DaasYochid:
I am referring to (and I think this is what Sam meant) the context in which they were written – one has to ascertain whether they were written as a stam halachic discussion, or as a (perhaps polemical) response to a perceived threat against a religious practice. For instance, R’ Moshe’s teshuva was just simply a halachic discussion, and it was really only a tangential discussion, almost like meisiach lefi tumo. But it is possible (and to be clear I am not applying this to any source in particular) that if someone perceived a threat against the religion (or a specific practice of the religion) then they would as a counterbalance, elevate the practice to more than it really is.