Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Is Wikipedia biased against intelligent design?

Transcript of today's show:

The Discovery Institute has been reporting unfair and erroneous Wikipedia entries on intelligent design that are biased against the theory. They claim that some statements incorrectly associate intelligent design theory with religious belief, and that in other instances, statements supporting intelligent design have been repeatedly removed. They also contend that critics dominate the Wikipedia entry, with as many as 50% or more of the references containing citations critical to intelligent design. [source: Evolution News and Views/Discovery Institute]

Listen to the 1-minute broadcast of this story [mp3]


Sound Off: Science & Faith. Our point/counterpoint regulars Shelley (the voice of science) and Peter (the voice of faith), comment on the story.

The Voice of Science: Shelley Greene, Ph.D., comments:
These allegations are correct. Wikipedia is trying to be factual. The fact is, ID is religious and a subterfuge for the fundamentalist religious right. Wikipedia isn’t falling for the Discovery Institute’s intent to portray themselves as secular.


The Voice of Faith: Peter Williamson, M.Div., comments:
It is interesting to me that the Intelligent Design movement can repeat over and again that they are a secular belief system. Yet the left-wing press, and Wikipedia, keep insisting that they are not. A short visit to the Discovery Institute web site will make it luminously clear that the ID movement has no religious affiliation at all. Wikipedia was intended to be the encylopedia of the people, and yet this kind of cultural bias continues to show up in their entries.