Conservapedia:Parthian shot/ArthurA

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Trus me Conservapedia

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I finally have something to say

And its "goodbye".

I came here hoping for.... well, I'm not quite sure what I was looking for it, but what I found certainly was not it.

What did I find?

• Conservapedia is no encyclopedia; Conservapedia is a blog for Andy Schlafly and the views he thinks constitute conservatism. That, in and of itself, would not be so objectionable, but...
• I can't even think of Mr. Schlafly as a conservative anymore. Not that he's a liberal (which, to him would apparently be the ultimate insult, causing offense on a level that most people save for remarks about their parentage) -- he is an anti-liberal. He has a bizarre obsession with fighting liberals reminiscent of a early colonial America witch-hunter. He sees liberals everywhere, scheming like some 1930's B-movie melodrama villain to destroy America. Just to cite one example, consider this bizarre exchange in which a simple suggestion to add a link to a charity turns into a diatribe about those awful liberals. Besides his obsession with liberalism, there's...
• His use of the site for self-validation. A classic example is his use of "Mysteries". It is abundantly clear that when he says "Mystery", it really means "idea he thought of and wants it echoed back to him". Examples:
  • The absolute insanity of his question as to whether or not there was humor prior to Christ. Despite repeated examples of pre-Christian humor (including at least one from the Old Testament!), Mister Schlafly merely waved his hands and said, "oh, that's not humor". It rapidly became clear that he did not consider it a "mystery" at all; he had decided there was no humor prior to Christ and wanted that repeated back to him.
  • Almost as bizarre was the question about Ancient Greek versus current American literacy levels. Despite repeated evidence that US levels are substantially higher, and ignoring the obvious logic of, "your average ancient Greek had little to no need to read; reading is essential in American society", Mister Schlafly again persisted in his belief that a larger percentage of ancient Greeks than modern Americans could read. Again, it was not a "mystery" to him at all; it was something he wanted parroted back to him.
  • In short, when it comes to "mysteries", and pretty much everything else, he wants An Echo, Not a Choice. I pity his students if he runs his classes like this site.

And then there's...

• The almost totalitarian culture of the site. The claim that ideological blocks aren't used is laughable. Sure, they're never called as such, but it doesn't take long reading here to realize there is a party line, and it will be followed. Of course, the totalitarian nature of the site is compounded by...
• The choice of administrators. The USSR had the KGB, East Germany had Stasi, and Conservapedia has its admins. Moreover, the good ones, the ones who actually wanted this site to be what it once wanted to be, have been slowly driven off, leaving behind bullies. But when you discuss admins, you have to mention...
• Andy Schlafly's utter inability to recognize deep infiltration parodists. He has been warned, repeatedly, that at least two admins were actually parodists. One already confessed. The other is apparently waiting till this site goes the way of all things, destroying it like a cancer.

My Conclusions

I'm really not sure what to think at this point, but I've got two ideas.

1. Mr. Schlafly is himself the ultimate parodist, running a massive parody of conservatism a la Blogs 4 Brownback or Landover Baptist Church. He may not even be the "real" Andrew Schlafly. In fact, that would be my conclusion, except for one thing: he claims to be using this site to teach children. If he is actually messing with the education of children to run a hoax, then may God have mercy on his soul. That is a horrible thing to do, and, if this site is a hoax, I pray that the students are actually fellow hoaxsters and not victims of his.
2. Mr. Schlafly is deranged. That, I think, is self-explanatory.

Final Words

To paraphrase one of greatest Americans who ever lived, the world will little note nor long remember anything I have said on Conservapedia. Unlike that great American, who profoundly changed America, I have contributed little here -- a few minor edits, some debate, and at least one suggestion for Mr. Schlafly's world history lecture. Nothing big, certainly not like the latest admin to give up here. I imagine it was quite difficult for him to walk away; this is merely a minor turn in the road of my life. I may contribute at his alternative to CP. I urge anyone who actually thinks the idea behind CP is a worthy one to do the same.