From TV Court Dramas, I've learned that to ask a question in a way that suggests the answer I am looking for is called "leading the witness". In other words, I'm just trying to get the person to say what i want them to. It reminds me of the evangelical form of "witnessing" or "getting saved", where the christian follows a formula or script designed to lead a nonbeliever to certain answers and conclusions about themselves, God, and that relationship between them.
I had a discussion with my 10 year old daughter today. I asked her, "How do we know God loves us?"
Now, my daughter really hates these discussions with me because she still sees everything in a right or wrong answer format. She's in the fifth grade, it's her whole worldview right now. But I ask her because I don't want her witness to be led by what she hears me or her mother say, or what she knows about our beliefs. I ask her because I want her to know it is okay to challenge and question what we might consider to be the source of our faith.
Her answer today was an unsure, "Because the bible says so?" She SO wants to be "right". It is a good answer, though. Not because of the answer but because the hesitation behind it suggests that even she thinks there should be something more, something more real, something more substantive behind it than a mere book.
Her answer to the question, "Does God love you?" is even more reassuring. It is an emphatic, "YES!"
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