Eric Deggans
Tuesday, March 20, 2007

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Can an encyclopedia have a political bias - especially if the general public writes it?

That's the contention of conservative lawyer and former engineer Andrew Schlafly, son of activist Phyllis Schlafly, and an involved homeschooling teacher who has developed a conservative-oriented alternative to the gargantuan online encyclopedia Wikipedia.

Schlafly disputes the contention of Wikipedia organizers that the site features entries written from a neutral point of view. He says Wikipedia is "increasingly anti-Christian and anti-American," according to CNSNews.com.

So Schlafly created Conservapedia, a pro-America, pro-religion online encyclopedia that also has its entries written by the public. Using the same free software utilized to create Wikipedia, Schlafly developed Conservapedia in November 2006 as a class project for 58 homeschooled kids in New Jersey, according to the site's background page.

The site, www.Conservapedia.com, now claims more than 4,800 entries, generating more than 3.6 million total page views, putting it among the most-visited conservative Web sites in cyberspace. It averages about 30,000 page views daily, according to data available on the alexa.com site that tracks Web usage.

Conservapedia says it offers "an online resource and meeting place where we give full credit to Christianity and America . . . (with) concise, clean answers free of ‘political correctness.'"

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Asked why he didn't simply correct Wikipedia entries instead of starting his own outlet, Schlafly tells the Guardian newspaper in England, "I've tried editing Wikipedia, and found it and the biased editors who dominate it censor or change facts to suit their views," he says. "In one case, my factual edits were removed within 60 seconds - so editing Wikipedia is no longer a viable approach."

There has been plenty of criticism, however. Wikipedia supporters say Schlafly's demand for entries that favor American and Christian points of view is contrary to Wikipedia's policy of neutral postings. Others say Schlafly has countered Wikipedia's occasional problems in maintaining neutrality with an aggressive turn toward ideas on the fringe of science and theology.

Conservapedia has also struggled with vandalism and parody entries created by users seeking to disrupt the site. Its home page recently reminded users that vandalism and the posting of obscenities might be punishable by 10-year jail terms under certain laws.

And some have made sport of Conservapedia's more controversial entries, including one maintaining that kangaroos are descended from a pair of animals carried on Noah's Ark.

© NewsMax 2007. All rights reserved.

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