Wikipedia to Church of Scientology: You’re Banned!
May 29th, 2009 | by Ben Parr
http://mashable.com/2009/05/29/wikipedi ... gy-banned/
The Web’s struggle with Scientology has been well-documented. Anti-scientology protesters have put out YouTube (YouTube reviews) videos, attacked Scientology’s website, and organized worldwide protests as part of Project Chanology. Scientology has responded on the web with online campaigns of their own, but it looks like they took it a little too far for Wikipedia’s tastes.
According to The Register, Wikipedia (Wikipedia reviews) has banned multiple IP addresses related to the Church of Scientology for extreme, one-sided editing in an attempt to remove Scientology criticism from the Web. The decision wasn’t an easy one though: Wikipedia’s Arbitration Committee took nearly half a year to resolve the matter.
The decision, made after users submitted statements, responses, and considerations in what is equivalent to a virtual courtroom, involved votes on 19 principles stating essentially that the Scientology-related accounts violated the core principles of Wikipedia on multiple occasions - even likely coordinating their efforts to erase any critical mentions of Scientology.
The Wikipedia arbitration committee, in a unanimous vote, made the following statement:
3.0) This longstanding dispute is a struggle between two rival factions: admirers of Scientology and critics of Scientology.
A) Editors from each side have gamed policy to obtain advantage and disputes have spilled over into, for example, articles for deletion, the reliable sources noticeboard, the conflict of interests noticeboard, and sometimes the administrators’ noticeboard.
B) Aggravating factors have been (i) the presence of editors openly editing from Church of Scientology equipment and apparently coordinating their activities; and (ii) the apparent presence of notable critics of Scientology, from several Internet organisations, apparently editing under their own names and citing either their own or each other’s self-published material.
C) Each side wishes the articles within this topic to reflect their point of view and have resorted to battlefield editing tactics, with edits being abruptly reverted without any attempt to incorporate what is good, to maintain their preferred status quo.
D) The worst casualties have been biographies of living people, where attempts have been repeatedly made to slant the article either towards or against the subject, depending on the point of view of the contributing editor.
E) However, this problem is not limited to biographies and many Scientology articles fail to reflect a neutral point of view and instead are either disparaging or complimentary.
F) Neutral editors entering this topic are frequently attacked from both sides and stand little chance of making progress until the key players disengage or are required to disengage.
The end result has been the banning or restriction of dozens of Scientology accounts. While Wikipedia has made every effort to be fair and transparent in the process, this is probably not the end. After all, this is the fourth Scientology-related arbitration in four years, and we doubt banning a few dozen accounts will end the editing wars.
Scientology
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DVD Burner
- Posts: 11031
- Joined: Fri Dec 12, 2003 3:09 am
- Burning Since: 1986
- Camp Name: White Trash Camp
- Contact:
From memory so consider it a paraphrase:
"if a man really wanted to get rich, he would start his own religon" L. Ron Hubbard
Also: Scientology reportedly has a long standing tradition of actively re-writing it's own history in response to complaints and criticsm.
Also: Scientology has a long tradition of aggressively attacking anyone that offers criticsm, particularly ex scientologists. Reports of threats, defamation and intimidation are so common that they cannot be ignored.
Scientology also flirts with legal issues when it comes to fees required from noobs and near-involuntary confinement of some members. Some reports state that the fees are routinely waved for famous people. The line between a business and a church is fuzzy for scientology.
In short, scientology actively discourages open discussion about perceived problems.
However, over time, information does leak out. As the pile of negative information grows it becomes increasingly difficult for scientology to sustain it's reclusive and beligerantly secretive status.
All that said, if someone wants to channel their inner alien life force, then go for it. Just don't expect me to be particulary interested. k?
"if a man really wanted to get rich, he would start his own religon" L. Ron Hubbard
Also: Scientology reportedly has a long standing tradition of actively re-writing it's own history in response to complaints and criticsm.
Also: Scientology has a long tradition of aggressively attacking anyone that offers criticsm, particularly ex scientologists. Reports of threats, defamation and intimidation are so common that they cannot be ignored.
Scientology also flirts with legal issues when it comes to fees required from noobs and near-involuntary confinement of some members. Some reports state that the fees are routinely waved for famous people. The line between a business and a church is fuzzy for scientology.
In short, scientology actively discourages open discussion about perceived problems.
However, over time, information does leak out. As the pile of negative information grows it becomes increasingly difficult for scientology to sustain it's reclusive and beligerantly secretive status.
All that said, if someone wants to channel their inner alien life force, then go for it. Just don't expect me to be particulary interested. k?
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Elderberry
- Moderator
- Posts: 14976
- Joined: Tue Jul 17, 2007 10:00 pm
- Burning Since: 2007
- Camp Name: Camp Kelly
- Location: Palm Springs
- Contact:
Me too...now if he'd only remove their tax exempt status...Apollonaris Zeus wrote:Obama wants to cut the amount the tax deduction of donations. I wonder what has the religious groups have said about this since it would reduce the funding of all groups and their Missionary recruitment.
I fully support Obama on this one!
AIIZ
JK
Elderberry
When I was a kid I used to pray every night for a new bicycle.
Then I realized that the Lord doesn't work that way so I stole one and asked Him to forgive me
When I was a kid I used to pray every night for a new bicycle.
Then I realized that the Lord doesn't work that way so I stole one and asked Him to forgive me
You guys do know their total sham "Volunteer Ministries" camp is going to be at Burning Man this year, yes?
I plan to be dedicating a good couple of hours per day standing outside their camp with a bullhorn and handing out fliers. Would love to hook up with anyone else who wants them to know that wherever they go, we are there.
http://www.burningman.com/themecamps/09 ... m.html#top
"Modern Religion, The
Scientology, a truly new and modern religion for the 21st century, comes to Black Rock City to demonstrate techniques proven to help one overcome the problems of our every changing world. No matter the problem, something can be done about it.
Hometown: San Francisco, CA
URL: http://www.volunteerministers.org
Contact: sanfrancisco (at) scientology (dot) org"
I plan to be dedicating a good couple of hours per day standing outside their camp with a bullhorn and handing out fliers. Would love to hook up with anyone else who wants them to know that wherever they go, we are there.
http://www.burningman.com/themecamps/09 ... m.html#top
"Modern Religion, The
Scientology, a truly new and modern religion for the 21st century, comes to Black Rock City to demonstrate techniques proven to help one overcome the problems of our every changing world. No matter the problem, something can be done about it.
Hometown: San Francisco, CA
URL: http://www.volunteerministers.org
Contact: sanfrancisco (at) scientology (dot) org"
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swampdog
- Posts: 917
- Joined: Thu Jul 22, 2004 8:27 am
- Burning Since: 2004
- Camp Name: Rising Arms Pub
- Location: Bellingham WA
tough one. I think the ideal solution would be to totally ignore them and make them Pariah camp. They thrive on attention. But you don't want people to get sucked into it not knowing who they're dealing with. I'm not sure making a lot of noise is necessarily the best solution but I don't have a better one to offer.
Must read for anyone interested in 'scientology':
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Snow_White
Hilarious.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Snow_White
Hilarious.
I would respectfully disagree swampdog. They hate attention. They thrive on operating under the guise of an obscure religion that most people don't know much about.
The Volunteer Ministries passes itself off as a disaster relief organization. They offer zero first aid or supplies. The entire goal is bringing in people for "touch assists", a sham that establishes who is highly open to suggestion, i.e., who is a good candidate for the cult. They basically lie you down on a table and smooth out your shirt and ask a few questions. If this helped you, they want to bring you in.
@ Igneous Their "Fair Game" rule decrees that anything and everything should be done to silence critics: stalking, harassing, slandering, suing, etc. This policy worked well for them for decades, before the internet made the dispersal of information instantaneous and universal. And before they tried to "Fair Game" a certain group of merry pranksters...
They are hoping to escape the reaches of Anonymous and they are hoping to lure suckers into their tent by creating the false impression they are offering something to the playa, when all they offer is a hard-sell on snake oil. This in turn inspires me to spend a great deal of time sweating underneath a Guy Fawkes mask.
The Volunteer Ministries passes itself off as a disaster relief organization. They offer zero first aid or supplies. The entire goal is bringing in people for "touch assists", a sham that establishes who is highly open to suggestion, i.e., who is a good candidate for the cult. They basically lie you down on a table and smooth out your shirt and ask a few questions. If this helped you, they want to bring you in.
@ Igneous Their "Fair Game" rule decrees that anything and everything should be done to silence critics: stalking, harassing, slandering, suing, etc. This policy worked well for them for decades, before the internet made the dispersal of information instantaneous and universal. And before they tried to "Fair Game" a certain group of merry pranksters...
They are hoping to escape the reaches of Anonymous and they are hoping to lure suckers into their tent by creating the false impression they are offering something to the playa, when all they offer is a hard-sell on snake oil. This in turn inspires me to spend a great deal of time sweating underneath a Guy Fawkes mask.
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Apollonaris Zeus
- Posts: 3716
- Joined: Sun Sep 14, 2003 11:17 am
Sounds like a good chance to do some parody as in setting up a bar right in front or near by and call them Scientolodrink Bar and do goofs with a Testicle Meter
this is BurningMan everything can be parodise!
Seems Wiki is going the moderated route now on all entries. That will prevent them from altering their entry
We can send the Tolerant people of Eplaya to a number on them!
AIIZ
this is BurningMan everything can be parodise!
Seems Wiki is going the moderated route now on all entries. That will prevent them from altering their entry
We can send the Tolerant people of Eplaya to a number on them!
AIIZ