A recent post from the blog of Fr. Jordan Stratford.
Wikipedia is deleting ALL articles on Contemporary Gnosticism
An entire NRM has been declared unworthy in the eyes of Wikipedia and is being systematically erased. The Apostolic Johannite Church, the Alexandrian Gnostic Church, the Ecclesia Gnostica, Gnostic authors and university professors, even this article on modern Gnosticism itself are on the chopping block or have already been deleted.We're talking about independently published books, peer-reviewed academic authors, university and college course materials, internationally published news stories – all of these sources are being dismissed as either not relevant or not reliable. Given the AJCs coverage in US News, and the EG's coverage in the LA Times as well as the definitive work on the Independent Sacramental Movement, these churches don't have the "reliable third party source" chops for a few powerful Wikipedia editors.
Given that Gnosticism straddles esoteric Christianity, Paganism, Jungian thought and even Buddhism, what chance does Asatru or Druidry or Hellenismos have of maintaining a presence on Wikipedia when their populations are so much smaller and the level of academic interest is marginal (though, I argue, significant and noteworthy)? Most of these vital and important movements have a fraction of the independent cred that Gnosticism possesses. Even PanGaia magazine, a newstand publication with a print run of 8,000 copies that I've personally seen on the racks in 3 different cities, is dismissed snidely as a "web" publication (and therefore irrelevant). So someone with 30 articles and 30,000 readers on Witchvox doesn't stand much of a chance of withstanding scrutiny, I suppose.
Where's the activity in New Religious Movements? On the 'net, and in academic journals. And yet suddenly these don't matter, according to some.
As a friend suggested, we'd best stick to our knitting: we have work to do and patients to visit and volunteer hours to clock and services to perform. And she's completely right. We'll survive this tempest in a teapot.
But I do wonder about the actual usefulness of Wikipedia as a resource for NRM researchers should these various independent and Pagan organizations cease to officially "exist" according to a few self-appointed mods.
U P D A T E :
"Regarding your post on Wikipedia and deletion of Gnosticism articles: Deletion has been canceled for Wikipedia article "Gnosticism in Modern Times"."
Now, this article needs a LOT of work and is certainly not up to, I think, anybody's standards (especially with all that Crowley and Vogelin in there, oy vey) but it's a voice at the table, and that's all we're asking for.
