Difference between revisions of "Conservapedia talk:Commandments"

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Encyclopedic Content

We should add a new commandment that states that only things that qualify as encyclopedic content will be allowed. one of our criticisims of Wikipedia is "Wikipedia claims about 1.5 million articles, but what it does not say is that a large number of those articles have zero educational value. For example, Wikipedia has 995 separate articles about "Moby" and "song". Many hundreds of thousands of Wikipedia articles -- perhaps over half its website -- are about music, Hollywood, and other topics and gossip beneath a regular encyclopedia." We should be backing this up with a commandment. --TimSvendsen 22:31, 24 January 2007 (EST)

• Tim, I don't know if that's all that necessary right now. As you say on the South Park page... we have only deleted one because of its content. Remember, we don't want to have a ton of rules. If this ever becomes a major problem we can add it. PhilipB 08:59, 25 January 2007 (EST)
• Perhaps we should simply make a guideline about encyclopedic content. It could read something like this: "When creating new pages, we request that you attempt to limit your contributions to encyclopedic content." If we add that, we will need to define Encyclopedic Content. I think one of our main problems is that this is rather difficult to define. This whole issue is not very important at the moment, so we can probably just continue what we have been doing so far for the time being. I think we will need a rule on this at some point in the future, however. We should discuss this further so we will be have a plan to use when that time comes. ~ SharonS 13:11, 25 January 2007 (EST)

We need to add a commandment to prevent a problem from happening in the future. Is there ever a reason to allow an article that is not encyclopedic content? If not, then why not have a commandment. --TimSvendsen 22:48, 25 January 2007 (EST)

If we add an encyclopedic content commandment, it will keep people from posting non-encyclopedic content to begin with. Can anyone give an example of non-encyclopedic content that we would want to keep. --TimSvendsen 10:37, 31 January 2007 (EST)

We criticize Wikipedia for havin lots of useless articles that a "real encyclopedia" would not include. If we do not make a rule about such things here, then when we start getting alot of users, we will start having the same problem here. --TimSvendsen 15:37, 7 February 2007 (EST)

Tim, I changed my mind. I think it would be smart to make a command about this. PhilipB 15:44, 7 February 2007 (EST)

What is meant by what a real encyclopedia would have? For example, there has been some discussion about whether an article about South Park is acceptable. One could similarly ask about whether the Daily Show would be a legitimate topic for an article(certainly the fact that it was one of the most popular political comedy show on TV and is often accused of having a liberal bias is relevant) or what about comic strips such as Doonsebury and Opus? Similarly, going backwards in time, what about the Twilight Zone which in its original incarnation often included social commentary? Or Gilbert and Sullivan who in there day were considered to be pop culture. Heck, we can continue this all the way back to the Oresteia. If a line is going to be drawn, it should be clear where it is. JoshuaZ 15:46, 7 February 2007 (EST)

I think that we should have a Commandment limiting entries to "encyclopedic content," and then define encyclopedic content in a seperate page. on the subject of TV shows, we should establish concrete criteria that disqualifies most TV shows but might allow some that have had a particular impact. (I am not sure on South Park it does not seem to me to be very imortant, but I do not know much about it.) --TimSvendsen 17:09, 7 February 2007 (EST)

To be honest, its hard for me to see how we couldn't have an article on it given how political the show is and how many people watch it. Also, I think your response about defining it on another page is a bit of a non-answer. Part of my concern above was how to define encyclopedic content and whether there is a good defintion. How possible it is to come to an agreement about how to define encyclopedic content is relevant to whether or not we should have the policy.JoshuaZ 17:14, 7 February 2007 (EST)

I personally know virtually nothing about South Park so I do not really know if we should have it. --TimSvendsen 17:28, 7 February 2007 (EST)

Possible Definitions

Make suggestions for defining encyclopedic content here.

The word "encyclopedia" comes from the root "-pedia," learning. "Encyclo-" means... well, here's what the American Heritage dictionary says:

The word encyclopedia, which to us usually means a large set of books, descends from a phrase that involved coming to grips with the contents of such books. The Greek phrase is enkuklios paideia, made up of enkuklios, “cyclical, periodic, ordinary,” and paideia, “education,” and meaning “general education.” Copyists of Latin manuscripts took this phrase to be a single Greek word, enkuklopaedia, with the same meaning, and this spurious Greek word became the New Latin word encyclopaedia, coming into English with the sense “general course of instruction,” first recorded in 1531. In New Latin the word was chosen as the title of a reference work covering all knowledge.[1]

"Knowledge" has several dictionary meanings, but since the -pedia root means "education," I think the meaning of "knowledge" that applies here is "Learning; erudition: teachers of great knowledge."[2]

So, my definition of "encyclopedic content" would be "content that is clearly related to a school curriculum." In the case of the World Book, I think that's a high school curriculum; the Britannica, a college curriculum.Dpbsmith 19:25, 7 February 2007 (EST)

Here is a general idea for a definition of encyclopedic content: Content that is useful, informative, important, major news, no advertising, no movie or TV show reviews, Etc. --TimSvendsen 17:28, 7 February 2007 (EST)

Unofficial Poll

Encyclopedic Content Commandment.

For

1.--TimSvendsen 17:12, 7 February 2007 (EST)

2.-- PhilipB 13:15, 14 February 2007 (EST)

3 MountainDew 01:16, 7 March 2007 (EST) (although maybe as a suggested guideline more than a rule)

Against

1. Cross that bridge when you come to it. Dpbsmith 19:25, 7 February 2007 (EST)

2. Clearly not what we want. For example, this would prohibit articles about documentaries. For example, I think most of would see Inherit the Wind, The Passion of The Christ, Birth of a Nation, An Inconvenient Truth, Farehenheit 9/11 as all candidates for articles. JoshuaZ 18:42, 15 February 2007 (EST)

Reply I don't see how it would prohibit documentaries or movies. --TimSvendsen 19:17, 15 February 2007 (EST)

Well then, what precisely are you prohibiting by "no movie or TV show reviews"?JoshuaZ 19:57, 15 February 2007 (EST)

I mean movie reviews as in: this is a good movie because... or don't see this movie... More Opinionated POV stuff. I guess I could have been more specific. --TimSvendsen 22:57, 15 February 2007 (EST)

That doesn't end up saying much. I mean, Wikipedia doesn't allow movie reviews in that sense either. It isn't clear to me now what precisely would be disallowed by this policy that isn't trivial. JoshuaZ 23:00, 15 February 2007 (EST)

3. Count me as against this proposed limitation. Deletions can always be made later, but at this early stage in the project we want it to be able to grow in many different directions. Recall the parable about the wheat and the chaff? Jesus explained that you do not sort the two early, but only at harvest. No reason to rush to delete and risk stamping out something that might grow and bear fruit.

I might add that the Bias in Wikipedia page does not complain about useless Wikipedia entries. One (of 22) complaints there criticized Wikipedia's bragging about have so many entries, which the vast majority of its entries are frivilous. That is a complaint about misleading advertising, not a demand for deletion. Several complaints about Wikipedia on Bias in Wikipedia are about speedy and arbitrary deletions, something we want to avoid here.--Aschlafly 19:45, 15 February 2007 (EST)

Reply The Examples of Bias page has 5 entries attacking Wikipedia for having too much useless Info, (Nos 7, 10, 18, 19 and 22) and only 1 attacking the deletion policy, (No 9) --TimSvendsen 11:59, 15 February 2007 (EST)

"Inclusionism" versus "deletionism"

This discussion, and the one at AFD Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, parallel a very longstanding polarization in Wikipedia between "inclusionism" and "deletionism." When people are allowed to edit without direct supervision, they concentrate on those topics for which they have the greatest enthusiasm, which leads to unbalanced coverage. It also leads to the creation of articles which detractors call "cruft:" articles covering extreme minutiae, or articles covering things of interest to only a tiny number of people.

Aschlafly criticizes the overemphasis on pop culture, but I don't know if he's even run across the cruftier kinds of Wikipedia articles. Some specific topic areas that have generated heated discussion in the past:

• Unimportant roads, e.g. Netcong Circle, County Road 520, New Jersey
• Minuscule micronations, e.g. Republic of Kugelmugel (small organizations which claim to be independent nations.) (A well-known one would be Sealand).
• Conlangs (artificially constructed languages) used by tiny numbers of people, e.g. Toki Pona (Well-known ones would be Esperanto... and Klingon).
• Overspecialized lists, e.g. List of songs containing the name of a ship, aircraft or spacecraft
• Schools with nothing obviously special or important about them, e.g. Battlefield Middle School

People are constantly contributing articles about games, phrases, etc. said to be in use at a single school, to the point where Wikipedia actually has a guideline, Wikipedia is not for things made up in school one day.

(No doubt Aschlafly, who keeps giving me rope on which I keep hanging myself, will add these to his examples of Wikipedian silliness...) Inclusionists concentrate on the importance of building the encyclopedia and attracting contributions, and emphasize the virtues of improving rather than deleting sketchy articles on "silly" subjects. Some inclusionists would accept articles on any topic whatsoever, subject only to "verifiability." Deletionists emphasize the importance of keeping a high standard and getting rid of low-quality articles that are not actually being improved. Dpbsmith 06:16, 16 February 2007 (EST)

A different problem, which Conservapedia may encounter in time, is self-promotion. As Wikipedia began to attract wide notice, it occurred to many people that an article in Wikipedia could be an inexpensive form of publicity. This has led to fairly formalized "notability" criteria for websites, corporations, and rock bands. Dpbsmith 08:13, 16 February 2007 (EST)

In the end, however, we have to remember that online encyclopedias are infinitely expandable, to the point of encompassing all human knowledge in time. The fact that the Britannica leaves some things out may be more a case of "Nobody will buy a 3,000 volume set" than a case of "Some things shouldn't be in an encyclopedia". The emphasis on minutiae may be Wikipedia's greatest draw - you don't go to an online encyclopedia to find things you can find at the library, you go on to find the things you cannot find anywhere else. In another ten years, when Wikipedia fills in the gaps, it may very well be THE place to go when looking something up, just because you can find ANYTHING there, no matter how obscure. Reputation counts.--Smalltownhick 20:15, 11 March 2007 (EDT)

WWII German Entries

We all know i have done alot of WWII entries in German. I hope i am not breaking rule #5. Get back to me on that. User:Will N.

American English spelling and foreign names.

Should Martín Torrijos or Martin Torrijos be preffered? JoshuaZ 21:00, 15 February 2007 (EST)

• We seem to be using American spellings, as in the case of Hapsburg (instead of Habsburg), so I guess we should omit the accent mark. ~ SharonS 21:07, 15 February 2007 (EST)

The accent is part of the guy's name. American spellings accept the accent mark within names. --David R 12:47, 16 February 2007 (EST)

Also, I should note that the American spelling of the Austrian dynasty (Hapsburg in America) seems like a strange case to cite in arguing against Wikipedia's supposed Anglophilia, and as a policy precedent for Conservapedia. The actual name of the dynasty is Habsburg. As such, most scholars (including Americans) prefer the original spelling, and I see no reason not to use this, particularly since isn't a question of transliteration or preserving a diacritical mark not used in English.

To me, this screams for a clarification. Even if Conservapedia wants its content to use American spellings, does this extend to "Americanizing" proper names and official names/titles? Would Conservapedia have the name of the ruling party in the British parliament spelled "Labor," even though its official name is "Labour"? Or, to give another example, would Slavic names like "Edvard" and "Josef" be rendered into their English equivalents "Edward" and "Joseph"? Personally, I think the rule about American spelling should not be absolute, and that formal names of individuals and organizations should be retained as much as possible, including appropriate accents and diacritical marks. I'm not saying the original names or acronyms of foreign organizations (as opposed to personal names) would have to be used exclusively, but that it would be good to include the original name in the entry as a point of reference.

For instance, an entry on the German Nazi Party could give its original German name and acronym in parentheses (Nationalsozialistiche Deutsche Arbeitspartei, or NSDAP), along with an English translation (National Socialist German Workers Party). It's useful for someone who's studying a foreign language and wants to know the name in the original, and also as a means of explaining why the acronyms often used for such organizations don't always correspond exactly to the English translation.

"Metric" vs. "English" units in scientific articles?

While changing Earth from a prank entry to a real entry, I realized I don't know what the Conservapedian community prefers with respect to style. For over a century, scientific writing has always used "metric" units exclusively, while in commerce and everyday life the United States uses the "English" system (pounds, inches, feet, miles, gallons, etc.)

For a while, in the seventies, it appeared that the U. S. might start using the metric system in ordinary life, but the Reagan administration put the kibosh on that. The imposition of the metric system into ordinary life is vaguely seen as "liberal" and opposition to it as "conservative." (BTW one of the horrors of George Orwell's "Nineteen Eighty-Four" was that his nightmare totalitarian state had imposed the metric system on England and pubs wouldn't draw "pints" any more).

(Formally and properly the "metric" system is called SI for "système international") The system used in the United States is sometimes called "English" but is properly called "U. S. Customary" because some of the units are different; gallons, for example).

The metric system has been legal in the United States (though of course not mandatory) since 1866, and all U. S. measurements have for a very long time been legally defined with reference to the metric system, i.e. the legal definition of one inch is 25.4 mm.

What style is preferred in Conservapedia for clearly scientific material?

1) Doesn't matter. Use whatever is convenient, i.e. whatever was used in whatever source was consulted for writing the material; for scientific material that would usually be SI. As a service to the reader, add a conversion later at any convenient time and without any fussing or making a political issue of it.

2) English (metric). Use U. S. Customary, with metric equivalent in parentheses: "The average distance from the Earth to the Sun is about 93 million miles (150 million km)?"

3) Metric (English). Use SI, with U. S. Customary equivalent in parentheses: "The average distance from the Earth to the Sun is about 150 million kilometers (93 million mi)."

4) English only. Use U. S. Customary only: "The average distance from the Earth to the Sun is about 93 million miles.?"

5) Metric only. "The average distance from the Earth to the Sun is about 150 million miles."

Choice 1 is my preference.

P. S. Google will convert units for you. If you "search" for "50 cc in fluid ounces" Google returns "50 cc = 1.69070113 US fluid ounces" Dpbsmith 05:43, 1 March 2007 (EST)

I don think that we can ask our contributors to bother converting their information to our prefered system.

--BenjaminS 09:14, 1 March 2007 (EST)

External Links, Bots

I propose the following. External links should be to reputable sites that are connected to the article subject. and Unauthorized bots are prohibited.

Thoughts? Geo. 20:51, 6 March 2007 (EST)

Do you have any firm criteria in mind for defining 'reputable?' Tsumetai 20:54, 6 March 2007 (EST)

And what do you mean by connected? In fact, I would think in many cases a certain level of lack of connection is a good thing since there is likely to be less bias. JoshuaZ 20:58, 6 March 2007 (EST)

Reputable will probably have to be done on a case by case basis and I mean connected as in not placing a link for cooking in the physics sections. Geo. 21:04, 6 March 2007 (EST)

I don't think we need a policy to tell people that completely unrelated links shouldn't be put in (I'd also phrase that differently anyways something like "External links should be relevant to the subject of the article at hand". I am very worried about cases by case reputability deciding. While obviosly at the end of the day every case is slightly different, we will need general rules. (So for example, it seems that some users have already asserted that the Talk Origins Archive is so bad that we can't even link to it, while CreationWiki can even be used as a source). JoshuaZ 21:11, 6 March 2007 (EST)

I created a list to compile possible rules.Geo. 21:43, 6 March 2007 (EST)

Anyone opposed to bot restrictions? Geo. 21:43, 6 March 2007 (EST)

Brainstorm List-Reputability Guidelines

• The site generally should not exist primarily for profit
• Sites should have factual content

Regarding repeatedly changing words to the "Brit" spelling

I think Conservapedia should merely slightly favor American spelling of words since most users would probably be American. Specifically, I think that only titles of articles should favor the American spelling and we should have redirects using the British spellings. I think that people from Britain and the commonwealth (who probably use British spellings) can make valuable contributions to Conservapedia. I see no reason to alienate these individuals by majoring on the minors. I see no problem with using British spellings and for Brits and others to change the various words spelling to British spellings since they likely believe the "American spelling" is incorrectly spelled. I see no reason to ban someone for repeatedly changing the spelling of words to the British spelling since they might in many cases not even know there was an American spelling to various words. In short, I see no reason why Conservapedia should be associated with being a "Ugly American" organization. I think such a policy outlined here would insure that Conservapedia has more of a global impact. Conservative 22:59, 6 March 2007 (EST)conservative

I see your point, but we are an American organization, and the Commandment does not completely prohibit British spelling. Geo. 23:02, 6 March 2007 (EST)

Actually it says that the user will be block after repeated uses of the British spelling. But I do not see much dissent coming from our motherland. A British magazine did an article on Conservapedia, in which they gave our description and a short paragraph. It was lacking in criticism of our rule. So I don't think it is as offensive as you make it out to be Conservative. However, I do not object to making redirect pages that convert from the British spelling. That seems like a very acceptable idea. --<<-David R->> 23:09, 6 March 2007 (EST)

I just wanted to add that I am an American and was born in America. Conservative 00:06, 7 March 2007 (EST)conservative

Haha. I did not mean to convey that I thought you British. I am sure you are a great American. --<<-David R->> 00:10, 7 March 2007 (EST)

Bots

I proposed a Commandment above prohibiting unauthorized bots. Anyone opposed to implementation? Geo. 01:13, 7 March 2007 (EST)

What exactly is a bot?

a bot, as defined in Commandment 7, is a piece of software that can make over a hundred edits per second. Geo. 00:56, 9 March 2007 (EST)

What counts as "gossip"

I don't think its just discussion about people persay, but you mentioned in general its a desire to avoid entries that seem like a "national enquirer" thing. So where do entries like facebook and myspace come in? Does this stuff count as worthwhile subject matter or is it "gossipy"? Tmtoulouse 00:14, 8 March 2007 (EST)

In my opinion, MySpace could be argued to be a legitimate entry because it's frequently in the news relating to the issues of Internet privacy and safety. However, I saw that entry and the Facebook one and had the same concerns that you did. That being said, Mr. Schlafly said somewhere else that there's nothing wrong with having a few "fun" entries, so I don't think that it's a big deal. MountainDew 01:46, 8 March 2007 (EST)

Obscenity

Since Conservapedia admins are deleting articles that they consider obscene the Conservapedia Commandments should probably mention this and their definition of obscenity. On a related note family friendliness should also be defined . Sulgran 00:18, 8 March 2007 (EST)

Family friendly and obscenity are pretty much "Would you show this to your child?" Geo. 01:12, 8 March 2007 (EST)

What people are willing to show their children varies from family to family and on the age of the child. Iin my family the level of profanity allowed depended on context of its use- profanity directed at someone else was much more problematic than profanity used as interjections or adverbs. ( can think of at least one English word that has two forms and depending where you are one is more acceptable than the other. I would also ask if the word for a female dog is acceptable? Does it depend on what context one is using it in? What about the word for an illegimate offspring? Two examples which I can probably safely mention are "gosh" which is no longer considered a serious swear by almost anyone and the word "sex." All of these seem to depend on both age and individual family. A much clearer criterion is needed. JoshuaZ 03:14, 8 March 2007 (EST)

I agree that this is too subjective. An example that I think is appropriate for Conservapedia is the Bible. Nobody will deny that there are passages in the Bible that many parents may be uncomfortable with their children reading. (I remember when I was a child asking my mother to explain the scene in Genesis where Lot impregnates his daughters and not receiving an answer.) Likewise, on Conservapedia, there may need to exist some pertinent, encylopedic information which may fall within the "gray area" of "would you show your children this?" Common sense in these cases may need to prevail. I'm not saying that we need to have graphic articles about sexuality or anything of the like. I'm just saying that there may need to be exceptions to the rule that Geo.plrd mentioned. MountainDew 01:44, 9 March 2007 (EST)

i said pretty much, it isn't hard and fast. Geo. 01:47, 9 March 2007 (EST)

Sock & Meat Puppets

Opinions? Sulgran 00:42, 9 March 2007 (EST)

Due to the restrictive nature of account creation and anon blocking, I don't believe we have any. Geo. 00:45, 9 March 2007 (EST)

No probably not but it might be a good idea to get something in the commandments before trouble starts.

I rather think we have had some, but it's all guesswork, of course. Dpbsmith 08:29, 9 March 2007 (EST)

How about, Using sockpuppets to evade blocks is prohibited Geo. 01:35, 9 March 2007 (EST)

Do we care? Simpler just to ban accounts which break the rules and leave it at that. If a blocked user comes back as a sock, but stays entirely within the rules, does it really matter? The block achieved its aim, surely.

Using sockpuppets to support one's arguments or edits is a different matter altogether, of course. Tsumetai 08:32, 9 March 2007 (EST)

Use of sockpuppets to influence discussion or proceedings is prohibited. work? Geo. 21:15, 9 March 2007 (EST)

Considering that discussions are not polls, I don't see why this matters. I also don't really see it on Wikipedia, even though things move on a scale where this might matter in a way. The current rules pretty much cover things. If you have to add a rule, just add something like "Don't act like a total jerk." and be done with it. --Sid 3050 08:37, 11 March 2007 (EDT)

suggestion as far as addition to the commandments - Encyclopedic/Non combative tone

I have a suggestion as far an addition to the commandments. How about a commandment that "Thou shall not have an unencyclopedic tone in thy writing." I think this would help better manage the amount of material that is argumentative in tone and obvious actions of trolls. Conservative 20:24, 9 March 2007 (EST)conservative

While I like the idea, enforcing it would be tough. Our own idea of tone would be the basis for this commandment and I don't think everyone's idea of tone coincides. And I think favorable tone exists in some pages. It would be a hard commandment to implement. --<<-David R->> 20:29, 9 March 2007 (EST)

I highly agree with David on this one. We do need an encyclopedic content commandment though... Conservapedia Webmaster 20:41, 9 March 2007 (EST)

One relevant suggestion on (whispers) Wikipedia is Avoid instruction creep. The whole essay is actually well worth reading, but the gist is: "Instruction creep occurs when a person or persons add to a list of instructions repeatedly, causing it to increase in size and complexity over time... Procedures are popular to suggest but unpopular to follow, due to the effort required to locate, read, learn and abide by them... New policies and guidelines should be added only where they will actually be helpful."

So the question here is, will adding "Encyclopedic/Non combative tone" to the list of commandments actually be helpful? Is it actually likely to have an effect on what people do? Are these rhetorical questions? (Yes). In my opinion, people are most likely to be influenced by the behavior of the other editors the meet here; next most likely to be influenced by the tone of other pages they read here; and least likely to be influenced by what is on the "commandments" list. Dpbsmith 20:47, 9 March 2007 (EST)

There is value in keeping the list of Commandments short and simple. God only issued 10 Commandments for all of life. Let's try to make do with less for Conservapedia.--Aschlafly 20:50, 9 March 2007 (EST)

Oh really? I see a lot more commandments than just 10 in the text. JoshuaZ 21:02, 9 March 2007 (EST)

If you are referring to Exodus' 10 Commandments in the Bible, then you are terribly mistaken - they are called the 10 commandments for a reason. But I see where you might find more than 10 - Leviticus contains "mini-commandments" that direct the Jews how to do almost everything pertaining to their lives. --<<-David R->> 21:10, 9 March 2007 (EST)

Oh? Deuteronomy contains a large number as well, as does Exodus, and nowhere in the text are those 10 particularly emphasized. Indeed, the 10 commandments when they are given are given with a whole host of other rules as well. And it is very hard to call the others "mini-commandments" considering that many of them are death penalty crimes. I don't know about you, but I don't think of anything I can get the death penalty for as a small commandment. JoshuaZ 21:24, 9 March 2007 (EST)

"A soft tongue breaketh the bone" RobS 21:14, 9 March 2007 (EST)

Good quote and very true. Unfortunately I do not know what it has to do with my previous post. If you are talking about tone, then yes, a softer tone can persuade much more efficiently than a harsh one, which is why I oppose most of the more overtly biased articles. --<<-David R->> 21:20, 9 March 2007 (EST)

Yes, I agree with this. A partisan tone needs to be avoided; this can be done with well research and logically grounded sound presentations. Not hostile or angry. Wikien-1 has a running thread on how its going over here. RobS 21:39, 9 March 2007 (EST)

Tone can be ironed out in the collaborative effort; good sourcing is the main ingredient. RobS 21:01, 9 March 2007 (EST)

Bible

How about a commandment stating that Bible and research based on the Bible is considered valid. Initially I saw no reason for such a commandment but as Conservapedia users have expanded in number there are increasing numbers of edit removing biblical references from articles.--AustinM 06:51, 10 March 2007 (EST)

• What are some examples of biblical references being removed? (Go into the History of the article, click on "Diff" at the point where it was removed, copy the long URL, and paste here...) Were they truly relevant? What did the whomever removed them state as the reason? Dpbsmith 07:12, 10 March 2007 (EST)

The reasons for such removal are simple: there are individuals here who have brought their liberal-leaning bias with them from Wikipedia, and the intent is sabotage. Don't believe me? Go to Wikipedia here:[3], and you'll see a subheading titled Conservapedia contributions, and you'll see the following:

Josh, I've got 108 people in my facebook group "Conservapedia is the Funniest Shit I've Ever Read" all contributing [tastefully] to conservapedia. We're not being blatantly vicious, but rather presenting them with cited facts. Their site is a frickin' joke. As we all know, to quote the esteemed Stephen Colbert, "reality has a well-known liberal bias." Thanks for fighting the good fight over there with us. --Boss hogg01 05:45, 9 March 2007 (UTC)

The individual referred to as "Josh" is user:JoshuaZ, who has nested himself here. Karajou 23:45, 11 March 2007 (EDT)

Plagiarism/Copying from Wikipedia

I propose another commandment, even though it should be common sense, that you can't copy from other sites. I've come across too many articles that have been copied directly from Wikipedia, and maybe fewer people would do it if there was a Commandment about it. MountainDew 00:59, 11 March 2007 (EST)

Copying/making derived works from wikipedia is allowed under the terms of the GFDL. Instead of banning content from wikipedia, editors should be encouraged to maintain the license of GFDL content under the terms of the GFDL. MikeA 03:13, 11 March 2007 (EDT)

Most wikis are under the GFDL so they can freely borrow from each other and I can't think of a good reason why Conservapedia should be any different in that regard. Sulgran 03:17, 11 March 2007 (EDT)

I suspect that Aschlafly wants to maintain more control, or at least have the option of maintaining more control, than the GFDL allows. Dpbsmith 11:13, 11 March 2007 (EDT)

Well, direct copy-pasting should be discouraged, as it is sort of hypocritical; "we don't like Wikipedia, that's why we created this project, but lots of the information here is an exact duplicate" doesn't make all that much sense. Editors should be encouraged, however, to use Wikipedia articles as jumping-off points for articles, and to glean ideas for what to add to an article lacking in content. Just my $0.02. --Hojimachong 03:18, 11 March 2007 (EDT)

For what it's worth, Wikipedia is perfectly cool with the idea of a "Wikipedia fork," that is starting with Wikipedia and changing it ("creating a derivative work")... e.g. removing content that's inappropriate for children, correcting bias selectively in articles that seem biassed, or whatever. Dpbsmith 11:13, 11 March 2007 (EDT)

I'm with Hojimachong. I do use Wikipedia for ideas when writing articles from scratch, but I try to write everything myself. MountainDew 03:19, 11 March 2007 (EDT)

A lot of .gov sites don't carry copyrights and I think are de facto PD. Caveat: IANAL Second Amendment 03:21, 11 March 2007 (EDT)

the copyright policy should take care of that. Geo. 03:42, 11 March 2007 (EDT)

What about things such as medications or treatment? I tried looking up medications, can't find them here. Yet I can find them on wikipedia very easily. Furthermore what about medical conditions?

The copyright policy is clear concerning Wikipedia articles: there is none, and everything is in the public domain. If it is forbidden to use such articles as a basis for our own here, then it must be perfectly clear on that point. But in my own opinion, I am for using such articles, improving them, removing bias and anti-Christian/conservative stuff. What say you? Karajou 23:33, 11 March 2007 (EDT)

a copyright policy proposal is located at User:Geo.plrd/copyr2 Geo. 23:51, 11 March 2007 (EDT)

Karajou, Wikipedia HAS a copyright policy. It's most definitely not public domain. And since Conservapedia most likely won't use the GFDL for its own content, we can't just grab articles and repost them here as our own. At least that's what I understood. --Sid 3050 16:34, 12 March 2007 (EDT)

At the very least, I'd like some clarification. MountainDew 15:17, 12 March 2007 (EDT)

Nowhere on the site can I find any reference to the license applied to Conservapedia content. What is it? It is both unreasonable and impractical to expect this wiki to grow without providing this information to the potential contributors. Are we to assume that all the content that we submit becomes sole property of Conservapedia under traditional copyright? This is a problem of grave importance that must be addressed before Conservapedia can expect to grow beyond its meager roots. – Fʀɪɺøʟɛ _{( тɐʟк • ¢ʘи†ʀ¡βs )} 12:56, 13 March 2007 (EDT)

Please note: GFDL is not public domain. There are rules associated with it and one of those is to give proper credit to the (main) authors of the work. Direct copy-paste without mentioning sources is not allowed, and technically, the derived work should also be under the GFDL and cannot be claimed as the work of the "author" nor as copyrighted by Conservapedia. Besides, it's extremely bad manners to just grab somebody else's text and put it up here as one's own work. In any way, Conservapedia needs a policy for this, as it might even have legal repercussions. For example, Wikipedia or one of their contributors could bring Conservapedia or one of its contributors to court for copyright infringements, and although IANAL, I suppose they would stand a fair chance in court. A forced complete shutdown of Conservapedia is not unthinkable if it should come to this. PaulB 13:44, 13 March 2007 (EDT)

Categorizing Articles

On someone's talk page an admin said :

Hi and welcome. Please don't add a tag to a bunch of entries. Please improve them instead. Blocking will occur of accounts that simply tag entries.

If this is true than the Conservapedia Commandments should mention it. Unwritten rules are always frustrating to new editors.

Sulgran 00:55, 12 March 2007 (EDT)

Links in an article

My question is in regard to how closely an article should be substantiated, or attributed. For example, the Scientology article has no links within it. Some of its statements are true (of my own knowledge). Other statements in it are opposed by the Church of Scientology (several court cases). Should the article be kept brief and simply have no critics' 'lies' in it, or should the article attribute its statements ? Or is there another, better way? Terryeo 21:04, 12 March 2007 (EDT)

1. Everything you post must be true and verifiable.

What is the criteria for "true" here? My guess would be that the Bible is considered literally true here, so material directly mentioned there is covered. I know that the admins here don't agree with Wikipedia's "consensus of the masses" method of determining what is valid for a page, so is there another defined process here?

Also, what does "verifiable" mean? Again, I figure "in the Bible" is a valid way to verify something on this site. How would someone verify, "There is little consensus among scientists about how macroevolution is said to have happened"? As far as I can tell, much of the verification process seems to be about quotation. What is the process for determining which quotes are appropriate or inappropriate? For example, the statement about macroevolution above is supported by three quotes afterwards. How do we know those quotes are a representative sample?

I'm interested in contributing here, but I want to make sure I understand the rules before I start taking part. MrBob 17:35, 13 March 2007 (EDT)

Propose: "Don't copy"

Propose (with footnotes as shown);

• Original work only, please. Even if you only mean to use it as a starting point, don't begin by copying a whole article from anywhere—not even if the article under a "free" license, not even if it is truly in the public domain.^[1] Quoting a few sentences or a paragraph to illustrate a point is fine. Identify it as a quotation and show where it came from.^[2]

(Because: some new users who are familiar with other Wikis make incorrect assumptions about Conservapedia). Dpbsmith 18:11, 13 March 2007 (EDT)

This is going to slow the project to a crawl? I've posted a couple of articles that I got from .gov and .mil sites that had no copyright info at all.If you're going to require original research I'm going to guess that the site may eventually decided to reserve all rights? Cracker^talk 18:32, 13 March 2007 (EDT)

Propose: "Choose an account name that's like your real name"

Propose:

• Conservapedia asks you to choose an account name that resembles your real name; for example, if your name is August Banting, "AugustB" or "Abanting" would be good choices. If your choice is taken, add a numeral or two at the end.

(Because: even if your account name doesn't reveal enough of your real name to identify you, you know it's your own name, and we think this encourages people to think about what they're posting). Dpbsmith 18:11, 13 March 2007 (EDT)

Wasn't this one scheduled to go onto the Registration page? *cocks head* Or do you want to make it a retroactive policy? --Sid 3050 18:19, 13 March 2007 (EDT)

Notes

1. ↑ Conservapedia does not license its content under GFDL or Creative Commons, and thus is not compatible with the terms of the licenses. But Conservapedia does not want extensive material copied from anywhere, even if it is out of copyright.
2. ↑ We like to have this done "inline" by using <ref> tags, but if you don't know how to do this, just put the source in parenthese. Someone else will be glad to take care of the formatting for you.