Thank you. Well for me I meet in neutral locations in public initially, safest way to do it. Online chatter is a basic way to get a feel on if you're on the same page and share similar interests and needs. Then meeting in person we can go more in depth on topics, get a proper guage of each other, potentially ending with some mutually beneficial action.

Hello Aldtrao.
Even your profile text looks like a test program for ladies. Does she fit? And then comes your favorite question. Test, test, test. What about sympathy? Those things between the lines? Give it more time and let it grow. When you plant potatoes, you can't check them before the time has come! Hahaha. God bless you with the woman He has chosen for you, amen.

Hmm, I’m not sure what you mean about my profile looking like a test program, but thank you very much for your thoughts and your blessing, and I will pray that God will bless you too.

A person will talk about what they're passionate about if you let them.

Instead of steering the conversation, try allowing them to initiate the subjects.
If you must start a dialog flow, try asking them about things they already shared. The interests listed on their profile, subjects they have responded to.

Many guys are under the impression if a woman writes back, they are interested in them. You can have 4 or 5 'traded messages' and no connection is made. You can also have connection in a single 'traded message'. Multiple messages doesn't guarantee interest.

If you write a paragraph or two and she responds with a single sentence, chances are she isn't interested in having a detailed lengthy banter with you.

Its best to allow her to initiate and determine the contents of the conversation. Not only does it show you respect her input it shows you are interested in what she has to say. If you control the flow of the conversation, talking about what YOU want to talk about, it could give her the impression any relationship with you is going to be all about you, with you in control of her.

Asking about her passions in life indicates you haven't allowed her to express herself naturally or didn't pay attention when she did.
If you must ask questions, ask questions in such a way she volunteers the information you seek, as if it were her idea.

"I love my cat" opens a line of questions about her cat which, if asked correctly, can tell you many different things about her without her feeling like she's on trial. You just have to 'read between the lines' a lil.

Then when she feels a bit more comfortable, she will volunteer another subject with which you can verify what you surmised from the first subject.
In other words, you get your answers without asking direct questions.

Hi, Tom. Good thoughts. I know we don’t always agree on various things, but in this case, I definitely am on the same page with you about wanting to show respect and interest in the other person instead of making it about ourselves. That’s actually what I’m trying to do when I ask a question of that nature, but maybe my directness seems overbearing. But like I’ve said, I am no subtle person. I also don’t like mind games, so I think that there’s a line here where, on one side you’re letting the person open up freely and accepting whatever information you get and on the other side of that line you’re trying to steer someone into talking about things as if it were their idea all along, which would seem sort of dishonest. Anyway, I appreciate your feedback; I’ll be considering those thoughts next time a conversation needs help getting started.

Perhaps accepting/steering is not quite what I meant.
Allowing a person to talk openly about the subjects they want to talk about is neither accepting/steering nor dishonest.

How you interpret what they say and apply it to understaning their nature is also not dishonest.
We all surmise the nature of the people we meet from what they say, don't say, act and display themselves. Much of how we determine a person's nature is done without acknowledged verification.
By directing pointed but relative questions you can surmise quite a bit about a person in how they choose to answer. There's nothing dishonest in how you feel.
There's nothing dishonest in trying to establish a starting bond with someone you are interested in at a dating site. Its the whole point of trying to find someone to date.

Asking the right questions at the right time will give you insight as to their nature. Its done all the time in many different situations, for many different reasons.