forgiving and non-judgmental, yet hope that the letter will cause guilt and unhappiness first. And then if they get saved or something after they suffer some? Cool. Act grandiose but want to get vengeance. Superstitious types do a lot of that.

Stolen or lost? More times than often it's lost and if a good person finds it a message like that might be offensive. If it was stolen, no message helps, forget about the money and call your bank, credit cards, etc.

In my opinion it will/would have little to no effect/affect on anyone, theist or non-theist. A thief is a thief.

A nice guilt trip tactic, a good one at that.

Guilt tripping and emotional manipulation are real and many times effective.

Just ask any religious person haha..

It would be better to have a picture of an unmarked grave with "The last person that stole from me" written on the back.
Better still, look after your wallet more closely and leave trusting in God to the banknotes.

If it does no good, it can do no harm to have inserted such a note. Who knows, maybe it will make the thief think, and return it to her. Poor girl, rotten luck to have been such a victim.

It's a very Christian attitude. My problem with most Christians is their hypocrisy and judgmental nature. Your relative doesn't fit that mold. She definitely walks the walk, and while I don't share her beliefs, I certainly respect her for sincerely following the example of her bible's jesus.

My reaction to the stolen wallet would depend on who took it and why. However, my attitude about shit like that is, I'll go to work tomorrow and eventually get that money back. I may have to scrimp and sacrifice a little, but not much because I don't carry large sums of cash, but the thief will never recover his integrity.

Wishful thinking pure and simple.

Heck, if I thought it would make the thief feel even a twinge of discomfort, I'd keep that note in my wallet, too. I'd do it because I would want to inflict one last uncomfortable jab at the thief, though, and not out of any noble wish to save his/her non-existent soul.

Who cares!!!

Get over it!!!

You are not the center of anyone else’s world!!!

Just blow them off and walk away kindly, do not feed there moronic idiocies!!!

Why not? And why is it anybody's business?

An interesting survey on this. Note that the most honest countries are also quite secular.
[theconversation.com]

Could it be that subconsciously she wanted her wallet to be stolen and engineered the circumstances to have it stolen so she could save the soul of a thief for Jesus?

Why not. There is no.vindictiveness there. She has given the thief something very special.

It may help the thief in some way

It’s not a Christian/non-christian issue.

It is acceptance that the people we share the world with have different values