Wikipedia:No factions of belief
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Do not form permanent community factions around particular beliefs, but only about shared interests.
Wikipedia is an encyclopedia written from the neutral point of view by a community working together because of a shared love for knowledge. We recognize that a truly neutral source of information can only be built if people from different persuasions exchange reasoned arguments without prejudice. For this reason, we do not allow the formation of factions dedicated to a particular belief about an issue. Instead, we allow and encourage groups focusing around a shared interest in an issue, regardless of the opinion about it.
This policy does not concern groups of individuals who are merely articulating or enforcing the shared ideals and principles of the Wikipedia community in different ways (e.g. Wikipedia:Esperanza, Wikipedia:Counter-Vandalism Unit).
[edit] Policy
It is not permitted to categorize Wikipedians by their stance in an issue. Examples: There will not be a list of Wikipedians who believe in a particular religion, or a category of members of a particular political party. Instead, such lists and categories should either be removed, or transformed into general WikiProjects and Portals that are not exclusively dedicated to a single conviction. Categories that only describe an interest in a topic ("Wikipedians interested in Christianity") are also acceptable.
Of course, in many cases, being interested in a subject will be equivalent to being a fan or supporter. When a topic is overwhelmingly dealt with by those who hold a particular stance on it, this may lead to bias. Due to the self-selective nature of the editing process, this is to some extent unavoidable. However, even in those cases, groups should never be exclusive to those who hold a particular belief.
[edit] Exceptions
Factions of belief which are clearly intended to be humorous, or present no identifiable threat to Wikipedia as explained below, may be acceptable. However, any faction of belief which causes significant controversy should be removed. As always, administrators and other editors are encouraged to exercise good judgment, and to discuss matters where appropriate.
Factions of belief are accepted on Meta, the Wikimedia wiki dedicated to the community as a whole and all its projects and languages. Whether or not these factions should be regulated in the future is up for the Meta community to decide.
Personal statements of belief on user pages are acceptable. These should not include categories or membership lists, and should not be inflammatory (see Wikipedia:User page for detailed guidelines). Userboxes which do not include categories but describe a particular belief are discouraged, but not prohibited. One recommended form of declaring your beliefs is a declaration of bias, a simple list such as follows:
Declaration of bias
Such a declaration makes it clear that you recognize that your own convictions may lead to bias in editing, and encourages others to point out such bias. It is clearly not intended to be inflammatory.
[edit] Rationale
Factions of belief have the potential to harm Wikipedia in many different ways:
- They can evolve into subcommunities, which can lead to social pressure that prejudices personal judgment in open discussions. For example, those who identify as members of a pro-Christian faction might feel obligated to defend Christian views, and the subcommunity they effectively belong to might pressure them to do so. This endangers the neutral point of view.
- They can contribute to "vote-stacking": When a vote or poll is opened on a controversial issue, editors may notify other editors who agree with them to push a particular point of view. This undermines the consensus model of Wikipedia.
- They may lead to groupthink and exclusionism around certain articles. Mingling with people from opposing viewpoints is healthy and helpful in developing neutral and fair articles.
- They can cause incivility, as members no longer identify themselves as Wikipedians with shared ideals, but as members of tribes that have to fight and eventually defeat each other.
- They could eventually lead to avoidable forks and off-site communities, distracting from our effort to create a single, neutral encyclopedia.
We are all Wikipedians. That is our common ground. We must protect this common ground from being divided. That is why we should generally not allow factions centered around particular beliefs.
