I don't think this is news to most of you, but Wikipedia is not the most reliable information resource there is. (Duh. It's written by zillions of contributors!) To prove the point, Wired Magazine now has a post up about entries that have been purposely altered for one reason or another. And Little Green Footballs has identified the origins of some of the people doing the altering. Mostly these are sophomoric attempts to make an opposing view or person look bad; the digital equivalent of spray painting a penis on the billboard of a political opponent. Not only is it sad that such immature things take place, the origin of the some of the perpetrators are eye opening.
But it was the alleged doctoring of the Wikipedia entry concerning Episcopal Bishop Charles Bennison that caught my attention. According to the Wired post, which linked to this post on VirtueOnline from last May, the Bishop's entry was doctored to remove damaging facts and alligations against him, and in particular a sex scandal involving his brother, also a priest. The latter scandal was much discussed on the traditionalist websites (Bishop Bennison is no friend of traditionalist Episcopalians). The Wikipedia listing of edits and re-edits to Bishop Bennison's entry is rather long. And the person who changed the original post is, according to the VirtueOnline post, the Bishop's executive assistant, Barbara Alton. They also claim Ms. Alton changed the Wikipedia entry following a directive by Presiding Bishop Katherine Jefferts Schori.
This is the first I've heard of any of this. I know nothing of VirtueOnline, other than a couple of references to them on StandFirm - and one of those is criticizing VirtueOnline for getting something wrong. I checked several of the other traditionalist/orthodox websites, and could find no reference to this incident, or VirtueOnline. (Maybe I wasn't looking hard enough.) But if it pans out that Presiding Bishop Schori did direct the entry be altered to delete information that could damage the image of the Episcopal Church, what would that say about her character, integrity, and her ability to pastorally lead this Church? I may have my sincere disagreements with Bishop Schori - and I have taken her to task on several occasions - but I pray what VirtueOnline reported about her is not true. Theological differences are one thing; trying to erase damaging allegations is quite another.
Has anyone else heard about this incident? If so, drop me an e-mail and bring me up to speed. I am interested in finding out what's going on.
