Wikipedia’s ruling body has ruled 10-0 in favor of banning all known Church of Scientology IP space. Wikipedia has a policy against self-serving edits, and has in recent years banned lots of individual IPs, proxy servers, and user accounts from making any further Wikipedia edits.
The official position is that, “the use of the encyclopedia to advance personal agendas – such as advocacy or propaganda and philosophical, ideological or religious dispute – or to publish or promote original research is prohibited.” This clause is what was used as the justification for the bans.
While hating all religious institutions with equal zeal, I do wonder if the Church of Scientology is getting a fair shake. Are they policing the various other organized religious cults, from making ingratiating edits about their religions? Who is to say that the entries on Islam, Catholicism, Hinduism or Judaism are any more objective? The Church of Scientology has fought hard since it’s inception to be recognized and treated the same as every other religion, and is always facing negative criticism and being labeled a cult. It has always struck me as odd that they are looked down upon and are openly discriminated against, simply because their numbers are smaller than most other organized religions. Isn’t the fact that the members of Scientology perceive their beliefs as valid and important, enough for us to afford them the same protections that all other religions currently enjoy? Who is anyone else to say that their religion and ridiculous superstitions, are any dumber than burning bushes giving people the 10 commandments, wine being magically made out of water, or some prophet coming to inform his people of what god has told him. Imagine if we first made Muslims and Christians prove that their religion is not full of, and built on, bullshit before offering them the protections to practice as they see fit that they now enjoy?
Tolerance is what we preach, not what we practice.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/05/29/wikipedia_bans_scientology/
