Conservapedia is a wiki-based encyclopedia project with the stated purpose of creating an encyclopedia written from a socially and economically conservative viewpoint supportive of Conservative Christianity and Young Earth creationism. Andrew Schlafly stated he founded the project because he felt Wikipedia had a liberal, anti-Christian, and anti-American bias.
According to the site's FAQ, Conservapedia originated as a project for homeschooled children, who wrote most of the initial entries.Its creator, Andrew Schlafly (a son of noted conservative Phyllis Schlafly), has said that he hopes the site becomes a general resource for United States teachers and works as a general counterpoint to the liberal bias he perceives in Wikipedia.Conservapedia is not affiliated with Wikipedia or Wikipedia's umbrella organization, the Wikimedia Foundation, although both sites use the free MediaWiki software. In addition to its role as an encyclopedia, Conservapedia is also used by Schlafly's "Eagle Forum University" program. Material for various online courses (e.g., American History) is stored on the site.Eagle Forum University is associated with Phyllis Schlafly's Eagle Forum.
As of June 2007, the site estimated that it contained about 11,000 articles. Additionally, the site had 9,000 registered usernames of which about 4,000 were permanently blocked.
Conservapedia's earliest articles date from November 22, 2006.
Reactions and criticisms:
The Conservapedia project has come under significant criticism for factual inaccuracies and factual relativism. Conservapedia has also been compared to CreationWiki, a wiki written from a creation science perspective.
Widely disseminated examples of Conservapedia articles that contradict the scientific consensus include the claims that all kangaroos descend from a single pair that were taken aboard Noah's Ark, and that "Einstein's work had nothing to do with the development of the atomic bomb."An entry on the "Pacific Northwest Arboreal Octopus" has received particular attention, a page which Schlafly has asserted was intended as a parody of environmentalism. As of March 4, 2007, the entry has been deleted. Schlafly also defended the Kangaroo article as presenting a valid alternative to evolution. Science writer Carl Zimmer points out that much of what appears to be inaccurate or inadequate information about science and scientific theory can be traced back to an over-reliance on citations from the works of home-schooling textbook author Dr. Jay L. Wile.
Tom Flanagan, a conservative professor of political science at the University of Calgary, has argued that Conservapedia is more about religion than conservatism and that it "is far more guilty of the crime they're attributing to Wikipedia [than Wikipedia itself.]"
The project has also been criticized for promoting a dichotomy between conservatism and liberalism and for promoting the notion that there "often are two equally valid interpretations of the facts." (See also false dilemma fallacy)
On Monday, March 19, 2007, the British urban free newspaper, Metro, ran the article Weird, wild wiki on which anything goes. The article ridicules Conservapedia for providing only one side of controversial content.
Iain Thomson, writing in Information World Review, has written that "leftist subversives" may have been creating deliberate parody entries. Stephanie Simon, writing in the LA Times, reported that:
“ After administrators blocked their accounts, Lipson and several other editors quit trying to moderate the articles and instead started their own website, RationalWiki.com. From there, they monitor Conservapedia. And — by their own admission — engage in acts of cyber-vandalism. Conservapedia's articles have been hit frequently by interlopers from RationalWiki and elsewhere. The vandals have inserted errors, pornographic photos and satire.
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