[WikiEN-l] cancelation of the deletion review of the satanism userbox

Thu Jun 1 07:14:27 UTC 2006

On 6/1/06, Steve Summit <scs at eskimo.com> wrote:
>
> MacGyverMagic wrote:
> > Either cut all religious userboxes or keep them all, don't start getting
> > selective. The box is just as useful as a "I am a Christian"-box.
> Disrepute
> > due to beliefs is only an issue if said editors consistently misbehave.
> >
> > People worry too much over userboxes.
>
> On the one hand, I agree, the ongoing train wreck that is the
> userbox "war" is silly and unnecessary.  On the one hand, I
> agree, all "I am a whatever-tian" boxes should either stand
> together or fall together.  Personally, I don't care if you
> proclaim yourself to be a Christian or a Satanist or a Democrat
> or a Republican or a vegetarian or a Martian or a pedophile or a
> Nazi; the only thing that matters to me is whether you can edit
> encyclopedia articles intelligently, cooperatively, and
> productively.
>
> But.  On the other hand:
>
> If you honestly believe, in this society, that there is no
> difference between saying "I am a Christian" and "I am a
> Satanist", you are either being wilfully ignorant, or disruptive
> to make a point.  And it's exactly this sort of wilfulness,
> disruption, and point-making that gives rise to big problems
> with those seemingly silly, unimportant userboxes.

Yes, in this world filled with ignorance and intolerance, proclaiming you're
a satanist is probably going to get you a different reaction, but my point
is that if Wikipedia wants to get anywhere near neutral we should treat
anyone who can edit properly equally.

Mgm