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Mormonism and Wikipedia
Revision as of 20:36, 6 January 2010 by RogerNicholson (talk | contribs) (→A note from FAIR to Wikipedia editors of LDS articles: rm)
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Mormonism and Wikipedia
It's also a little disingenuous for FAIR to be complaining about John Foxe's alleged affiliation with a certain evangelical university. How many FAIR people are affiliated with BYU? All of us have biases and preconceptions, and for FAIR (the "A" in its name standing for "apologetic") to be complaining about biases is crazy. This Wikipedia article should be neither anti-Mormon nor apologetic, and as a whole it isn't. As a whole, Foxe's edits are not really much different from what is found in Bushman's RSR, which is an apologetic work. I think the problem is that FAIR has an issue with New Mormon History and would rather see this article become a hagiography than a mainstream historical article.
—LDS editor COgden, 5 December 2009 referring to the Joseph Smith, Jr. Wikipedia article. off-site
FAIR's approach to Wikipedia articles
FAIR regularly receives queries about specific LDS-themed Wikipedia articles with requests that we somehow "fix" them. Although some individual members of FAIR may choose to edit Wikipedia articles, FAIR as an organization does not. Controversial Wikipedia articles require constant maintenance and a significant amount of time. We prefer instead to respond to claims in the FAIR Wiki rather than fight the ongoing battle that LDS Wikipedia articles sometimes invite. From FAIR’s perspective, assertions made in LDS-themed Wikipedia articles are therefore treated just like any other critical (or, if one prefers, "anti-Mormon") work.
Given the fluid nature of LDS Wikipedia articles, it is pointless to perform a detailed review and analysis of many of them. As Bob Jones University professor John A. Matzko states, "[i]t is easy enough to spin webs of speculation" about Joseph Smith's early life. [1] Indeed, there is a specific subset of LDS Wikipedia articles which are "webs of speculation." These articles have been "stabilized" by one Bob Jones University affiliated editor who is extremely critical of LDS views, and who operates under the pseudonym John "Foxe." This stabilization thus allows FAIR to perform a more detailed analysis on those articles. As those articles are revised and updated, we will periodically update our reviews to match.
Editors who wish to participate in editing LDS-themed Wikipedia articles can access the project page here: Wikipedia:WikiProject Latter Day Saint movement. You are not required to be LDS in order to participate—there are a number of good non-LDS editors who have made valuable contributions to these articles.
The following sub-articles discuss various aspects of editing LDS-themed articles on Wikipedia. In addition, we analyze certain selected Wikipedia articles for accuracy and fairness.
Common questions FAIR is asked about LDS Wikipedia articles
FAIR's analysis of LDS Wikipedia articles
We examine selected Wikipedia articles and examine them on a "claim-by-claim" basis, with links to responses in the FAIR Wiki.
An analysis of the Wikipedia article "First Vision"
An analysis of the Wikipedia article "Joseph Smith, Jr."
An analysis of the Wikipedia article "Golden plates"
An analysis of the Wikipedia article "Three Witnesses"
Endnotes
[note] John A. Matzko, "The Encounter of the Young Joseph Smith with Presbyterianism," Dialogue 40/3 (2007), p. 77
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