April 21, 2009

Rick Warren Lackey Busted for Wikipedia Whitewashing

“Busted” not as in “arrested” (although that’s a lovely fantasy), but as in “caught red-handed.”

“Given who you are and your professional relationship with the subject, you should have first of all disclosed that to other editors, whether you simply worked for one of Warren’s entities or were in fact detailed with the task of dealing with Wikipedia articles on Warren’s behalf. …

“Meanwhile, over at VS’s talk page you wrote, “If you choose to try and disqualify my edits then I suppose you should also do so for any editor who identifies themselves as gay.” This is another completely absurd, obfuscating straw man…”

Wikipedia’s Mike Doughney sets Mark Carver straight
(so to speak)

A blog called The Ignorant Heterosexual has exactly one post — but what an interesting post it is:

It appears that Rick Warren operatives, including top adviser Mark Carver have joined Warren in trying to re-write history - literally - via Wikipedia

. . .

A couple of months ago I looked up “Rick Warren” on Wikipedia to see what the entry said about Warren and Prop 8. I clicked on the discussion page tab and discovered a Wikipedia War that has become my favorite soap opera. …

One editor, Benccc changed a portion of the Warren article to say that Prop 8 “amended the state constitution to eliminate the right of same-sex couples to marry.” It had previously said that Prop 8 “amended the state constitution to ban same-sex marriages.”

Then another editor, CarverM changed Benccc’s edit to read that Prop 8 “amended the state constitution to read, “Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California.”

Benccc went to the article’s discussion page and pointed out that the original line and CarverM’s edit “omits an essential fact. Thirty states ban same-sex marriage; Prop 8 is unique for having rescinded it. Readers aware of that fact may better understand why Warren’s support for Prop 8 was the subject of protests”.

And thus began an epic Wikipedia War…

Among the contentions made by the Warren Wikipedia Whitewashers:

- Warren did not compare same sex marriage to incest, polygamy and pedophilia during his notorious Beliefnet interview.

- Gay and lesbian people have never had the right to marry in California.

- Controversies surrounding Warren’s position on gay marriage are, according to CarverM, “a tempest in a teapot” and unworthy of more discussion than a link to Wikipedia’s Proposition 8 page.

After weeks of voluminous and sometimes heated debate, it was uncovered that CarverM is in fact Mark Carver, the International Director of Purpose Driven Ministries. …

Unfortunately for Mr. Carver, Wikipedia has a strong policy in regards conflict of interest. Once it was learned he is one of Warren’s closest buddies, he was banned from the discussion for three months, along with another Warren Wikipedia Whitewasher who inadvertently revealed he was a member of Saddleback Church. …

A commenter named Dresden adds links to the Wikipedia pages where you can witness “the outing of Warren crony Mark Carver,” “the whitewashing of the Prop 8 info,” and an “even more epic mediation battle,” which “makes you wonder how any of them have jobs, or (hisssss) whether any of them are actually being paid to obstruct the process.”

Posted by: Sapphocrat

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