Why do Christians get evasive, defensive or angry when faced with difficult questions

[Aldebaran]

Try questioning the Muslims about their faith the same way you question God on here and see for yourself how militant they become within a few posts.

Yeah, there are some infamous youtube videos showing what happens to people who question Muslims about their faith, or simply don't subscribe to it. Rather gruesome results.

 

[Jesse2014]

But I am sure it goes both ways as well.

 

[Aldebaran]

That's certainly a possibility. But is it also possible that the answers given aren't good enough?

Not good enough? I think you mean that the answer didn't meet with the satisfaction of the questioner. That's bound to happen in any discussion.

 

[WoundedDeep]

Yeah, there are some infamous youtube videos showing what happens to people who question Muslims about their faith, or simply don't subscribe to it. Rather gruesome results.

Yes, that is the nature of their faith. So I consider our reactions as rather mild and rational compared to how Muslims react when their faith is challenged.

 

[Archaeopteryx]

Yeah, there are some infamous youtube videos showing what happens to people who question Muslims about their faith, or simply don't subscribe to it. Rather gruesome results.

YouTube comments tend to be dominated by a few loud trolls. There are rare occasions in which a fruitful discussion may take place.

 

[Archaeopteryx]

Yes, that is the nature of their faith. So I consider our reactions as rather mild and rational compared to how Muslims react when their faith is challenged.

I think you're generalising too much. Some Christians do react very poorly. It's not universally true that all Muslims react poorly.

 

[WoundedDeep]

That's certainly a possibility. But is it also possible that the answers given aren't good enough?

What's the difference? At the end of the day, it is still the perception of the questioner whether an answer is good enough, so that alone makes the conclusion "answer is not good enough" biased.

 

[Aldebaran]

YouTube comments tend to be dominated by a few loud trolls. There are rare occasions in which a fruitful discussion may take place.

Oh, I wasn't referring to the comment section. I was referring to the videos themselves--in particular the ones showing people getting their head sawed off with a butcher knife, or being burned alive, either because they weren't Muslim, or not Muslim enough. Let's not forget the one that encourages people to attack and kill people in a shopping mall that exists not far from where I live.

 

[WoundedDeep]

I think you're generalising too much. Some Christians do react very poorly. It's not universally true that all Muslims react poorly.

I speak from experience. I was in fact talking to Muslims who were peaceful where they lived, but when I gave them hard facts from Muslim sources that question their faith, they turned militant within a split second. And those were not even extremists.

 

[Archaeopteryx]

I speak from experience. I was in fact talking to Muslims who were peaceful where they lived, but when I gave them hard facts from Muslim sources that question their faith, they turned militant within a split second. And those were not even extremists.

And I speak from experience of talking with Christians - some are very hostile about having their beliefs questioned. I wouldn't presume that this is true of all Christians, however, and I don't think you should presume it is true of all Muslims.

 

[Archaeopteryx]

What's the difference? At the end of the day, it is still the perception of the questioner whether an answer is good enough, so that alone makes the conclusion "answer is not good enough" biased.

How so? If we examine the answer together and find that it isn't good enough, then in what way does indicate bias? I've had conversations with Christians who have admitted that they've had to reconsider whether their answer is as good as they initially thought. Disregarding the answer, without even considering it, would suggest bias.

 

[WoundedDeep]

And I speak from experience of talking with Christians - some are very hostile about having their beliefs questioned. I wouldn't presume that this is true of all Christians, however, and I don't think you should presume it is true of all Muslims.

Hostile in terms of what? Death threats? Or simply harsh words? I have had the same experiences on multiple Muslim forums, and they were all fine and peaceful until I started questioning their faith. On all those forums, I was permanently banned and had death threats coming at me. Have you ever had such treatments on Christian forums? I doubt so.

And I'm not trying to generalise, but this is the general response you will get when you question Muslims about their faith, whether they are extremists or not.

 

[Archaeopteryx]

Hostile in terms of what? Death threats? Or simply harsh words? I have had the same experiences on multiple Muslim forums, and they were all fine and peaceful until I started questioning their faith. On all those forums, I was permanently banned and had death threats coming at me. Have you ever had such treatments on Christian forums? I doubt so.

And I'm not trying to generalise, but this is the general response you will get when you question Muslims about their faith, whether they are extremists or not.

Then you are, in fact, generalising.

 

[Aldebaran]

How so? If we examine the answer together and find that it isn't good enough, then in what way does indicate bias? I've had conversations with Christians who have admitted that they've had to reconsider whether their answer is as good as they initially thought. Disregarding the answer, without even considering it, would suggest bias.

That's usually not what happens though. Someone will ask the Christian a question and then when they get the answer, they decide themselves that it's not good enough. I'm dealing with someone telling me repeatedly in another thread right now that my answers aren't good enough. http://www.christianforums.com/t7865165-46/

 

[WoundedDeep]

Then you are, in fact, generalising.

Describing a common experience across multiple forums is not generalisation.

 

[WoundedDeep]

That's usually not what happens though. Someone will ask the Christian a question and then when they get the answer, they decide themselves that it's not good enough. I'm dealing with someone telling me repeatedly in another thread right now that my answers aren't good enough. http://www.christianforums.com/t7865165-46/

I've had such experiences here multiple times with multiple questioners. Eventually, I decide not to answer them anymore. I suggest you move on too, no point repeating yourselves over and over.

 

[WoundedDeep]

How so? If we examine the answer together and find that it isn't good enough, then in what way does indicate bias? I've had conversations with Christians who have admitted that they've had to reconsider whether their answer is as good as they initially thought. Disregarding the answer, without even considering it, would suggest bias.

The bolded part is what I find people doing to my answers, almost ALL the time.

 

[Aldebaran]

I've had such experiences here multiple times with multiple questioners. Eventually, I decide not to answer them anymore. I suggest you move on too, no point repeating yourselves over and over.

I guess you're right. Sometimes I just get so bored that I have nothing else to do.

 

[Archaeopteryx]

That's usually not what happens though. Someone will ask the Christian a question and then when they get the answer, they decide themselves that it's not good enough.

Yes, after having considered the answer, they might conclude that it's not good enough. You seem be under the impression that any answer, no matter how poor, is a good answer, and that the questioner should therefore just accept it as is. That's not how a dialogue works.

 

[Archaeopteryx]

Describing a common experience across multiple forums is not generalisation.

You went beyond merely describing your particular experiences, claiming that "this is the general response you will get when you question Muslims about their faith."