# Questioning Beliefs Respectfully

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questioning-beliefs-respectfully/396854>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [March 21, 2007, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questioning-beliefs-respectfully/396854 "2007-03-21T13:24:30Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 4

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\
**Post date:** [March 23, 2007, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questioning-beliefs-respectfully/396854/61 "2007-03-23T21:22:32Z")

</div>

[QUOTE=kunilou]  
For starts, you may want to look at how you phrased your OP.

If you want to question me about what I believe, how I came to that belief and why I continue to believe, then pull up chair and I’ll get us a couple of beers.

If you want polite forms of “arguments” you can use to point out that I am irrational, gullible, incapable of critical thought or just plain intellectually lazy, then life is too short.  
[/QUOTE]

This is an interesting point. If you in fact actually want to know about one’s beliefs, why would there be any “arguments” to use? Intending to argue with a believer belies respectful discussion of belief, so you may as well give up the attempts to be “respectful” at the outset. In fact, a hidden agenda is probably going to be looked at as more jerkish behavior then being upfront with the purpose of your discussion.

I’m vaguely christian. Though I believe in (many of) the tenants of Christianity, I don’t believe there’s a value to organized religion so I don’t adhere to any church.

[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questioning-beliefs-respectfully/396854.md?page=3)