changed Posted January 25, 2013 Posted January 25, 2013 I noted a meridan article today complaining about the Martin Harris wiki page:http://www.ldsmag.com/article/1/12109so I looked up the wiki page:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Harris_%28Latter_Day_Saints%29#Early_lifethen I looked up what fair had to say about it:http://en.fairmormon.org/Mormonism_and_Wikipedia/Martin_Harristhen I logged into wiki, and started editing the page myself. (added "citation needed", and addedNevertheless, even early anti-Mormons who knew Harris believed that he was “honest,” “industrious,” “benevolent,” and a “worthy citizen.” [10] On Harris' departure with the Saints the local paper wrote: Several families, numbering about fifty souls, took up their line of march from this town last week for the “promised land,” among whom was Martin Harris, one of the original believers in the “Book of Mormon.” Mr. Harris was among the early settlers of this town, and has ever borne the character of an honorable and upright man, and an obliging and benevolent neighbor. He had secured to himself by honest industry a respectable fortune—and he has left a large circle of acquaintances and friends to pity his delusion. [11]so I just added a little to it so far, but before I go any farther, I'm not a fair/FARMS person, I just like to read their stuff occasionally, so I'm curious, aren't there people who routinely clean up wiki pages having to do with the church? Do they need help? I'm sure there are others out there who might also routinely undo their edits, and I have only edited a few wiki articles, so I don't know how it all works on their end either... just curious if someone can enlighten me on how it all works.
Okrahomer Posted January 26, 2013 Posted January 26, 2013 This article should should be helpful to you.http://www.mormoninterpreter.com/mormonism-and-wikipedia-the-church-history-that-anyone-can-edit/ 1
changed Posted January 26, 2013 Author Posted January 26, 2013 (edited) This article should should be helpful to you.http://www.mormonint...nyone-can-edit/So, how many people on here routinely edit wiki pages? as they are the #1 and #2 pages that pop up after a search, it seems like more people would be interested in routinely editing them...the changes I made yesterday seem to still be up...~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~I was curious what they had to say about Lucy too, so I looked at that page. I'm going to add a little there too. Perhaps if I am careful to not delete anything that they have written, but just add a few short notes to show the other point of view, it will be accepted? If everyone just takes small steps, and many people keep adding small little edits here and there, eventually I think the wiki articles will be cleaned up a little.Here's the old Lucy Harris article: Lucy HarrisFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaJump to: navigation, searchFor the basketball player, see Lusia Harris. This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2010) Lucy Harris (née Harris) (1792–1836) was the wife of Martin Harris, one of the Three Witnesses to the Book of Mormon's Golden Plates. Contents 1 Life2 In popular culture3 References4 External links LifeLucy and Martin were first cousins. They were married on March 27, 1808, in Palmyra, New York.Early on during the translation of the Book of Mormon Lucy became frustrated with Martin (and skeptical of Joseph Smith, Jr.) because of how much her husband was helping Smith with the translation of the Book of Mormon. In order to convince Lucy that they were translating an ancient book of scripture, Martin Harris asked Joseph Smith, Jr. to let him borrow the first 116 pages of the translation of the Book of Mormon. Smith said that these pages of the translation of the Book of Mormon were a translation from the Book of Lehi. At Harris' insistence (and despite Smith saying he was warned not to by the Lord) Smith reluctantly loaned the pages to Harris. The manuscript was subsequently lost, and a variety of theories as to its disappearance have arisen. Some Mormons believe that Lucy hid them from Joseph Smith, Jr, gave them to friends, disposed of them in some way or that they were stolen from the Harris's house. Others believe that she hid the pages on purpose to see if Joseph Smith could replicate what he previously "read" off the golden plates.When Harris approached Smith and told him what happened, the latter became angry with himself for not heeding the Lord's admonition not to loan the manuscript to Harris and left to go and pray. Subsequently Joseph lost the ability to translate "for a season" while he went through the repentance process. Ultimately he received a revelation wherein he was instructed not to retranslate the portion of the Golden Plates the 116 pages were taken from. Instead, the material would be replaced with Nephi's Abridgment of his father's record.[1][2]In part due to their continued disagreement over the legitimacy of Joseph Smith and the golden plates, and because of the loss of his farm, which he had mortgaged to publish the Book of Mormon,[3] Harris and his wife separated. Lucy Harris was described by Lucy Mack Smith as a woman of "irascible temper," but Harris may also have abused her. Lucy Harris also suggested that her husband may have committed adultery with a neighboring "Mrs. Haggart."[4][5] In popular cultureLucy Harris is portrayed in the comedy series South Park in an episode "All About the Mormons?" which shows her talking her husband into hiding Smith's original manuscript. She is shown as a skeptic of Joseph Smith Jr, eliciting the only break from the chorus's "Joseph Smith was called a prophet, dum dum dum dum dum." theme with "Lucy Harris smart smart smart, Martin Harris dumb."[6]Author Christopher Hitchens uses the Lucy Harris story as proof that Joseph Smith was not a prophet, and that Smith was therefore a fraud, in his book God is not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything.[7]Both the Hitchens and South Park references were based on Fawn Brodie's biography No Man Knows My History: The Life of Joseph Smith,[citation needed] which first asserted the claim that Lucy Harris stole the manuscript.[8]What I changed it to: LifeLucy Harris was born on May 1, 1792 at Swift’s Landing (later Palmyra), Ontario Co., New York. She is the daughter of Rufus Harris and Lucy Hill, who were affiliated with the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers). Lucy married her first cousin Martin Harris on March 27, 1808, in Palmyra, New York. She had become partially deaf by the year 1827. She separated from her husband in June of 1830, and died in Palmyra in 1836.[1]Early on during the translation of the Book of Mormon Lucy became frustrated with Martin (and skeptical of Joseph Smith, Jr.) because of how much her husband was helping Smith with the translation of the Book of Mormon. In order to convince Lucy that they were translating an ancient book of scripture, Martin Harris asked Joseph Smith, Jr. to let him borrow the first 116 pages of the translation of the Book of Mormon. Smith said that these pages of the translation of the Book of Mormon were a translation from the Book of Lehi. At Harris' insistence (and despite Smith saying he was warned not to by the Lord) Smith reluctantly loaned the pages to Harris. The manuscript was subsequently lost, and a variety of theories as to its disappearance have arisen. Some Mormons believe that Lucy hid them from Joseph Smith, Jr after they had been altered [2], or that they were given to friends, otherwise disposed of in some way, or that they were stolen from the Harris's house.When Harris approached Smith and told him what happened, the latter became angry with himself for not heeding the Lord's admonition not to loan the manuscript to Harris and left to go and pray. Subsequently Joseph lost the ability to translate "for a season" while he went through the repentance process. Ultimately he received a revelation wherein he was instructed not to retranslate the portion of the Golden Plates the 116 pages were taken from "because wicked men had stolen the pages and altered them, hoping to discredit Joseph when he translated them again and the two manuscripts didn’t match because of their alterations." [3].. Instead, the material would be replaced with Nephi's Abridgment of his father's record.[4][5]In part due to their continued disagreement over the legitimacy of Joseph Smith and the golden plates, and because of the loss of his farm, which he had mortgaged to publish the Book of Mormon,[6] Harris and his wife separated. Lucy Harris was described by Lucy Mack Smith as a woman of "irascible temper," but Harris may also have abused her. Lucy Harris also suggested that her husband may have committed adultery with a neighboring "Mrs. Haggart. Edited January 26, 2013 by changed
Okrahomer Posted January 27, 2013 Posted January 27, 2013 Perhaps if I am careful to not delete anything that they have written, but just add a few short notes to show the other point of view, it will be accepted? If everyone just takes small steps, and many people keep adding small little edits here and there, eventually I think the wiki articles will be cleaned up a little.I think it depends on the article you choose to edit. There are almost certainly more than just one "John Foxe" out there. From the Interpreter article:"Despite Wikipedia’s standing rule that all articles should display a neutral point of view, those who are willing to devote a substantial amount of their time to editing and maintaining Wikipedia articles will persist in having their particular point of view dominate the articles in which they are interested. This is demonstrated on the Wikipedia article “Three Witnesses,” which clearly reflects the opinion of the dominant editor, an evangelical Christian professor of history at Bob Jones University. The article is structured and referenced in such a way as to discredit the witnesses. Most of the numerous positive references to the witnesses’ experiences are minimized or ignored, while the opinions of critics are given precedence. This [Page 161]is ostensibly done to reflect “majority opinion”—the thinking being that since the majority of humanity is not Latter-day Saint, any article should give precedence to the opinion of that majority. In the case of the Three Witnesses of the Book of Mormon, however, the majority is not even aware of the pertinent events. Thus the article simply reflects the opinion of an evangelical Christian regarding the witnesses to the Book of Mormon, resulting in an article that is predictably negative in tone and content."
changed Posted January 27, 2013 Author Posted January 27, 2013 (edited) I think it depends on the article you choose to edit. There are almost certainly more than just one "John Foxe" out there.Considering those who are "aware", I think there are more Pro-LDS people out there, than anti....I'll meander over later today, edit the three witnesses page, and see how long it takes to be re-edited...OK - I just created a fb group, we'll see how many of my friends are interested. If anyone on here is interested in joining the group (through which you "adopt" a wiki article, and help keep it free of vandalism) send me a message. "Many hands make the work light" and all that. Edited January 27, 2013 by changed
changed Posted January 29, 2013 Author Posted January 29, 2013 (edited) updateToday I joined this group:Wikipedia:WikiProject Latter Day Saint movement - Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaThey keep track of wiki stuff, and put up to-do lists. It's fun, I wrote my first wiki article today, and found wiki extremely user friendly and easy to learn.If anyone out there is interested in helping, go to the link, and join the group!! You only have to make one edit a month to be considered an active member!! Edited January 29, 2013 by changed 1
Ahab Posted January 30, 2013 Posted January 30, 2013 updateToday I joined this group:Wikipedia:WikiProject Latter Day Saint movement - Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaThey keep track of wiki stuff, and put up to-do lists. It's fun, I wrote my first wiki article today, and found wiki extremely user friendly and easy to learn.If anyone out there is interested in helping, go to the link, and join the group!! You only have to make one edit a month to be considered an active member!!Sheesh. I'm staying busy enough trying to keep the content on this site up to snuff. Don't add to my burden.
changed Posted January 30, 2013 Author Posted January 30, 2013 Sheesh. I'm staying busy enough trying to keep the content on this site up to snuff. Don't add to my burden. I don't mean to cause contention, but how many people come here for info, vs. go to wiki? It's really not that much of a time sink, and wiki is often the first link that pops up in google searches...I've had some luck changing a few pages that a few years ago were under attack... I think a few people like Foxe are MIA, so some of the pages can finally get cleaned up.Foxe hasn't posted anything sense 2010 if I am reading this right - http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User:John_Foxe&action=historyHe was the one who was giving everyone trouble on the Martin Harris page - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Martin_Harris_%28Latter_Day_Saints%29
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