[WikiEN-l] Partisanship and Neutrality (was: Effective bullying strategy)

Fri Jan 9 14:28:33 UTC 2004

I am the first to admit that it's difficult to put forward 
points of view /neutrally/ when one is a partisan. 

That is why I am usually V-E-R-Y S-L-O-W to edit anything 
relating to the [[Unification Church]]; I'm a member of it 
and a passionate advocate of its theological and philosophical 
views. 

I'm also slow and careful (when I can be) on environmental 
issues, but several times a year I seem to lose my temper, edit 
too hastily, and have to apologize.

Some other respected contributors, recognizing the difficulty 
they have writing neutrally on subjects they feel passionately 
about, avoid those topics altogether. Daniel Mayer (Maveric) 
sets the best example I'm aware of, in this respect.

The two best things I've found to help me avoid partisan 
fighting at Wikipedia are:

1. Summarize the POV of my "opponent" /TO HIS SATISFACTION/ !!!
2. If one of my contributions is reverted (even once), take 
   this as a signal that I'm NOT DOING AN ADEQUATE JOB of 
   reflecting POVs other than my own.

Ed Poor, aka Uncle Ed