If you’ve been following the breaking news in Austin, TX then you already know that Planned Parenthood has been paying “volunteers” to show up to public events covered by the media and make as much noise as possible. What you may not know is that the abortion industry’s efforts to control the media and manipulate popular opinion do not end there.
They also have Wikipedia editors whose sole focus is to sway public opinion by controlling how the debate is framed. And that includes editors who work tirelessly to reframe the debate by modifying articles or deleting them altogether. For example, it was brought to my attention that articles on Rachel’s Vineyard and Douglas Karpen have been nominated for deletion by Wikipedia editors. Whether these articles are removed from the Wikipedia corpus is in the hands of votes cast by volunteer editors – including those who have never edited the articles.
For those interested in reading the discourse and the votes being cast, here are the url links:
Douglas Karpen article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Articles_for_deletion/Douglas_Karpen
Rachel’s Vineyard article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Articles_for_deletion/Rachel%27s_Vineyard
A veteran editor on Wikipedia who has been struggling with editorial bias aimed at pro life articles for years, stated, “There is a cabal of high ranked editors who can and will delete or dilute as they please on any abortion related article. There is a hierarchy, and the pro aborts have themselves well positioned.”
This means that the pro life community must become more vigilant in its efforts to communicate the truth. If you’ve never edited or contributed to Wikipedia then today would be a great day to get your feet wet. You can register for free by visiting www.wikipedia.com and use of the service is free.
Here is a free tutorial that will explain how you can become an active contributor: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Tutorial
Since Wikipedia is based on the community efforts of volunteers the most effective way to combat the abortion industry’s orchestrated attempts to hijack the public discourse by intentionally steering the cultural definitions in their favor is to match their efforts online. The spiritual battlefield is not limited to the sidewalks outside of the abortion clinics. Wikipedia must become a mission field where the falsehoods and lies being promulgated by the abortion industry’s foot soldiers are replaced with the truth. If it turns out that the abortion industry has paid writers working for them, it will require incredible patience since these editors livelihoods may depend on spreading lies and misinformation.
None of this should surprise Christians since the Bible tells us that Satan is the father of lies:
“You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”
– John 8:44
The editors defending the culture of death are not shy about their disdain for news sources that reflect a pro life ethos, such as Life News and Life Site News. They remove these sources as “unreliable” but the same standards are not applied to liberal news sources that unabashedly support abortion. And since many of the editorial disputes are settled by consensus the lack of pro life editors often prevents the truth from prevailing.
It’s also worth remembering that the editors defending abortion are not the enemy. They’re the lost sheep that have been lead into the wilderness by a culture of death. And just like the clinic workers trapped in the abortuaries they’re also in need of deliverance. And that means we need to pray for their hearts and minds to be opened to the truth. The goal isn’t to simply win an editorial battle, but to be instruments of the Lord who loves them and wants to rescue their souls.
It would be a failure if pro lifers changed Wikipedia articles, but didn’t change any of their hearts.
Abortionists expect to be mistreated by those who disagree with them, even as they mistreat others. But over the years I’ve seen a lot of men and women defused by pro lifers who loved them. And we’ve been called to love them as we share the truth:
“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
– John 13:34-35
That’s the core of Christ’s message. While we were sinners he loved us. And as we engage a sinful world headed toward self destruction we should strive to replicate that kind of love. The world isn’t going to agree with us anymore that it agreed with Christ or his disciples, but if the message of freedom from bondage is couched in love, it can melt the hardest of hearts.
This is a wakeup call to all pro lifers with access to a computer and the internet. Abortion is a war of competing values and ideas being fought on the airwaves and on the printed page. If the pro life community remains silent then the values and ideas of the darkness will be instilled into the community as they research these topics online and read information that is designed to lead them astray.
The antidote is the truth. And the truth, as you know, shall set us free.
