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https://christianity.stackexchange.com/questions/36314/jesus-apostles-and-protests-on-ferguson-blacklivesmatter

It's not great and is off-topic, but it seems -6 and basically no constructive comments is a pretty bad message. I doubt the user will be back.

So why no love here?

Here's my comment in case it is deleted:

Welcome to the site. We are glad you decided to participate. This question is off-topic and does not fit into one of the Types of questions that are within community guidelines If possible, [edit] this question so that it better fits into one of those question types. Specifically, this question contains too much opinion. Basically, you are asking what the Bible teaches on a subject, but that depends on who you ask.

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For me it's all about framing: the question is about seeing Jesus through today's issues, rather than seeing today's issues through Jesus. The Bible almost always has something that can be taken to be wisdom about any issue, but questions have to be phrased better. A question asking whether Paul wrote about austerity measures in southern Europe would be similarly downvoted.

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  • I understood what you are calling framing to be examples. Those would be the parts about marching/protesting etc. in Furgerson.
    – fredsbend
    Jan 12, 2015 at 21:50
  • Also, seeing Jesus through today's issues is just as legitimate as seeing today's issues through Jesus. It depends on what the purpose of your study is.
    – fredsbend
    Jan 12, 2015 at 22:03
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    At the bottom they ask whether they engaged in social justice. That's kind of the core issue. But instead of making that the main question, it asks whether they protested anything similar to some times last year when some young black men in the US were shot and their killers, including a police officer, were thought to not face justice, bringing systemic racism into the spotlight. It says that Jesus didn't argue for women to have the right to vote, but no one in Judea had that right! That's what I meant by framing: there is not enough recognition of cultural distance.
    – curiousdannii Mod
    Jan 12, 2015 at 22:05
  • It says at the top: Here, by "protest", I'm referring to "in the culture of the time, whatever 'protesting' is closest to." Though the OP's ignorance of some things is clear.
    – fredsbend
    Jan 12, 2015 at 22:35
  • @fredsbendtheGrinch Yeah they tried to some extent, and I'm not saying that the question is the worst we've ever seen. But I do think it's worth negative votes because of how it's presented.
    – curiousdannii Mod
    Jan 13, 2015 at 3:20
  • I agree, a few, perhaps three. I probably would have downvoted if mine was the first vote. But by this logic there are three voters that think -3, -4, and -5 is not enough. It just seems uncharacteristic of this community.
    – fredsbend
    Jan 13, 2015 at 5:51
  • I know I was one of the downvoters but I don't remember how many there were before I added mine. I think this answer best encapsulates what I was thinking. It seemed to be a non-researched question looking for an opinion on a very hot-button and also very complex issue.
    – Mr. Bultitude
    Jan 13, 2015 at 6:53
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I didn't downvote, but I commented that I didn't think enough research had been done on the question. I do think that even a cursory read through one of the Gospels would answer the question; one could see on even a quick read that there were no protests for Jesus to take part in, nor any encouragement on his part for his disciples to do the same.

If the question had been something like "Is there a biblical basis in the Gospels for Christians to engage in this sort of protest?" I would not have made such a comment.

Incidentally I don't think I would have said that this was off-topic based on "opinion based"; I don't think it's opinion-based; I think it's a pretty simple "No" based on a reading of Jesus' words.

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    I don't think it's as clear as you say. I immediately thought of Jesus driving the money changers out of the temple. It was very public and quite violent, involving a whip. I'm also reminded of the numerous times that Jesus insults the Pharisees, which looks like public criticism of public officials to me.
    – fredsbend
    Jan 12, 2015 at 22:00
  • @fredsbendtheGrinch I think I see what you're saying, but I didn't make the connection between that and something like a public, organized protest.
    – Matt Gutting
    Jan 12, 2015 at 22:09
  • There was also, at the top of the question, Here, by "protest", I'm referring to "in the culture of the time, whatever 'protesting' is closest to." I think the author is willing to recognize that people did things differently then.
    – fredsbend
    Jan 12, 2015 at 22:33
  • @fredsbend fair point. I do not remember seeing that in the question as I first saw it.
    – Matt Gutting
    Jan 13, 2015 at 2:43
  • Nevertheless I stand by my last comment. I don't think I'd feel comfortable describing any actions of Jesus as "close to protesting".
    – Matt Gutting
    Jan 13, 2015 at 2:46
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    And in these comments, we see where the "opinion" comes in.
    – Mr. Bultitude
    Jan 13, 2015 at 6:50
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There are different reasons why people choose to down-vote a question, among those being that the question is off-topic.

I would argue that whether a question attracts only one or multiple down-votes doesn't say much, just that

  1. The question attracted some attention
  2. There is a common consense that the question is indeed off-topic. More people coming to that conclusion = more down-votes.

I'm not sure that 2. means more down-votes = "more off-topic" / worse. Maybe just "easier to recognize as off-topic" and "attracting more attention than other, similar off-topic questions".

Other thoughts? Am I way off here?

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  • Well, yes, that is how it works, I suppose, but usually only sensitive topics, hate speech, rants, Muslims trying to converts us, etc. get downvoted this much. I don't think this question is any of those.
    – fredsbend
    Jan 12, 2015 at 22:01

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