There's a few different permutations of these types of questions, so I'll put each one in its own category. What unites them all is that they require knowledge of something outside of Judaism; in your proposed scope you may distinguish between each category and describe why you feel, for instance, category A should be on-topic but B off-topic.

A: What does Judaism have to say about...?

1. Should these types of questions be on-topic?
2. Should users be required to give a brief description of the topic, or just what it's called? Should users be required to give a link to where a potential answerer can learn more on the topic?
3. Should policy distinguish between scientific topics and religious non-Jewish ones? (Ex. "What does Judaism have to say about black holes" being treated differently from "What does Judaism have to say about chakras.")
4. Should policy distinguish between "What does Judaism have to say about" and "How do you reconcile Judaism saying... with science saying...?"

B. Is this true what [source] says about Judaism?

1. Should these types of questions be on-topic?
2. Should users be required to give a source (preferably a link) of where they heard this claim from, or is saying "I heard X say that Y" is enough?
3. Should policy distinguish between neutral sites and ones with clearly anti-Semitic bias?
4. Should policy distinguish between religiously neutral sites and ones with non-Jewish religious motivations (not necessarily explicitly anti-Semitic)?

C: Jewish source X states that [claim unrelated to Judaism]. Is this factually accurate?

1. Should these types of questions be on-topic?
2. Should policy distinguish between claims about other religions, claims about scientific topics, and claims about historical events discussed by other contemporaries?

posted over 4 years ago

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DonielF‭

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