At the Daily Kos, Inspector Dim defends Wikipedia’s decision to block users with internet addresses “owned or operated by the Church of Scientology and its associates, broadly interpreted” from editing Wikipedia entries related to Scientology:
This is why I’m in support of Wikipedia banning Scientology from editing its pages. They have blocked the numerous IP addresses of many Scientology machines and have cracked down on accounts that have seemed to have gone into edit wars with neutral parties. Like many controversial topics, Scientology and all of its various articles have been the focus of many edit wars between Scientologists and their critics. There are plenty of controversial topics surrounding the Church (Lisa McPherson, Disconnect, The Rehabilitation Project Force, just to name a few), and many critics will point their readers to Wikipedia to get the most neutral point of view regarding such controversial topics. Scientology’s attempts to edit certain pages could undermine the website’s claim for neutrality. Whether banning Scientology will prove to be fruitful, or whether it will simply be a symbolic gesture that Scientologists will be able to circumvent, it’s a bold move on behalf of Wikipedia.
Read the rest of Inspector Dim’s piece here. For a round-up on the debate, read Matthew Shaer’s piece at the Christian Science Monitor’s Horizons blog.