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Conservapedia - the US religious right's answer to Wikipedia

 
 
Reply Thu 1 Mar, 2007 11:39 pm
This rightwing website challenges the 'liberal bias' of Wikipedia ...

Quote:
Conservapedia - the US religious right's answer to Wikipedia


Bobbie Johnson, technology correspondent
Friday March 2, 2007
The Guardian


It has been attacked many times in its short life, most notably by a former aide to Robert F Kennedy and the editor of Encyclopaedia Britannica. But now the online reference site Wikipedia has a new foe: evangelical Christians.
A website founded by US religious activists aims to counter what they claim is "liberal bias" on Wikipedia, the open encyclopedia which has become one of the most popular sites on the web. The founders of Conservapedia.com say their site offers a "much-needed alternative" to Wikipedia, which they say is "increasingly anti-Christian and anti-American".

Although entries on Wikipedia are open for anyone to edit, conservative campaigners say they are unable to make changes to articles on the site because of inherent bias by its global team of volunteer editors. Instead they have chosen to build a clone which they hope will promote Christian values.
"I've tried editing Wikipedia, and found that the biased editors who dominate it censor or change facts to suit their views," Andy Schlafly, the founder of Conservapedia, told the Guardian. "In one case my factual edits were removed within 60 seconds - so editing Wikipedia is no longer a viable approach."

Among his criticisms listed on Conservapedia, Mr Schlafly explains how many Wikipedia articles often use British spelling instead of American English and says that it "refuses" to give enough credit to Christianity for the Renaissance. "Facts against the theory of evolution are almost immediately censored," he continues.

Mr Schlafly, a lawyer by day, is the son of a prominent American conservative, Phyllis Schlafly, renowned for her opposition to feminism and the Equal Rights Amendment. He says Conservapedia was created last November as a project for home-schooled children - and believes it could eventually become a reference for teachers in the US. "It is rapidly becoming one of the largest and most reliable online educational resources of its kind," he said.

Wikipedia has come in for criticism for its open approach, notably from Dale Hoiberg, the editor-in-chief of Encyclopaedia Britannica. Mr Hoiberg disputed a survey in the scientific journal Nature which found that the website was just as accurate as its venerable counterpart. Meanwhile, a Tennessee journalist, John Seigenthaler, attacked the site for suggesting he had been accused of involvement in the assassinations of both John and Bobby Kennedy in the 1960s.

The arrival of Conservapedia has been met with derision by much of the internet community. But Jimmy Wales, the co-founder of Wikipedia, said he was not upset by the rightwing site's claims.

"Free culture knows no bounds," he said. "We welcome the reuse of our work to build variants. That's directly in line with our mission."
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Walter Hinteler
 
  1  
Reply Thu 1 Mar, 2007 11:39 pm
Quote:
How they compare:

Dinosaurs

Wikipedia

"Vertebrate animals that dominated terrestrial ecosystems for over 160m years, first appearing approximately 230m years ago."

Conservapedia

"They are mentioned in numerous places throughout the Good Book. For example, the behemoth in Job and the leviathan in Isaiah are almost certainly references to dinosaurs."


US Democratic party

Wikipedia


"The party advocates civil liberties, social freedoms, equal rights, equal opportunity, fiscal responsibility, and a free enterprise system tempered by government intervention."

Conservapedia

"The Democrat voting record reveals a true agenda of cowering to terrorism, treasonous anti-Americanism, and contempt for America's founding principles."


Source
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Walter Hinteler
 
  1  
Reply Thu 1 Mar, 2007 11:42 pm
Quote:
Germany
From Conservapedia

A country in central Europe that was blamed for both Wolrd Wars and claimed to be the dominate race of mankind.


I suppose, you really don't need to know more Shocked
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OCCOM BILL
 
  1  
Reply Thu 1 Mar, 2007 11:45 pm
Laughing
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dyslexia
 
  1  
Reply Thu 1 Mar, 2007 11:51 pm
Laughing Laughing
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Walter Hinteler
 
  1  
Reply Thu 1 Mar, 2007 11:58 pm
Despite suspicions in late February on several sites that it is a parody, the site is apparently deadly serious.

Seems that it has become the laughing stock of the internet, as bloggers compete to find the most ludicrous entries.


I confess that I thaught at first it was done by some .... who-ever. But since it's now in a serious paper, I made some new researches ...
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Walter Hinteler
 
  1  
Reply Fri 2 Mar, 2007 12:01 am
The Cold War entry in its entirety (as is the one about Germany above quoted!!!)
Quote:
The Cold War was a war between the United States and the Soviet Union. There was no direct fighting between the superpowers, but only an nuclear arms race. They each built many nuclear bombs and used them to terrify the other side. The United States had non-communitst allies and the Soviet Union had communist allies. These allies fought each other diectly. The United States would supply its allies and the Soviet Union would supply theirs. President Ronald Reagan finally ended the Cold War in 1989 because he caused the Soviet Union to fall.



And then there's of course history ...


Quote:
Introduction to Ancient History
Ancient history, which is everything before about A.D. 600, created or discovered all the major religions today except Islam. Ancient history created civilization and achieved many of the greatest intellectual breakthroughs of all time. Literature, drama, mathematics, philosophy, language, etc., were all created in ancient history.

When did mankind first begin? There is no reliable evidence of man existing before 3500 B.C. The oldest writing is a pictographic tablet called a "cuneiform" dated to about 3400 B.C. from Sumer ... ... ...


Quote:
Weimar Republic
From Conservapedia

The Weimar Republic is the republic which governed Germany from 1919 to 1933. It experienced many problems.

This government was already disliked by the German people for having signed the humiliating Treaty of Versailles. The huge reparations required by that Treaty caused an even bigger problem. Germany simply could not pay.

So Germany began printing money, and lots of it. This made it easier for Germany to pay its reparations, but caused enormous inflation in Germany. People were outraged at the loss in value of their savings, and hardship resulted as the German mark (its currency) became almost worthless. The German people disapproved even more of their own government.
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OCCOM BILL
 
  1  
Reply Fri 2 Mar, 2007 12:42 am
Maybe it's not to biased after all (or they've been hacked)... look what it says about Clinton. Laughing

[url=http://www.conservapedia.com/Bill_Clinton]Conservapedia[/url] wrote:
Bill Clinton managed to serve two terms without botching the prosecution of two wars, manipulating intelligence, engaging in a systematic program of torture, or mishandling the federal response to flooding of a major American city. Obviously, he is the devil incarnate. Clinton also attempted to use the American military to kill Osama Bin Laden and Al Qaeda, an action which was properly seen as a mere attempt to distract the nation from the Monica Lewinsky scandal.
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OCCOM BILL
 
  1  
Reply Fri 2 Mar, 2007 12:47 am
Oooh, this is much better! Click here and then click on "national health care system." Priceless. Laughing
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dyslexia
 
  1  
Reply Fri 2 Mar, 2007 12:48 am
OCCOM BILL wrote:
Maybe it's not to biased after all (or they've been hacked)... look what it says about Clinton. Laughing

[url=http://www.conservapedia.com/Bill_Clinton]Conservapedia[/url] wrote:
Bill Clinton managed to serve two terms without botching the prosecution of two wars, manipulating intelligence, engaging in a systematic program of torture, or mishandling the federal response to flooding of a major American city. Obviously, he is the devil incarnate. Clinton also attempted to use the American military to kill Osama Bin Laden and Al Qaeda, an action which was properly seen as a mere attempt to distract the nation from the Monica Lewinsky scandal.

Obviously hacked Laughing
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dlowan
 
  1  
Reply Fri 2 Mar, 2007 12:57 am
oh my...this is very funny!
0 Replies
 
Walter Hinteler
 
  1  
Reply Fri 2 Mar, 2007 12:59 am
dlowan wrote:
oh my...this is very funny!


I've never had had so much fun any morning Laughing

Btw, the Wikipedia entry for "Conservapedia"

Quote:
Eagle Forum is a conservative organization founded in 1972 and led by Phyllis Schlafly. Primarily focused around social issues, it describes itself as pro-family, although opponents have described it as anti-feminist[1][2] and socially conservative.[3]

Eagle Forum claims to have a membership around 80,000.[4] It has two youth-oriented programs: the "Teen Eagles" program for children ages 12-17, and the "Eagle Forum Collegians" for conservative-minded college students. Eagle Forum maintains offices in Clayton, Missouri; Alton, Illinois; and Washington, D.C.

Eagle Forum operates "Eagle Forum University", a "continuing education" program that offers conservative-oriented online courses on various topics. Eagle Forum University courses make use of Conservapedia, a nascent wiki-based online encyclopedia founded in reaction to alleged liberal bias in Wikipedia.[5]. As of February, 2007, Conservapedia's Alexa traffic rank has surged to nearly 10,000 for a few days. [6] Conservapedia is no longer allowing new visitors to create accounts and contribute content. [7]
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OCCOM BILL
 
  1  
Reply Fri 2 Mar, 2007 01:21 am
http://www.conservapedia.com/ACLU
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dyslexia
 
  1  
Reply Fri 2 Mar, 2007 01:25 am

I guess I need to up my donation to ACLU.
0 Replies
 
Walter Hinteler
 
  1  
Reply Fri 2 Mar, 2007 02:31 am
Quote:
Spanish-American War
From Conservapedia
Jump to: navigation, search
The war between America and Spain for control of Cuba, the Phillipines and other Spainish colonies, which America, being a Christian nation, won, while Spain, being a Catholic country, lost.

Retrieved from "http://www.conservapedia.com/Spanish-American_War"
0 Replies
 
OCCOM BILL
 
  1  
Reply Fri 2 Mar, 2007 03:19 am
Laughing Obviously that was a fore drawn conclusion.
0 Replies
 
Lord Ellpus
 
  1  
Reply Fri 2 Mar, 2007 04:07 am
....and of course, there's always creationwiki......
0 Replies
 
Setanta
 
  1  
Reply Fri 2 Mar, 2007 11:15 am
Walter Hinteler wrote:
Quote:
Spanish-American War
From Conservapedia
Jump to: navigation, search
The war between America and Spain for control of Cuba, the Phillipines and other Spainish colonies, which America, being a Christian nation, won, while Spain, being a Catholic country, lost.

Retrieved from "http://www.conservapedia.com/Spanish-American_War"


Fiction often mimics truth. After the Spanish War, reporters at the White House asked McKinely what he intended to do about the Philippines. He provided a lot of platitudes about democracy and modern life, and then said that they intended to bring christianity to the islands. One reporter said: "But, Mr. President, the Philippines are Catholic." McKinley replied: "Exactly."
0 Replies
 
Setanta
 
  1  
Reply Fri 2 Mar, 2007 11:20 am
It's kind of pathetic to note that they are either witlessly using exactly the same software package, or have tried very hard to look exactly like Wikipedia.
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OCCOM BILL
 
  1  
Reply Fri 2 Mar, 2007 11:20 am
Laughing
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