The age of social media has made every man and his dog into philosophers. Bad philosophers. Very very bad philosophers. As an apologist, I see this quite a lot. Many people ask questions, few people want answers.
This is made especially evident by the number of people asking basic questions as if they were "silver bullets", even though the answers to those questions are readily available and easily accessible. It's really rather sad. Even though the internet should make it easier to research, people use it more to express their opinions than verify those opinions.
Now, this is obviously not a problem for people who are just starting out. If you've gone your whole life being fed anti-Christian dogma, then you finally meet a real Christian, it makes sense to ask basic questions. And indeed, if people stopped asking them, people would stop answering them, and they would cease to be basic questions.
But what if we're talking about someone who hasn't been stranded on a desert island since 1998? The fact that you are online asking people questions shows that you have the ability to search for the answers. There are plenty of search engines in existence. Bing, Duck Ducko Go, Ecosia, Yahoo, Ocean Hero, all of these, and more, are more than capable of leading you to a Christian website with the answers to your questions.
And yet, these questions continue to be asked. And not just asked. Asked repeatedly. Even after having been answered, these questions continue to be asked. It goes beyond mere ignorance. It becomes dishonesty.
I have little doubt that every one of my Christian readers has experienced this in some capacity. You already know unbelievers do this. But let me ask an uncomfortable question: Are you?
See, in my time as an apologist, I haven't just seen unbelievers do this to Christians. I've seen Christians do the same when criticising other religions. Now, if this attitude causes us to doubt people's integrity, imagine what it does to unbelievers when we, too, challenge their religions without adequate research. It affects our outreach in a negative way. Rather than causing them to question their beliefs, it reinforces the stereotype that Christians are uneducated, gullible, and even intolerant. If we're going to bring people to Christ, we need at least some awareness of what hinders them. Let us answer no matters before we hear them, and remember "I don't know" is always a valid answer.