wackypedia
As we all know, the Wikipedia is an open encyclopedia that can be (theoretically) edited by anyone, guided by the principle of delivering reliable, balanced, unbiased information. However, for much time I was under impression that the English Wikipedia is dominated by anti-Christian/anti- Catholic bias.
Nevertheless, I tried to add a minor edit in the article Relics associated with Jesus. The lead goes currently:
A number of relics associated with Jesus have been claimed and displayed throughout the history of Christianity. Some people believe in the authenticity of some relics; others doubt the authenticity of various items. For instance, the sixteenth-century Catholic theologian Erasmus wrote sarcastically about the proliferation of relics, and the number of buildings that could have been constructed from the wood claimed to be from the cross used in the Crucifixion of Christ. Similarly, while experts debate whether Christ was crucified with three or with four nails, at least thirty Holy Nails continue to be venerated as relics across Europe.
I, being anonymous user with IP, tried to add the following note on the end, to have it more balanced:
On the other hand, the authors Górny and Rosikoń state that in case of some relics "the results of numerous time-consuming and comprehensive analyses, conducted using the most technologically advanced equipment available, seemed to coincide with assertions prevalent in Christian tradition."
Citing Górny& Rosikoń prologue to their Witnesses of Mystery, pg. 7. You can see my version here.
Unfortunately, as I expected, there came some brainless admin, nicknamed Dougweller, and reverted my edits, under the pretext that the book is not “reliable source”. After several reverts, and this regrettable discussion with him and his buddies, they blocked the article, and removed the “improper” content. The argument of force was stronger than the force of the arguments.
Sadly, this is not the single example on the Wikipedia. Just see the article on Jesus section ‘Relics_associated_with_Jesus’:
The total destruction that ensued the siege of Jerusalem by the Romans in 70 AD made the survival of items from first century Judea very rare and almost no direct records survive about the history of Judaism from the last part of the first century through the second century.[374][375][j] Margaret M. Mitchell writes that although Eusebius reports (Ecclesiastical History III 5.3) that the early Christians left Jerusalem for Pella just before Jerusalem was subjected to the final lock down, we must accept that no first hand Christian items from the early Jerusalem Church have reached us.[377] However, throughout the history of Christianity a number of relics attributed to Jesus have been claimed, although doubt has been cast on them, e.g. the 16th-century Catholic theologian Erasmus wrote sarcastically about the proliferation of relics and the number of buildings that could have been constructed from the wood claimed to be from the cross used in the Crucifixion.[378] Similarly, while experts debate whether Jesus was crucified with three nails or with four, at least thirty holy nails continue to be venerated as relics across Europe.[379] Some relics, such as purported remnants of the Crown of Thorns, receive only a modest number of pilgrims, while the Shroud of Turin (which is associated with an approved Catholic devotion to the Holy Face of Jesus), have received millions,[380] including Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI.[381][382] Modern scholarship strongly doubts the authenticity of all relics attributed to
Jesus.[383 –reference to Joe Nickell’s book ‘Relics of the Christ’]
The purpose of this section is obvious –to show readers that no authentic relics of Christ can exist.
Now see the lead of the article on the Shroud:
The Shroud of Turin or Turin Shroud (Italian: Sindone di Torino) is a length of linen cloth bearing the image of a man who appears to have suffered physical trauma in a manner consistent with crucifixion. It is believed by some to be the burial shroud of Jesus of Nazareth, despite radiocarbon dating placing its origins in the Medieval period.[1] The image is much clearer in black-and-white negative than in its natural sepia color. The negative image was first observed in 1898, on the reverse photographic plate of amateur photographer Secondo Pia, who was allowed to photograph it while it was being exhibited in the Turin Cathedral. It is kept in the royal chapel of the Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist in Turin, northern Italy.
[…]
In 1978, a detailed examination carried out by a team of American scientists, called the Shroud of Turin Research Project (STURP), found no reliable evidence of how the image was produced. In 1988 a radiocarbon dating test was performed on small samples of the shroud. The laboratories at the University of Oxford, the University of Arizona, and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology concurred that the samples they tested dated from the Middle Ages, between 1260 and 1390. Since 2005, at least four scholarly articles have been published in various sources stating that the samples used for the dating test may not have been representative of the whole Shroud.[3] The people who performed the dating process, a former scientist who studied the radiographs and transmitted light images taken by STURP, a textile expert who handled the shroud during its 2002 restoration process and a carbon-dating expert who examined a surviving portion of the original radiocarbon sample have all individually confirmed that the radiocarbon sample was part of the original cloth, and was not part of any later repair. (boldings mine)
What is most important, besides the basic information? To assure readers FOUR TIMES (“people who performed the dating process,” “a former scientist who studied the radiographs and transmitted light images taken by STURP” –this is reference to John Jackson, who nevertheless believes the Shroud is from the 1st century, “a textile expert who handled the shroud during its 2002 restoration process”- Mechthilde Flury-Lemberg, who also believe the Shroud to be genuine, and a carbon-dating expert who examined a surviving portion of the original radiocarbon sample – reference to T.A. Jull) that the carbon-dating is right. That’s the most important message here.
And so on. I could give more examples, how the Wikipedia works. It is not for my nerves. But the problem is that who has Wikipedia, has the power, as it is today the basic source of information for millions around the globe. So we cannot give up, and let the skeptics/militant atheists/other folks with hostile agenda rampage over there. As long as we do not take matters into our own hands we will be considered as flat-earthers by large part of the brainwashed population.
Wikipedia is a basic source of information, not something advanced for scholars, and the citations are important.
That second paragraph in wikipedia about the 3 specialists who ”dated” the Shroud is very misleading is that in wikipedia too
You could look.
I have been editing Wikipedia articles since 2003, and I can tell you this: you will have a fight on your hands. There are some very good articles on religious topics — because they are largely left alone by the so-called ‘skeptics.’ But the Shroud matters — for all the obvious reasons. Don’t get me wrong — I think this is a fight worth having, and there’s no more public venue for it than Wikipedia. Just be prepared to match them, either with vigilance bordering on obsessive-compulsive disorder or with numbers and discipline; you’ll need a group of people dedicated to watching and influencing the article.
Initially, they will respond within Wikipedia — by using the system to their advantage. If you persist, they’ll use social media channels like Twitter and Reddit to rally atheists to the fight. So, the key is to out-think and above all out-reference them. I would suggest focused, defensible edits. Discredit the work of McCrone and Nickell, for example. Wherever possible, reference only peer-reviewed studies in major journals (the atheist gospels). Don’t, for example, cite the Górny and Rosikoń book (nothing against it; my pre-ordered copy is on my desk as I type this); instead, cite the actual studies or research on which they relied.
Step one is to prepare by learning how Wikipedia works. YouTube is a good source for this. For example, here’s a two-part video on how to add citations in Wikipedia articles: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2HFdEtYDyc and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_a9fBc13b4
Ultimately, this is winnable because the weight of research, facts, etc. are on the side of (at the very least) the Shroud being completely unique and utterly inexplicable. Just understand what you’d be getting yourselves into. I think it’s important, though, precisely because Wikipedia represents the zeitgeist of the Internet (sort of a meta-zeitgeist, I guess). A truly balanced, NPOV article here will make a lot of people think about the Shroud, the evidence, and what it all means. But then, in the interests of full disclosure: I pick fights with atheists on Twitter for fun. So, my objectivity is clearly suspect when the subject is ‘pointless arguments on the Internet.’
As a follow up to my comment, I have been testing the waters on the Wikipedia page by trying to correct a single word in the introduction. After being reverted a few times, I added the following to the Talk page:
The final sentence of the introduction identifies the TS as ‘one of the most studied and controversial artifacts in human history.’ My attempt to correct this sentence has been repeatedly reverted. There are two reasons the correction is needed. First, use of the term ‘artifact’ is not NPOV, as the article goes on to state the image — the thing that makes it controversial — was formed by unknown means and is the subject of debate.
The Oxford English Dictionary defines ‘artifact’ as: An object made or modified by human workmanship, as opposed to one formed by natural processes.
Merriam-Webster is even more definitive:
1.a : something created by humans usually for a practical purpose; especially : an object remaining from a particular period
1.b : something characteristic of or resulting from a particular human institution, period, trend, or individual
2 : a product of artificial character (as in a scientific test) due usually to extraneous (as human) agency
This exludes a) natural processes and b) acheiropoieta. Thus, the use of ‘artifact’ represents editorial opinion. This would seem to be confirmed by the revision comment: artifact is correct (this shroud was made by someone), don’t change words in quotations.
The words are not part of a quotation; if they are, they are quoted inaccurately. The reference included for this sentence states: According to LLoyd A. Currie, it is “widely accepted” that “the Shroud of Turin is the single, most studied object in human history” in Lloyd A. Currie, “The Remarkable Metrological History of Radiocarbon Dating Journal of the National Institute of Standards and Technology 109, 2004, p. 200.
Currie says ‘object,’ not ‘artifact.’
There is some anti-Christian bias depending on who writes in Wikipedia. The bias is strong in England and the Anglican Church is needing new blood:
http://www.ucanews.com/news/church-of-england-is-one-generation-away-from-extinction/69730
Way up on the bias scale : Shroud’s page in French wikipedia. But don’t worry, anyone really interested in the Shroud could find this blog on google.
And some anti-Christian bias coming from some quarters too…