The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the miscellaneous page below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the page's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.

The result of the debate was delete the main page and two of the subpages, while keep for User:Prester John/slideshow. There is clear consensus here from uninvolved, established Wikipedians presenting legitimate and logical arguments that this userspace isn't compatiable with both Wikipedia as an encyclopedia-building project and also with the userspace guidelines.

I have deleted the page and replaced it with a redirect. I implore any administrators concerned by possible repetition of content to watch it, and as an administrator I would suggest using a protected redirect if the situation occurs again. However, as always, such a decision would be made by the discretion of the administrator and/or consensus. Daniel 00:55, 6 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]

User:Prester John[edit]

Right wing soapboxing, blatantly anti-middle-east/muslim. This page is virtually an attack page. Contains sections devoted to disparagement. I'm white, non-muslim and very politically incorrect and even I find it offensive. This is not a user page that is appropriate to the neutrality of Wikipedia and does not put the project in a good light. WebHamster 11:19, 1 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Comment: It does not matter which wing, or center, the soapboxing is. The issue is soapboxing and the disparagement, regardless which point of view it is pushing. Hu 21:19, 1 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Comment It certainly attacks socialism, and Muslims (by calling for their segregation). Prester John, as I noted before, has alternate motives. He is a troll. I have evidence for this assertion. In his sandbox [1], he has a user box "This user is Satan." If you click on "Satan" it links to [2]. It states "One technique for managing conflict in groups is to set up one person in your faction to be a LightningRod, which is like a more intense, ongoing ScapeGoat. Their purpose is to attract all the hate and bile and frustration which arises, and to shrug it off. In the process, careful thinkers are not slandered, leaders are not distracted, topics aren't changed, and all that." Prester John implies that he is this Lightning Rod (what you and me would call a troll). We ought to see through this crap.--Agha Nader (talk) 05:54, 3 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]
What about the quotes identifying Islam as supporting pedophilia? -FisherQueen (talk · contribs) 12:56, 1 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I did not read far enough to find those and I doubt very many will. --Law Lord 12:59, 1 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]
While you have the right to !vote as you choose, I am personally appalled that you did not read the whole page before weighing in on this discussion, and also by your assumption that nothing needs to be deleted that goes past the end of your personal attention span. -FisherQueen (talk · contribs) 13:05, 1 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]
My point is that few people can take the content of the page seriously. --Law Lord 13:09, 1 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Just because you don't does not mean others won't. --WebHamster 13:24, 1 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]
True. However, I think I speak for everyone when I say that making parallels between pedophilia and Islam is laughable and you give such a statement way too much credit in asking for its removal. --Law Lord 13:27, 1 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I take issue with your claiming to "speak for everyone", especially when I feel I've made it clear that I disagree. You do not speak for me, nor for those Muslim editors who might not find it quite as funny to be accused of pedophilia. -FisherQueen (talk · contribs) 13:35, 1 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]
If a cartoon can make the world's muslims go apeshit, it's not too much to expect this article (and its suppositions) could do similar to WP's muslims. --WebHamster 13:48, 1 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I agree. However, as the cartoon case of my country showed, we do not care about the feelings of muslims when it comes to freedom of speech. Nor would any other free person living in a free and civilized nation. --Law Lord 13:56, 1 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]
It's beyond the purview of this discussion but speech has never been free, anywhere. There's always a price to be paid. Regardless, WP is not a venue for free speech, it's not a venue for soapboxing. If Prester John wishes to do so them he should get himself a website. --WebHamster 14:06, 1 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I do not find that his propaganda goes beyond what can be allowed on the user page. Hence my vote. --Law Lord 14:13, 1 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]
It doesn't matter to count how many people take it seriously. The author is serious and it is bigotted PoV which has no place on Wikipedia. Hu 21:25, 1 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Comment: This is nonsense, Cygnis. There is no need to create bigotted hatred and PoV pushing in Wikipedia. If you insist on creating it on your user page, then we'll delete it there too. Hu 20:53, 1 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]
False: The very first comment on your page, "Non-Muslim Bypass: If only the rest of the world would follow the example set in Mecca", is not found anywhere else on Wikipedia. It is your bigotry that is confronting. Go confront people on a PoV site, not Wikipedia. Hu 21:14, 1 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Fine. The picture is legit. I will remove the caption then. Prester John -(Talk to the Hand) 21:18, 1 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Still False: Your second comment (your first after you remove your first PoV comment) is the chauvinistic ultra-nationalistic PoV "it is going to be done OUR way", which is not found anywhere on Wikipedia. Hu 21:23, 1 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]

It seems obvious that there is no consensus here. --Law Lord 20:54, 1 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Too soon to make such a judgement, "Law Lord". Not much more than ten hours. Give it five days, if needed. Hu 21:17, 1 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Not at all too soon. Already now it is clear that editors are divided on the issue. Or do you not understand what consensus means, Hu? --Law Lord 21:31, 1 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Yes, I understand what consensus is, without your condescension, thank you. One of the important things to realize about consensus is that it might not gel at first, but given a little time, a consensus can develop. Hu 21:34, 1 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Do we read anything into your rush? MfDs run for 5 days, why are you so keen to close after 10 hours? --WebHamster 21:56, 1 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Law Lord, I would argue that there is a clear consensus that this material must go. The only disagreement seems to center on method: whether it is done by forced removal, selective deletion or full deletion. Also, please be aware that this is a discussion, not a numerical vote and the closing admin will weigh people's comments. If people are basically saying, "keep (or delete) because I say so" without addressing policy and guidelines, then they can expect the closing admin to weigh their comments appropriately. Sarah 02:12, 4 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]


the quote The Great Seal of the United States. Note how the Eagle holds an olive branch and 13 arrows. This symbolises how the USA will give a choice between War or Peace. YOU do get to pick, but always remember, that whichever way you choose, it is going to be done OUR way is offensive, is not NPOV, is using wikipedia as a soapbox. I suggest this guy gets a blog, and he can rant as much as he likes. I would suggest that instead of removing some content, or deleting the user page, perhaps deleting his account and blocking him from wikipedia would be the best solution.Sennen goroshi 06:13, 2 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Jimbo said "Libelling people on userpages is a bad idea, and in fact, using userpages to attack people or campaign for or against anything or anyone is a bad idea." Prester most certainly attacks Muslims. He has called for their segregation. He attacks socialism. He quotes someone as saying "Five years ago, Middle Eastern extremists were killing Israelis and Americans. Today they are killing each other. Why is it that some people persist in claiming that Israel's and America's Middle East policy is a failure?" Moreover "Polemical statements" are not allowed WP:UP#NOT. Prester ought to be banned, he is a troll. He has been warned but he hasn't learned anything. I have evidence which I will provide in the future, that his intention is to disrupt.--Agha Nader 19:54, 2 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Who cares what Jimbo said; he doesn't unilaterally set policy anymore. I choose to regard Prester's stuff as over-the-top satire, have a good laugh, and move on. The only reason it's disruptive is that some people can't take a joke around here. Sarsaparilla 23:16, 2 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I'm deeply confused by this. 'Satire' would indicate that this is offensive intentionally, but that this user's real beliefs are the opposite, and that comes through clearly to the perceptive reader. In this case, it's pretty clear that this user does indeed believe what he has written. It is therefore not satire, nor is it intended to provoke laughter, as far as I can tell. -FisherQueen (talk · contribs) 23:22, 2 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]
"Who cares what Jimbo said?" Um, for starters I care. The community of editors cared enough to quote him on WP:UP#NOT! The problem is that people like you come to these MfD's without even reading WP:UP#NOT. --Agha Nader 23:33, 2 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I read it and dismissed it as non-binding obiter dictum. Sarsaparilla 00:33, 3 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]
  • Comment – And the material that isn't pertinent to wikipedia? —Animum § 19:42, 2 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    • Comment He can have unrelated contents, but not in an excessive way that disrupts in any form (including excessive discussion not related to Wikipedia). The racist must be removed as it is offensive toward certain users. PrestonH 19:52, 2 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Comment Is that another article you only read part of before commenting?
  • Extensive personal opinions on matters unrelated to Wikipedia, wiki philosophy, collaboration, free content, the Creative Commons, etc.
  • Polemical statements
Sounds like there's two violations right there. --WebHamster 19:54, 2 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I disagree. Also, please refrain from personal attacks. --Law Lord 11:58, 3 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]
What personal attacks would they be? --WebHamster 12:05, 3 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Note: I have taken the liberty of editing three userspaces to comply with WP:USERPAGE. If this user leaves them in that form, I'd support keeping the rest of his userpage. If he chooses to revert them, then my previous nonvote stands. -FisherQueen (talk · contribs) 12:13, 3 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]

  • Please explain how selective deletion would be going too far. Selective deletion would allow Prester to keep the bulk of his pages, with only the offending elements removed. Also, with regard to FisherQueen's comment below, I appreciate you eventually self-reverted, but I would ask please, don't start an edit war on someone else's userpage. For that matter, please do not edit other people's userpages. FisherQueen made those edits as an admin, trying to apply policy and guidelines. Sarah 02:12, 4 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]
  • Well, I just don't see the need to delete stuff from the history. Isn't that usually reserved for copyvios and other extreme cases? If, for instance, he gets taken to arbitration and someone wants to use those page versions as evidence, non-admins wouldn't be able to view them. Sarsaparilla 03:58, 4 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]
We often selectively delete material from page histories if the revisions violate policy and it is considered necessary. See, we could just leave it in the history but Prester has shown that he is likely to restore it if it is left there. If he went to arbitration, say, and someone needed to refer to a deleted revision, they would just ask an admin or arbiter to restore the page as evidence for the course of the arbitration. This is not uncommon. We also sometimes do this deletion discussions so that non-admins can see the deleted material, and then delete it after the discussion. Sarah 04:32, 4 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]
  • Comment I second that! --Law Lord 19:41, 3 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]
  • As you may well do. However, what matters here is policy and guideline. Some people arguing for keeping seem to be under the mistaken impression that people on Wikipedia have some sort of right to free speech. Wikipedia is a privately owned website and we don't have anything remotely along the lines of "free speech". What we have are policies and guidelines that people who want to edit here are required to follow. We have on the one hand, admins and experienced editors all agreeing this material is not appropriate under userpage guidelines and policy and on the other hand, we have the author and a rather curious band of mostly newish accounts and folk with low edit history. I'm not sure what is going on or how y'all knew to come here. You're certainly welcome to comment but you need to explain your argument and ground your position in policy/guidelines. It would help if you could read the relevant part of the userpage guidelines and respond particularly to: "Examples of unrelated content include:...Extensive personal opinions on matters unrelated to Wikipedia, wiki philosophy, collaboration, free content, the Creative Commons, etc...Other non-encyclopedic related material...Polemical statements..." Then down further, it states: "There is broad agreement that you may not include in your user space material that is likely to bring the project into disrepute, or which is likely to give widespread offense. Wikipedia is not a soapbox is usually interpreted as applying to user space as well as the encyclopedia itself...Extremely offensive material may be removed on sight by any editor." Please also read policies: Wikipedia is not soapbox, Wikipedia is not MySpace and Wikipedia is not a battleground: "Wikipedia is not a place to hold grudges, import personal conflicts, or nurture hatred or fear." Under policy and guidelines it seems quite clear that the polemic material must stay out. Sarah 02:12, 4 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]
  • Answer You have misunderstood both the rules of Wikipedia as well as the spirit. User pages says something about the user. Then all is well. You people really need to pull yourselves together. --Law Lord 09:34, 4 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]
  • Law Lord, your edit summary Sarah does not know a thing about Wikipedia [3] and comment are not appropriate. --Aminz 09:37, 4 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]
  • My edit summary was an attempt at humour that I regret, I am unable to delete, since you and/or others have failed to share it that. --Law Lord 09:41, 4 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]
  • How long will deletion of his userpage last? Ten minutes? Twenty? -- Ned Scott 01:10, 4 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Not even that long. I doubt if there are any correct answers here; ultimately, PJ may come to realise that to work with other editors here will require a measure of mututal respect, which seems not to be generally forthcoming at present. If such realisation occurs, he will perhaps tone down the expression of his views here, whilst expressing them more forthrightly in a different forum which might find them conducive to cooperative collaboration. But I detect that consensus says otherwise and it's his choice whether to follow that consensus. --Rodhullandemu (please reply here - contribs) 02:10, 4 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]

NotePrester John, in his disrespect for the will of the community, has moved offensive material to his subpages. He is basically trying to hide it until the MfD is over. Nothing less than a ban will alleviate Wikipedia from his trolling. --Agha Nader 01:24, 4 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Comment: I didn't actually realise how sectarian the page was before it was changed (Muslim Bypass, selective quotes, etc). Reinforces my Delete vote. Fin© 12:49, 4 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]

*Keep unless this is a universal policy move that will be applied to all editors, if not then removal of extremist material only is all thats required. as its not policy based and will be ignored by the closing admin instead I leave only a comment below Gnangarra 04:28, 5 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Section break for summary of complications[edit]

User:Prester John's user page is built using input from two subpages, User:Prester John/userboxlist and User:Prester John/slideshow, in addition to his main userpage. Rightly or wrongly, I removed material from all three pages which I believed to be in violation of WP:USERPAGE. He has since restored some, but not all, of the material I removed. You may need to consider the historical versions of all three of these pages in order to fully comprehend earlier comments. We can choose to delete the userpage and subpages completely, or to enforce the removal of polemic material, or to allow him to keep his userpage in its old form.-FisherQueen (talk · contribs) 13:03, 4 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Not forgetting User:Prester John/quotes of course. --WebHamster 13:13, 4 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I hadn't even noticed that one. -FisherQueen (talk · contribs) 13:13, 4 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]
The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the page's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.