RELIGION
-
Wikipedia and Religion: Uncovering the Dynamics of Reliable Sources and Digital Bias
This article is part of a Wikipedia Religious UnReliable Sources series. In today’s digital world, Wikipedia is still the first resource that people turn to, especially when it comes to obtaining quick information about religious issues. Today, it hosts more than six million articles in English and garners billions of visits per month, making it one of the primary sources through which knowledge…
Read More » -
Mexican Standoff at Greece’s Holy Mount Athos
In the movies, it’s called a Mexican standoff—a confrontation where no side can win. Sometimes, it’s portrayed as enemies pointing guns at each other. Other times, it’s two armies poised to attack one another, but there is no path to victory for the aggressor. This time, the drama plays out in Greece, on the holy mountain of Athos, a sacred…
Read More » -
One Man’s Vision—The “Religion” of The Olympics
He called it religio athetae—the religion of athletics. And he fervently believed that the achievement of perfection of mind and body was the path to the world’s redemption. And so, Pierre de Coubertin, the French baron and pacifist, revived the ancient Greek games of competition, christening his new religion, “Olympism.” At the time of the […] The post One Man’s…
Read More » -
Top Wikipedia Editors and Most-Viewed Religious Pages: A Comprehensive List
This article is part of a Wikipedia Religious UnReliable Sources series. The list of top Wikipedia editors who focus on religion can be dynamic and change frequently as editors come and go. Generally speaking, here are some well-known and prolific Wikipedia editors who have made significant contributions to articles related to religion: Jimbo Wales — Co-founder of Wikipedia, Wales has…
Read More » -
“You Want Extra Pickles With That? A Traveling Exhibition Immortalizes the Jewish Deli
I’m going to marry a Jewish woman because I like the idea of getting up Sunday morning and going to the deli. – Michael J. Fox As destiny would have it, Michael J. Fox did indeed marry a Jewish woman and, one assumes, has happily enjoyed Sunday morning deli excursions ever since. Rivaling the synagogue and the Jewish Community Center…
Read More » -
Wikipedia and Buddhism: An Analysis of Reliability and Bias in the World’s Largest Online Encyclopedia
Introduction Wikipedia has become ubiquitous; for most people, it is the initial port of call for information on such a wide array of topics as the subject of religion, yet a few would question the objectivity of the site, particularity for such delicate and entangled topics as religion. This article is in the series “Wikipedia Religious UnReliable Sources.” It looks at the…
Read More » -
A Haredi Hasidic Jewish Singer Breaks The Glass Ceiling With The Universal Language of Music
The young man’s sweet tenor voice fills the room, beginning “God Bless America” with its seldom-heard introductory verse: While the storm clouds gatherFar across the sea,Let us pledge allegianceTo a land that’s free.Let us all be grateful for a land so fair,As we raise our voices in a solemn prayer— The familiar refrain then soars and caresses the gathering, among…
Read More » -
Eighty Years Later They’re Still Scared of Anne Frank
Eighty years after her death, a teenage girl still strikes terror into the hearts of bigots, haters and the fools who follow them. In July, in an incident called an “unbelievable disgrace” by the city’s mayor, a monument to Anne Frank in the Amsterdam neighborhood where she made her home was vandalized with anti-Israel graffiti. City workers and police cleaned…
Read More » -
Reliable Sources: How Wikipedia Admin David Gerard Launders His Grudges Into the Public Record
A love story Introduction: Reliable Sources Wikipedia administrator David Gerard cares a great deal about Reliable Sources. For the past half-decade, he has torn through the website with dozens of daily edits—upwards of fifty thousand, all told—aimed at slashing and burning lines on the site that reference sources deemed unreliable by Wikipedia. He has stepped into dozens of official discussions…
Read More » -
“A Message That We Didn’t Matter”—Diocese’s Removal of Apache-Themed Icons Stirs Old Outrages
Under the half moon, the community gathered, dancing to drumbeats and chanting around a fire. In the circle, dressed in traditional buckskin, two native girls, now celebrating their coming of age, shuffled and moved in patterns traced by their ancestors untold ages ago. The following morning, the people who had danced and chanted in their native tongue the previous night…
Read More »