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We have recently gotten some questions that assume that Christianity is false and that a completely different religion is true.

Some of the questions basically assume that the Bible is inaccurate, but then take one verse of the Bible, assume that it is true

Other questions are basically reduced to "Why don't Christians abandon Christianity and accept the teachings of a different religion?"

At least one user seems to have changed his username to try to appear to be a Christian.

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  • My suggestions are vote to close as: NC, OT (belongs on BH.SE), and NARC. I don't consider the last paragraph an issue: the truth will out. (But it doesn't help their case if they are facing suspension of some other reason.) – Jon Ericson May 3 '13 at 22:22
  • Has there actually been more than one person doing this? I'd not noticed. – TRiG May 3 '13 at 23:22
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If you see questions like that, vote to close and flag for moderator attention. We're aware of these users, and when they cause too much trouble, we throw them out.

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    Agreed. Also, I think we should be treating the questions using the exact same standards we treat questions that are hostile toward a particular denomination... Catholicism of LDS, for example. If the question itself is obviously hostile, it's "not a real question". – David Stratton May 4 '13 at 4:08
  • kick them out if they disagree this too is terrible – user4060 Jun 21 '13 at 3:07
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    @caseyr547: We don't kick anyone out for disagreeing. We kick them out for being hostile and disruptive. One of our most important values in this community is respect. Disagreement is welcome, but people have to be mature about it, and be able to disagree without being disagreeable, as it were. – Mason Wheeler♦ Jun 21 '13 at 3:28
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I shouldn't admit this out loud, but, I kind of have fun with questions like that. I know that I will not convince the OP, but I can still strengthen my own theology by seeing how others attack it.

Frankly, I know that Christianity is right, and [Islam | Buddhism | Hinduism] is wrong. Likewise, I know the OP thinks [Islam | Buddhism | Hinduism] is right, and Christianity is wrong. Neither of us is the real audience for the answer.

When I answer questions of that sort, my audience is the guy who can't decide between the two. I have no doubt that my God can stand up to any assault - I just pray I'm up to the task of providing a good apologetic for him

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    I admit the same as you. I am not intimidated by a little hostility. Also I would add sometimes a hostile question is a genuine question somebody has and is naturally hostile due to their current honest confusion. A good answer can sometimes even remove hostility. Auto VTC all the time can increase confusion and hostility. Then again sometimes a jerk just won't go away and is drawing too much negative attention and effort from everyone. – Mike May 15 '13 at 13:26
  • wow patronize them is your official response? that really is terrible – user4060 Jun 21 '13 at 3:06
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I'd answer this the same way I'd answer "Are questions from Atheists allowed here"

As long as the hostile posters are following the guidelines and rules, we should address them the same as we'd address a genuine seeker.

If they're not following the site guidelines, the behavior needs to be addressed. Whether you're looking at things from a secular perspective or a "Christian" perspective, rules, submission to authority, etc. are necessary.

Thoughts to keep in mind:

  • Consistency is important. We can't allow "what we agree with" to be the standard. This isn't a "like-minded only" club. StackExchange sites aren't here to let us include only those that we like. They're here to provide objectively verifiable answers, where other sites give only opinion.
  • This isn't a free-for-all discussion forum. It's a moderate (read - there are people with authority that are in place to make judgement calls) Question and Answer site.
  • StackExchange sites all have consistent guidelines and guiding principles. We cannot allow ourselves to discriminate against others because we don't agree with them, but we can also not allow people to violate the established rules.

So again... Whether we agree with "hostiles" isn't the issue. I don't agree with many of the users of this site. many of the users of this site don't agree with me. But as long as we are playing by the rules, and showing mutual respect, and "agreeing to disagree" and avoiding pointless arguments over Truth, the bottom-line question is "Is this person following guidelines?" if not, politely explain the guidelines.

If that doesn't work, ask an moderator, or experienced user to help (flag, bring it up in chat, etc.) If that fails, it falls to the moderators to use the authority granted to them to enforce the guidelines. And if that becomes necessary, let the moderators do their jobs. They are the elected (or at least will be once the elections take place) designated authorities on the site, like it or not.

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Does the Bible give any answer here? Some of the best doctrinal statements of Jesus come in response to agenda-oriented, axe-grinding questions from people of another faith: the Pharisees . Here is my advice (if advice and opinion are allowed in a meta-discussion).

1) I believe it's wrong to vote down questions that "every Christian knows the answer is NO." If you went to seminary, you might find some questions inherently stupid (what's the term-- "nonconstructive"), but should we penalize the honestly curious from coming forward? Like, "Would Jesus ask a Muslim to read the Koran?" Insidious to some, but could be based as much on ignorance as an agenda.

2) I sometimes wish that some questions could be edited to remove an agenda-oriented, false claim it is based on. For example, someone implied that the Council of Nicea created a new teaching which was not ever held by the disciples or "orthodox Christians" until then, and then asked a question based on that false claim. I would edit the question from reading "invented at Nicea" to "confirmed and clarified at Nicea".

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    About #2: I agree, but it's possible the person thinks the claim is true. Instead of just changing "invented" to "confirmed and clarified" and leaving it at that, it may be better to either show in the comments or an answer that the claim was not invented at Nicea. If the person believes a false claim, merely editing the post without explanation is likely to confuse him/her. – Ryan Frame May 29 '13 at 22:35
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If you're talking about who I think you are I was patient until the name change and no attempt to provide better content. I suggested permanent suspension to a mod in chat after that.

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    Everybody deserves a second chance. In any case, suspensions are always time limited. (But they can be extremely long. ;) – Jon Ericson May 3 '13 at 22:24

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