Can you define the difference between 'attacking' a religion and 'questioning' a religion?

Question

I don't want to do the former. I think we all need to do the latter. What's the dividing line?

Answer 1

Ok I will give you two examples. I will use my religion as it seems to get the most attacking.

Why are Muslim women not smart enough to know they are being brainwashed into believing they have to wear the head scarf?

That question is attaching Islam. I have seen it many times just worded different. For one they are calling Muslim women stupid and brain washed. And to they are mocking a major part of the religion. Instead they could of been polite and asked it like this.

Why do Muslim women wear the head scarf? Are they made to by men? What in the religion says they have to?

To me that is asking in a respectful way. I can understand why they may think these things as the media is full of the "TRUTH" about Islam(yeah I am being sarcastic) But if they want to know then they will ask and and not attack.

And no matter what you say to these people they don't want the truth, they already have what they believe as the truth and their only point is not to ask but to tell, they are just doing it in a form of a question. And if you notice they will only choose as best answer the one that agrees with their hatred.

But thats ok they are the ones that go to bed with hate in their hearts not me. I don't even bother with these kinds of questions, no matter what religion is being attacked.

Answer 2

When someone asks a question because they sincerely want to know the truth, that is questioning. You can usually tell by the tone of a person's words if they are sincere. If the person has a history of asking several questions that tend to make the religion look bad, then they are most likely not sincere and are therefore attacking; their motivation is only to irritate others. Also, as I have seen many times, a person will ask a question, only to select the answer that agrees with what he or she already believes about the religion.

The dividing line is whether the asker really wants to learn more, or if they only want to pick on other religions. If the asker wants to learn more, then they will probably choose the best answer from a person who represents the religion they are asking about, rather than one who obviously is against the religion.

Answer 3

Attacking a religion is when you make accusations in anger. Example: "Christianity is a bunch of crap! The REAL religion is..." or "There is no religion." That kind of attitude can make people angry. So you don't want to attack a religion as a whole or any of the deniminations in it.

Questioning a religion is when you want to know about its merits or you have doubts about it because you don't necessarily believe everything they say you are supposed to. Example: "Why do Catholics have to confess their sins to a priest? Why not go to God directly?"You can be a member of the religion or denomination you are questioning or not.

Questioning is good. It means you are searching, thinking and weighing everything - good and bad without passing judgment.

Religion is such a touchy sucject with many people anyway. That's why it's considered one of those taboo subjects. Thankfully, there are a diverse number of opinions in this forum. So everyone learns from one another.

Answer 4

i think the dividing line is questioning with an open mind ... i never attack another religion even if it is one i don't agree with because i have learned that there is always something i can learn about me from each and every religion ... as each have great teachings even if the teachings are man made ( which seems to be the issue with many targeted religions )
asking something for reasons of understanding better .. or asking something out of general curiosity is OK ..
asking something to degrade or insult that religion or the person behind is the religion isn't necessary

Answer 5

attacking a religion: you have a specific ground that explicitly condemns the faith expressed by religion as either false, idiotic, inhumane, misleading or whatsoever negative. Usually, an attack is unbacked by evidence, very personal, opinionated and presented with some form of hatred. Its only objective is to bring down the religion as whole, or to cause loss of belief in its believers.

Questioning a religion: you have an aspect of the belief propagated by the religion that you are not very sure or clear about. You want further explanation, or clearance from its believers. You are objective, but your aim is not to bring the religion down, but to achieve enlightenment for yourself. You do not cause insult, condemnation or offense. You usually present your question in a respectable, well organized, calm manner. And your thesis for your question is backed by your own formal reasoning, and evidenced if necessarily so. You do not aim to hurt feelings or faith, you just want answers to your questions about the religion.


In my opinion, we should not do both. A religion is an establshed organization of people who believe the same faith, irregardless of whether the faith is beneficial or detrimental to society and its people as a whole. What we should question, however, is the politics that revolve around religion.

Answer 6

Almost any time someone speaks against a religion, a follower of that religion is going to view it as an attack, no matter how honest or civil the question may be.

Answer 7

Opinion is the dividing line.

Any time you attack you are already negative toward the subject. You are not trying to be open minded just negative.

If you are questioning the you are asking questions to know more. You are still neutral and depending on the answers you get from your questions you may not be negative toward the subject.

Answer 8

When you are attacking a religion is when the comments are disrespectful and characterize all of the follows as idiots. Words like monic, idiotic, backwards, shittish book(from another post), and foul language are signs of an attack stance.

Asking a respectfully toned question without resorting to name calling is a good start.

Answer 9

Depends on how you use the terms.

To question another person's beliefs is an attack on those beliefs if you are not inquiring out of ignorance, but inquiring about the justification for holding a particular belief.

Given the fact that most people are not ignorant about different beliefs, most questions can be legitimately considered attacks, regardless how nicely or rudely they are presented.

Answer 10

If you're hostile or if you see the religious beliefs as wrong then you are attacking the religion.

If you don't understand a belief or the religion and you ask for an explanation to better help you understand it then you are questioning the religion.