>
> ところが、そうした人々が、神社や寺院の建物の前に立って祈願をこらす時、その対象である神仏について、それがいかなる神であり仏であるかを問われて、適切な答えをすることができるかといえばそうではない。

The phrase その対象である神仏について and the intervening phrase それがいかなる神であり仏であるかを問われて here
are confusing me. I have translated it as:

> However, when these people stand before the shrine or temple buildings and
> offer prayers, they enquire about the various deities enshrined there and
> consider whether or not they will be able to give an appropriate answer to
> their prayers, which is not necessarily the case.

Is this correct, or at least have I got the meaning right? I've not come
across some of the words before, so the Japanese sounds somewhat dislocated to
me.
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2015-08-09T12:29:12.447
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2015-08-09T13:35:53.143
2015-08-09T13:35:53.143
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question
translation meaning
What is the meaning of について and を問われて here?
The original:

>
> 「ところが、そうした人々が、神社や寺院の建物の前に立って祈願をこらす時、その対象である神仏について、それがいかなる神であり仏であるかを問われて、適切な答えをすることができるかといえばそうではない。」

Your TL:

> "However, when **_these people_** stand before the shrine or temple
> buildings and offer prayers, **_they_** enquire about the various deities
> enshrined there and consider whether or not they will be able to give an
> appropriate answer to their prayers, which is not necessarily the case."

Problem with your TL (Excuse me if I sound blunt!):

The grammatical subject is 「そうした人々」 throughout the long original sentence. As
always the case in Japanese, it may or may not be mentioned explicitly in all
of the clauses.

Your only mistake would be the part " ** _they_** enquire about ~~~~".

In the original, it says 「問われて」, which is in the passive voice. That means
that the temple- and shrine-goers are asked a question **_by an unmentioned
third party_**. The question is:"Do you actually know what sort of god or
buddha you are worshipping?"

Your TL, however, reads like the temple- and shrine-goers are asking that
question to themselves, does it not?

The original is talking about a **_hypothetical situation_** where they are
asked that big question.
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2015-08-09T13:03:42.980
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2015-08-09T13:03:42.980
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answer