Difference between revisions of "Conservapedia"
m (→Discussion: Blake Stacey needs a page) |
m (→Discussion: the one standalone link has now been filed, so removing it from here) |
||
Line 25: | Line 25: | ||
===Discussion=== | ===Discussion=== | ||
* '''2007-02-28''': | * '''2007-02-28''': | ||
− | {{excerpt|[[Blake Stacey]] said, on [http://davidbrin.blogspot.com/2007/02/taking-break-from-politics-cool-stuff.html#6055809673264055696 Contrary Brin]:}} | + | {{excerpt|[[Blake Stacey]] said, on [http://davidbrin.blogspot.com/2007/02/taking-break-from-politics-cool-stuff.html#6055809673264055696 Contrary Brin] (internal links added):}} |
I [http://scienceblogs.com/dispatches/2007/02/more_conservapedia_nonsense.php#comment-352572 discovered a few days ago] that the Conservapedia article on judicial activism had been written by a parodist. This bloke, going by the 'nym of "DrShaffopolis", said the following: | I [http://scienceblogs.com/dispatches/2007/02/more_conservapedia_nonsense.php#comment-352572 discovered a few days ago] that the Conservapedia article on judicial activism had been written by a parodist. This bloke, going by the 'nym of "DrShaffopolis", said the following: | ||
{{quoteon}} | {{quoteon}} | ||
Line 33: | Line 33: | ||
The most famous example of this is Roe v. Wade | The most famous example of this is Roe v. Wade | ||
{{quoteoff}} | {{quoteoff}} | ||
− | He then [http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2007/02/im_assuming_many_conservatives.php#comment-351003 confessed at Pharyngula]. "Earwig" added the following text, including references to FOX News: | + | He then [http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2007/02/im_assuming_many_conservatives.php#comment-351003 confessed at Pharyngula]. "Earwig" added the following text, including references to [[FOX News]]: |
{{quoteon}} | {{quoteon}} | ||
− | Other examples include Brown v Board of Education which stripped state powers of control over education and put them in the hands of the federal government, McCreary County v. ACLU in which judges stripped free speech and religious freedom from McCreary County and Hamdan v. Rumsfeld in which the Supreme Court sided with | + | Other examples include [[Brown v Board of Education]] which stripped state powers of control over education and put them in the hands of the federal government, [[McCreary County v. ACLU]] in which judges stripped [[free speech]] and [[religious freedom]] from McCreary County and [[Hamdan v. Rumsfeld]] in which the [[US Supreme Court|Supreme Court]] sided with [[terrorist]]s over the protection of the [[United States of America]]. |
{{quoteoff}} | {{quoteoff}} | ||
− | "Conservinator" then added a blurb at the end, "and that case where the judge decided to murder poor Terry Schiavo, just because she was in a wheelchair." The project's Fearless Leader, Andrew Schlafly, then reverted the article to its previous state, keeping all the additions of DrShaffopolis and Earwig. | + | "Conservinator" then added a blurb at the end, "and that case where the judge decided to murder poor [[Terry Schiavo]], just because she was in a wheelchair." The project's Fearless Leader, [[Andrew Schlafly]], then reverted the article to its previous state, keeping all the additions of DrShaffopolis and Earwig. |
Not too surprisingly, the joke article soon got uncritically accepted by a blogger looking for material to laugh about. Conservapedia was so hammered by traffic (thanks to its publicity at ScienceBlogs.com) that it took me ten minutes to load the page revision history and see what had really happened. | Not too surprisingly, the joke article soon got uncritically accepted by a blogger looking for material to laugh about. Conservapedia was so hammered by traffic (thanks to its publicity at ScienceBlogs.com) that it took me ten minutes to load the page revision history and see what had really happened. | ||
Line 43: | Line 43: | ||
Neither the person who wanted to make fun of it nor the man being mocked could tell they were falling for a parody! The satire has become the object of ridicule; the map is now the territory. | Neither the person who wanted to make fun of it nor the man being mocked could tell they were falling for a parody! The satire has become the object of ridicule; the map is now the territory. | ||
{{-excerpt}} | {{-excerpt}} | ||
− |
Revision as of 19:51, 24 June 2008
Overview
Conservapedia is a web site purporting to be a "pro-American, pro-Christian" alternative to Wikipedia. It uses the free, open-source MediaWiki software developed by the MediaWiki Foundation for Wikipedia.
The site appears to be owned and operated by Andrew Schlafly on behalf of the ultra-conservative Eagle Forum organization led by his mother, Phyllis Schlafly.
Unfortunately, due to subtly satirical posting by those opposed to Conservapedia's mission (vandalism), it is sometimes difficult to tell which articles are genuine and which have been written so as to exaggerate conservative points of view (or represent only the most extreme of such). This problem seems to be declining as the site matures and editors become aware of "problem pages", however.
copyright
Unlike the other major sources used by Issuepedia (Wikipedia, dkosopedia, and Sourcewatch, all of which provide their content for free under the GNU FDL), Conservapedia reserves copyright on its contents and threatens to sue for infringement under the DMCA.
temporary closure of editing
As of 2007-02-25, editing was closed (you have to log in to edit, and the "log in/create account" page was log-in only), probably due to the vandalism; blog comments on 2007-02-21 indicate that new user registration was recently available. New user accounts were reopened sometime prior to 2007-03-13, so editing is essentially open once again (log-in is still required).
Links
Reference
- Wikipedia
- Conservapedia
- dKosopedia
- SourceWatch
- main page
- Rationalwiki
- Conservapedia:Atheism: A point-by-point discussion/refutation of Conservapedia's article on Atheism (still being set up as of 2008-05-24).
Filed Links
- redirect template:links/smw
Discussion
- 2007-02-28:
Blake Stacey said, on Contrary Brin (internal links added): | ||
I discovered a few days ago that the Conservapedia article on judicial activism had been written by a parodist. This bloke, going by the 'nym of "DrShaffopolis", said the following:
He then confessed at Pharyngula. "Earwig" added the following text, including references to FOX News:
"Conservinator" then added a blurb at the end, "and that case where the judge decided to murder poor Terry Schiavo, just because she was in a wheelchair." The project's Fearless Leader, Andrew Schlafly, then reverted the article to its previous state, keeping all the additions of DrShaffopolis and Earwig. Not too surprisingly, the joke article soon got uncritically accepted by a blogger looking for material to laugh about. Conservapedia was so hammered by traffic (thanks to its publicity at ScienceBlogs.com) that it took me ten minutes to load the page revision history and see what had really happened. Neither the person who wanted to make fun of it nor the man being mocked could tell they were falling for a parody! The satire has become the object of ridicule; the map is now the territory. | ||