Holding People To What They Say: Was It More Like A Brainstorm Or Core Philosophy?

We don't want to hold someone to what they said on an unfamiliar topic when they had moments to think about it and then push them to try to justify it.

What we do want to do is try to gauge whether what someone says is based on a carefully considered opinion or something like a semi-forced (the person feels like they need to say something), quick response in a sudden and unexpected conversation.   

Christians,

When someone says something off the cuff as a response to a question they haven’t had more than a few seconds’ time to think about on a complicated subject, we don’t want to suddenly try to pin them down by demanding evidence or attacking what they say.   Information goes on and on, and in many conversations where there has been no prior preparation for that conversation and people find themselves talking about something they haven’t carefully thought about, people will say something they may likely find they later disagree with themselves because they have had to process unfamiliar and complex information in a very short span of time.   

Do we just need to be carefully prepared to speak on every topic then?  That isn’t realistic.  Not only does information go on and on but more is always being added to it.  There are also many permutations of information we already generally know about.  What we do want to do is try to gauge whether what someone says is based on a carefully considered opinion or something like a semi-forced (the person feels like they need to say something), quick response in a sudden and unexpected conversation.   Likewise, does a response seem to come from someone’s core philosophy or are they speaking more in the fashion of a brainstorm, putting different ideas on the table as they think through a question. 

There are exceptions.  There are things a person should know better not to say even in fast-paced conversations, such as related to derogatory language.  However, it is still very common for people to unfairly try to hold someone to what they just said when that person is giving a quick response or doing something similar to brainstorming ideas.  As a response, a person can then find themselves suddenly trying to justify something they don’t really believe in the first place, which “digs them a deeper hole” below the people unfairly looking down on them as they dig.