Today, in the Deseret News, they had an article that admitted that Mormon apologists are intentionally changing Wikipedia articles to favor the church. Wikipedia is the biggest source of information on the Internet for the curious. Many investigators look up the LDS church on Wikipedia. Personally, I was introduced to many of the issues in church history by Wikipedia. Many see it as a relatively fair and balanced source of quick information.

However, as this article shows, the Morgbots are actively trying to slant information and silence criticism by sheer force in one of the few corners of the Internet that LDS Inc cannot buy.

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705387063/Wiki-Wars-In-battle-to-define-beliefs-Mormons-and-foes-wage-battle-on-Wikipedia.html?s_cid=s10

It is important that we ensure that the valuable information and sources that led us to the truth are made available on Wikipedia for the rest of the world. So far, it seems that the Bots are losing the battle. But without vigilance on our part, that may change.

Wikipedia is a place where our editing can have a more lasting impact than on the comment boards. As long as we properly source our edits and fight to keep the apologists from removing them, our words can influence thousands of curious people. With the national spotlight on the church, more people are going to be visiting the wikipedia pages that deal with Mormonism than ever before. If each Occupier adds one or two edits and sources, our numbers alone will have a great impact.

Let's make sure that Wiki remains balanced!

Occupy away!

Captain Moroni

Thing is, it takes so much time to edit Wikipedia, particularly when you have a "war" with another group. The fact is that the Mormon apologists care about defending Mormonism far more than I care about spreading the truth to strangers.

I only have a limited amount of free time, and I'd rather spend a portion of it on RfM, than editing Wiki just to see it edited back again the next day.

able to keep on Wikipedia. There are some real exmo heroes out there who are putting the effort in, and keeping the issues in front of people.

I agree, Captain Moroni, this is an area that needs more emphasis! It is SO important.

Could someone PLEASE tell me how to contribute to wiki?
IMHO, they need a place for comments on controversial material, not just about ChurchCo...

does wiki allow articles to be Locked?
how about varying opinions? what's the Best Way?

Perhaps the RfM has someone who will put up AltWikis about mormonism/ChurchCo ? (is the name Wiki/Wikipedia TMed?)

Are TBM Lurkers Reading This Board, Spotting Information That Contradicts the Mormon Myth & Then Altering Website Sources to Cover the Acts of Their Leaders? Consider This:

In another thread, poster Makurosu noted that Mormon Church president David O. McKay's statement, "No other success can compensate for failure in the home," wasn't original to McKay but, rather, was stolen from Benjamin Disraeli:

--Posted by: Makurosu
Date: January 24, 2012
11:23 AM

Subject line: The quote was lifted without credit from Benjamin Disraeli.

"No success in public life can compensate for failure in the home."

I think Theodore Roosevelt quoted Disraeli first before the quote landed on the lips of David O. McKay.

Hooray for Jesus.
_____


I replied to Makurosu, which led to an intriguing discovery by Makurosu--namely, that the McKay-cribbed quote from Disraeli (which I had mentioned and cited from "wikipedia" in a previous RfM thread back on 11 April 2011) had subsequently vanished from "wikipedia."

Hmmmmm.

Here's how Makurosu's discovery of possible TBM tampering with "wikipidia" unfolded.

In response to Makurosu's initial post, I replied:

--Posted by: steve benson
Date: January 24, 2012
12:22 PM

Subjecct line: Yes, indeed, David O. McKay had no suceess coming up with an original line. He plagiarized it . . .

McKay ripped line off that famous line from Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881), a renowned British politician, novelist and essayist who said:

"No success in public life can compensate for failure in the home."

(Simran Khurana, "Benjamin Disraeli Quotations A Collection of Benjamin Disraeli Quotations," at: http://quotations.about.com/od/stillmorefamouspeople/a/BenjaminDisrae1.htm)


You've even got Mormons admitting McKay cribbed it:

"My [LDS] church leaders repeatedly emphasized this teaching: 'No other success can compensate for failure in the home.' (Benjamin Disraeli as paraphrased by President David O. McKay)."

("Green Oasis," under "Family First, 5 July 2007, at: http://www.blakeclan.org/jon/greenoasis/tag/conscience/index.html)


**"No success can compensate for words that aren't my own."
_____


--Posted by: Makurosu
Date: January 24, 2012
01:04 PM

Subject line: Sounds like an epic fail for McKay in public life to me. (n/t)
_____


--Posted by: steve benson
Date: January 24, 2012
11:31 PM

Subject line: Sounds like Mormons riding the coattails of dead non-Mormons and not them giving credit . . .

If Elohim can't inspire Mormonism's false prophets with their own revealed inspirational lines, simply steal quotes from deceased Gentiles and call it your own.

To review the rip-off:

David O. McKay (1873-1970) is perhaps best known for his oft-quoted little couplet (which, come to find out, wasn't his after all):

"No other success can compensate for failure in the home."

(cited on an official LDS website, from J. E. McCullough, "Home: The Savior of Civilization" [1924], 42; Conference Report, April 1935, p. 116, at: http://www.lds.org/churchhistory/presidents/controllers/potcController.jsp?leader=9&topic=quotes; see also, Julie M. Smith, "Book Review: David O. McKay: Beloved Prophet," on "Times and Season: 'Truth Will Prevail,'" at: http://www.timesandseasons.org/?p=2252)


McKay had, in fact, purloigned that famous line from Disraeli, who said it before McKay did:

"No success in public life can compensate for failure in the home."

INTERESTING SIDENOTE: I previously found Disraeli's "no success" quote on Wikipedia, at: http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Benjamin_Disraeli

Checking back there today, however, that quote is no longer on that site.

Since one can go on to wiki and anonymously edit the articles of others, it does not seem beyond the realm of reasonable possibility that a true-believing Mormon (in an all-too-typical dishonest effort to keep McKay's mythological image as a "prophet" intact) snuck in to the wiki article and took it out.
_____


At this point, Makurosu picked up a traceable fishy scent:

--Posted by: Makurosu
Date: January 25, 2012
12:27 AM

Subject line: According to Wayback at Archive.org it disappeared sometime between July 15, 2010 and May 14, 2011.

Here's the July 15, 2010 snapshot:

http://web.archive.org/web/20100715203208/http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Benjamin_Disraeli

As you can see, the quote is in the "Unsourced" section. Only the quote has disappeared and not the Unsourced section. It wasn't moved to the "Misattributed" section either.

Here's the May 14, 2011 snapshot:

http://web.archive.org/web/20110514030631/http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Benjamin_Disraeli
_____


--Posted by: steve benson
Date: January 25, 2012
02:17 AM

Subject line: Thanks. That's interesting (and perhaps not coincidental). I posted on McKay's plagiarism of Disraeli on 11 April 2011 . . .

"'The Plagiarizing Moves On': In the Long LDS Tradition of Unoriginal & Uninspired "Prophets"--Joseph Smith, David O. Mckay, Ezra Taft Benson, Merrill J. Bateman & Bruce R. McConkie," posted by steve benson, "Recovery from Mormonism" bulletin board, 11 April 2011, at: http://exmormon.org/phorum/read.php?2,163604,163836,quote=1


The now-vanished Disraeli quote was on "Wikipedia" as of July 15, 2010, and read: "No success in public life can compensate for failure in the home."

http://web.archive.org/web/20100715203208/http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Benjamin_Disraeli


It was gone from the same "Wikipedia" page entirely by May 14, 2011 (33 days after my earlier RfM post appeared noting the McKay plagiarism of Disraeli):

http://web.archive.org/web/20110514030631/http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Benjamin_Disraeli

[to see and compare both "Wayback" pages, click on the word "Impatient?," located in the bottom-right corner]

(The above exchange is found in the thread, "No success outside the home....," posted by kolobian, on "Recovery from Mormonism" bulletin board, 21 January 2012, 01:33 PM, at: http://exmormon.org/phorum/read.php?2,397412)
_____


Makurso then caps it off with this "smoking gun" discovery that a pro-Mormon rewrited may well have deleted the evidence of McKay's plagiarism of Disraeli from "Wikipedia" (as noted by Makurosu later down in this thread, inserted here):

--Posted by: Makurosu
Date: January 25, 2012
10:12 AM

Subject line: It's unfortunate that there was such a wide gap in the snapshots at Archive.org.

I looked into the discussions at the wiki site to see if I could find a change log to pinpoint when the quote was deleted, but I don't know enough about the system. Maybe someone with better knowledge could look into it. It's certainly interesting.

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Benjamin_Disraeli


--Posted by: Makurosu
Date: January 25, 2012
10:25 AM

Subject line: Never mind. I found it.

Looks like you're right, Steve. The quote was deleted April 15, 2011--four days after the thread on RfM.

Here's the action history:

http://en.wikiquote.org/w/index.php?title=Benjamin_Disraeli&action=history

It was removed by user "Neutrality" with the comment "rm mis-attributions."

Here's the revision log. See line 645. No explanation given for removing that quote.

http://en.wikiquote.org/w/index.php?title=Benjamin_Disraeli&diff=1372320&oldid=1272023

**********************************


So, in the end, some probable anonymous troll for the Mormon Cult removes from "Wikipedia's" biography article on Disraeli the quote from Disraeli--instead of removing from the record McKay's plagiarism of Disraeli's quote.

That says it all.

Thanks for your diligent detective digging, Makurosu, which raises the question:

No success at perptuating the Mormon myth can occur if evidence of possible TBM tampering with the trail of evidence is uncovered?

Heh.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/31/2012 05:30PM by steve benson.