Wikipedia:WikiProject Countering systemic bias/Religion task force

Wikiproject Countering systemic bias in religion exists in order to ensure neutrality in Wikipedia articles that have to do with religion and spirituality.

Any Wikipedia user is invited to join. The sole requirement of membership is dedication to ensuring a neutral point of view in all Wikipedia articles.

If you would like to help, please inquire on the talk page and see the to-do list there.

• WikiProject Countering systemic bias

Participants

1. Goethean
2. ZappaZ
3. Aquillion
4. Irmgard
5. ≈ jossi ≈
6. Freestylefrappe
7. Solar
8. JFW | T@lk
9. Richard_RDF^talk
10. Uncle Ed
11. Smithfarm
12. igni
13. J. J. 15:06, 9 June 2006 (UTC). Evangelical Christian, but sensitive to bias in interfaith dialogue. Biblical studies emphasis.
14. Itsmejudith
15. LBMixPro ^{<Speak|on|it!>}
16. Baristarim 11:17, 16 October 2006 (UTC)
17. elvenscout742 22:16, 31 October 2006 (UTC)
18. Sir james paul
19. Badbilltucker
20. Justanother Scientologist. Sensitive to most belief systems that do not include human sacrifice or having sex with children (though I am not a big fan of animal sacrifice either but "if it works for you", I guess it is at least as valid a reason to kill an animal as a Big Mac).
21. johnalexwood - Scientologist in the UK
22. Vassyana 10:02, 1 February 2007 (UTC)
23. Misou 18:09, 9 February 2007 (UTC)
24. Rursus 09:55, 23 February 2007 (UTC) - very-very ordinary Christian anti-Creationist.
25. Demmeis 02:06, 5 March 2007 (UTC) Evangelical Anglican Christian concerned about Islamophobia. Also a creationist concerned about anti-evolution bias and lack of NPOV in articles related to favorite creationist topics.
26. jackturner3 29 March 2007 - adjunct professor of Religious Studies
27. - thank you Astuishin 19:13, 29 April 2007 (UTC)
28. KnightMove - currently busy to stop massive Bahá'í POV establishment activities. If there were none, I would not have any problem with this religion.
29. unless 21:38, 9 September 2007 (UTC) - Very agnostic.
30. Ganesh J. Acharya I am a Hindu, trying to understand what life is all about.
31. Zoebuggie☺ -interested but feeling my way around Wikipedia
32. Rwenonah (talk) 19:38, 17 June 2014 (UTC)
33. Jaredscribe I've noticed a persistent bias toward the post-christian secular, sharing many basic assumptions of the graeco-roman christian worldview

All members should feel free to add {{User WikiProject Csbir}} to their userpages.

Goals

This Wikiproject exists in order to facilitate the following:

1. Discussion of exactly what a neutral point of view means with regard to religion
2. To alert members to articles that are biased or that exhibit prejudice for or against religion or spirituality
3. To cooperatively ensure neutrality in all articles that have to do with religion
4. To discuss whether there is systemic bias in Wikipedia in regard to religion and spirituality and what can be done to counter this bias

Projects

Neutralize vocabulary

1. I suggest a project to "neutralize" the vocabulary of religious articles which contributes a lot to POV. Many words in that context, e.g. heresy, apostate, cult, etc. are used mainly by a specific POV. They can be used within NPOV when attributed "Irenaeus thought Gnosticism a heresy" but they should not be used unattributed. Other words are frequently used in a generalizing way which usually also contains a POV (e.g. calling all conservative Christians fundamentalists). --Irmgard 13:35, 27 August 2005 (UTC)

I noticed that Hindus have myths and sects, but other religions have stories denominations. Andries 20:59, 23 February 2006 (UTC)

I found out that the word sect has a different meaning in an Indian context. See sect. Andries 16:56, 1 June 2006 (UTC)

Such a clean-up would consist of

1. • collecting not-NPOV words - best in subproject-article explaining why for each word
   • linking this article to other articles regarding NPOV so it is accessible to the community
   • cleaning up - article by article during article cleanup or word by word using word searches

Assessment

The department to assess articles with which this project deals, and, if required, draw attention to articles which are in need of attention.

Tasks

1. I propose renaming of Separation of church and state to Relations between religions and states, and Separation of church and state in the US to Secularism in the US or Relation between religions and state in the US.. Have a look at the relevant talk pages.. I am proposing the renames to counter the systemic bias and to make these articles have a more global approach.. Baristarim 11:17, 16 October 2006 (UTC)

This makes sense to me. Also, within the article currently entitled Separation of church and state it would be better to list the countries in alphabetical order and not try and classify them into those which have or do not have separation. There are just too many complex cases. The detail is in the text relating to each country, for those who are interested. Itsmejudith 17:01, 16 October 2006 (UTC)

I'm not sure about this; the term Separation of Church and State is used so frequently that it practically is a proper name; it's also qualitatively/conceptually distinctint from 'relations between religions and states' as it implies a certain kind of relationship betweeen religion and states. It's a philosophical concept found in the works of numerous political philosophers as well as in the writings of the 'founding fathers' of the United States. --The Way 06:39, 23 October 2006 (UTC)

The phrase is a widely-used term of art that is quoted in practically every legal decision which involves the relationship of government and religion (in the US). Putting it in quotes, perhaps, but PC'izing the phrase is unnecessary. Izaakb 00:44, 19 February 2007 (UTC)

Related articles

See also NPOV items, etc., on {{Spirituality tasks}}

NPOV

• List of purported cults
• Rajneesh
• Psychic detective - This article has been an ongoing target for attack by those who do not accept NPOV policy, as you can see at Talk:Psychic detective. If there is anyone here who has a good knowledge of this area, please help out the article needs a lot of work. - Solar 11:29, 6 February 2006 (UTC)
• Guru - unlike other articles on concepts in religion, this article contains a large section of "criticism" by Western scholars, some little-known. Talk page discussion has been polarized for many months. One editor claims he "has a problem to distinguish between good and bad gurus". Other editors (including myself) claim that this is original research. — goethean ॐ 17:03, 9 June 2006 (UTC)
• Cult apologist - Currently a cleanup is underway. Please feel free to add your input. --Justanother 14:37, 1 February 2007 (UTC)
• Cessationism could use some serious attention from any interested editors and/or experts. It is currently heavily biased with a huge Charismatic/Pentecostal focused bibliography and similar POV. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated. Vassyana 06:50, 19 February 2007 (UTC)
• The Promised Land (sculpture) The article for a statue in Portland Oregon. The statue itself expresses a POV: Supersessionism, implicitly asserting that Oregon is the Promised Land and that the white American Christians depicted therefore have a divine right to possess it and dispossess its indigenous inhabitants. The article assumes this as a false neutral, and tenant editors have refused to allow acknowledgement of it into the article. I've begun to challenge this on talk Talk:The_Promised_Land_(sculpture)#Meaning_and_interpretation_of_the_statue but have been accused of harrassment in a related dispute over the inscription (which I deny), and must now back off to avoid a block.Jaredscribe (talk) 07:20, 9 February 2021 (UTC)

Merge

• Brainwashing

Other, no tags

• Apostasy
• Cult
  • Cults and governments
  • Destructive cult
  • Opposition to cults and new religious movements
• Divine Light Mission
• Human - currently, Humanity and Homo Sapiens redirects to Human, where human beings and humanity are treated as primates. Some editors (including myself) believe that the article implies that human beings are nothing more than primates. Discussion page has been polarized for years. Along with others, the conflict has resulted in an Arbcom case against one religious editor, User:Sam Spade — goethean ॐ 17:09, 9 June 2006 (UTC)
• Intelligent Design
• List of new religious movements
• Prem Rawat
  • Criticism of Prem Rawat
• Sant Mat
• Sathya Sai Baba
  • Beliefs and practices in the Sathya Sai Organisation

Wikipedia articles on Freedom of religion

• Freedom of religion

Votes for deletion

• Votes for deletion (Article deletion):
• Votes for undelete (Article undeletion}:
• Templates for deletion:
• Categories for deletion:
• Images for deletion:
• Redirects for deletion:

Requests

2006-12-04: Indian Buddhist Revival and Kherlanji Massacre

As much as I'd love to do battle with Hkelkar and his fellow editors, I have a job and have to work.

This is the way the article Indian Buddhist Revival (now redirected, with no request for input, to a page called Dalit Buddhist Movement)looks today:[[1]]. The page history (briefly interrupted by an editor who futily tries to protest named Pkulkani)is here:[[2]].

The Kherlanji Massacre (which, believe me, is truly horrific by any human standard) looks like this [[3]]. This is it's page history:[[4]].

Hkelkar is working in concert with an Editor named Ambroodey, who was apparently called out of retirement by an editor named Dangerous Boy (or D-Boy). It appears I have a new "friend". NinaEliza 02:54, 5 December 2006 (UTC)

I can't BEGIN to enumerate the various flaws in both these articles, but here's just one example. The repeated rapes of these women is not "alleged", it's a fact. The murders (followed by the public parade of their bodies) are not an "alleged" crime.

By all accounts India is a Country brimming full with excellent examples of culture, architecture, botany, art, religious icons, as well as a phenomenally rich history. Furthermore, I assert that it's a Country fair to bursting with incredibly smart and compassionate people. But unless something happened that I'm not aware of recently, The great Nation of India still considers rapes and murders to be crimes.

You've simply let this go on to long. I appreciate that everyone is busy doing other things, or perhaps you sincerely did not know. But you must, must, start dealing with this. I'm copying the Hinduism project and the Indian Caste System project as well. I'm also copying my own projects. I know there's wonderful editors here, and wonderful people. I'm showing my hand, and asking for help.

NinaEliza 04:22, 5 December 2006 (UTC)

Yes, I know that these articles weren't part of WikiProject India, and I know that Hkelkar was never a member. I apologize for sounding so shrill, and for bringing up a painful subject. But now that you're aware of what's going on, I would dearly appreciate it if you take these articles into your care. Thank you.

NinaEliza 04:33, 5 December 2006 (UTC)

Okay, there's a lot of background, but basically the Indian Buddhist Movement(which isn't the best title) concerns Indians of Hindu descent classified as "dalits" converting to an extremely new form of Buddhism in an attempt to escape their caste, among other things. The Kherlanji massacre doesn't exactly fall into the purview of this project - the family that was murdered were dalit. I'm not an Indian, and am in fact an American Nichiren Buddhist. I would appreciate any and all assitance. If anything, just put them on your watchlist.

Please don't doubt my desire to join your project. I joined a few nights ago, and never thought I would be asking for help so soon. If there is anything I can be of assitance with in your own Wiki-World, please let me know.

Sincerely, NinaEliza 05:30, 5 December 2006 (UTC)

There are so many wikipedia WP:NPOV violations in the post above that it truly boggles the mind. Look at the following NEWS SOURCE (remember that little annoyance, sources? Remember those little things called news sites? FYI, they're very reliable) that states the rapes as "alleged" (exact words)[5]:

Two of them - Surekha and Priyanka were allegedly raped before they were killed.

See that? Allegedly. Ever hear of edits reflecting sources?Might want to read up on some wikipedia policies. Whether the Kherlanji crimes were atrocious, brutal or a Sunday afternoon barbecue is beside the point. We must adhere to NPOV. If articles on the holocaust (at least 6 million dead, and that's just us Jews) can be written in a neutral narrative why the hell not this? We are editors, not politicians. We should not use loaded words and distort the known facts unless we are certain that the sources reflect them. Memorize that please. Hkelkar 06:50, 5 December 2006 (UTC)

• NDTV.COM (New Delhi Television Ltd)[[6]]

• AsiaNewsItaly (For a more worldwide perspective) [[7]] (actually not so much a news source as Christian Missionary Site - it's quite hidden)

• CNN-IBN News (it's the India division of CNN)[[8]]

• Diligent Media Corporation [[9]]

Or, of course, you could do what you were going to do anyway and GOOGLE these events. You'll find neutral sources a plenty. NinaEliza 06:57, 5 December 2006 (UTC)

Lady you need to check your refs a bit more carefully. My NDTV article is more recent than yours, listing the rapes as alleged. Your NDTV article dates Nov 4th. Mine dates December 4th. Now, I don't know how dates work in Shangri-La or wherever, but here on planet Earth December comes AFTER November. Since the most recent NDTV article says "alleged rape", the most recent source of information is that the rapes are NOT established facts as far as NDTV is concerned. Understand?

Now, as far as that Bible-thumping rag "Asia News Italy" is concerned. Well, their partisanship is obvious.

And guess what. The CNN article, is an op/ed by Asim Khan, also dated prior to December 4th, and it doesn;t even mention the alleged Kherlanji rapes, only the murders briefly in ONE sentence (the murders, of course are not alleged but fact, there are dead bodies to prove that). Please learn to do some research before making transparent attempts to reduce wikipedia to the level of a political soap opera. Hkelkar 07:08, 5 December 2006 (UTC)

Hkelkar, I humbly apolgize for the terribly things I wrote above. It was offensive, irresponsible, and awful thing to bring up.

To all who read this request, please disregard it. I posted this request without discussing it with the editors in question, which is the worst form of bad faith. My hurtful and incredibly stupid remarks were aimed at the very faiths I said I would help, which is simply unforgivable.

It's also the worst way to introduce myself. Again, I am very sorry. I have posted unique apologies to both the WP:INB and WP:HINDU pages should you want to know in detail why what I did was so very wrong. I only hope to be able to regain the good faith that I have lost in time.

Sincerely, NinaEliza 07:48, 6 December 2006 (UTC)

2007-02-13 Baha'i Faith

I would appreciate some views on an old dispute I had regarding the article Institution of the Counsellors - detailed on the talk page - as to whether the names of members were suitabel for inclusion under the WP:N and WP:RS policies. Thanks AndrewRT(Talk) 19:13, 13 February 2007 (UTC)

Lot of distorted and bogus information

This article Vishwakarma_(caste) does not consider views and opinions from any of books written by the 18 crore Vishwakarma members and is purely relying on Non-Vishwakarma members? All the sources chosen are either from Christians writers or from Non-Vishwakarmas members? This is like editing articles on Christianity but choosing the views and opinions of Muslims and Non-Christian writers? Hopelessly written according to me. Request to check the same. On continuously trying to explain I get threats of getting blocked. I belong to this community Vishwakarma so I know the information here does not follow my belief systems. When I try to question I am being shown wiki guidelines like Wikipedia:NPOV etc. While will a non community member know more about a community? Will a article on Physics be better justified by editors who do not come from physics background? Ganesh J. Acharya (talk) 06:31, 22 September 2013 (UTC)

The reason to point this out is also to make readers and editors realize that Vishwakarma_(caste) has an entirely different customs and practices when compared to other Hindu communities. There are differences with regards to initiation of the yagnopaveetham and its practice there after, practice of the Vedas, marriage ceremony, ... the list goes on ..., and finally the death rituals. Ganesh J. Acharya (talk) 03:13, 28 September 2013 (UTC)

Category:Vice and Lust

I've marked both of these pages for NPOV review because of blatant religious bias, but unfortunately no one has made any positive contributions yet and I am not knowledgeable enough in either subject to make positive edits on my own. Could someone with a bit more background take a crack at them? unless 13:12, 17 April 2007 (UTC)

File:Philbar.png Only contains Western philosophers

I was around checking for more bias. I notice only pictures of Western philosophers. Philosophy has both Western and Eastern contributors. [10] The current pictures are of Plato, Kant, Nietzsche. All three are Western philosophers. Currently the entire Wikipedia is almost leaned towards the western world. Ganesh J. Acharya (talk) 03:57, 26 October 2013 (UTC) This bias is a persistent problem in university studies as well. I suggest Solomon, Patanjali, Lao Tzu, Maimonides. Jaredscribe (talk) 07:06, 9 February 2021 (UTC)

Jehovah's_Witnesses_beliefs

I can't believe that after all this time there is bias in these articles and twisting of the facts and truth. I start reading and right in the second paragraph some one has added a note about some dissemination of some news. This isn't some news that no one else is talking about that can be glossed over like that. There are bible translations out there that use the very phrase " The Good News" because it refers to The Gospel, that every Christian denomination refers to. So I changed it to what it should be and even added and internal link to the article for "The Gospel" which says in the first line, also referred to as "The Good News." These are the diffs. And I am worried that this twisting of the facts by omission is shows a glaring bias. And I request that it be observed for a period, placed on a watch list, or whatever is official done at this project. Thank you. 24.78.228.96 (talk) 06:50, 12 March 2021 (UTC)

It seems as though you may be over-reacting. You added a wikilink to the article, which was uncontested. It is not clear how the previous absence of that one wikilink indicates any 'twisting of facts', nor is it clear what other 'glaring bias' you're alluding to. You have not attempted to engage anyone at the article's Talk page regarding your concerns.--Jeffro77 (talk) 09:34, 12 March 2021 (UTC)

There he is, the man himself. I would want a second opinion on absolutely anything you have to say. As I wrote, I expect an attempt to be made to wipe away the internal link I added. The fact that I had to make that edit to the wording after all this time is a real concern. I'm glad you're here to minimize that point, which also vindicates my concern. 24.78.228.96 (talk) 16:46, 12 March 2021 (UTC)