"Likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities... But these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves." Jude 1:8,10
Wikipedia is dangerous, found at www.wikipedia.org. Although it can be a helpful learning tool, there are some inherent dangers to using it that you need to keep in mind:
ANYONE can edit Wikipedia and say ANYTHING they want. It's an encyclopedia written exclusively by its readers. Although this promotes freedom of speech, it also opens the door to slanderous misrepresentation of the facts and the assassination of people's character. I've read some really horrible and malicious slander about several men of God on Wikipedia, including faithful pastors who have given their life to serve others for the lord.
It is a shame that a pastor can dedicate 50 years of his life to serving God, and do 10,000 wonderful things throughout his ministry to help people; but then one or two hateful critics portray that man on Wikipedia as the scum of the earth. Wikipedia is being used by many people as a way of destroying other people's credibility and reputation. Their sole intend is to kill, steal and destroy.
Here are some dangers I think you need to be aware of:
- Twisted Facts As I said,
I've read some really rotten things about Godly men on Wikipedia, where
critics have taken a preacher's words completely out-of-context.
In fact, it's an epidemic on Wikipedia. Any hateful person with
malicious intent can pick and choose quotes at random from a Christian
author's books, making him look like a cult leader or a pervert.
I've seen this a lot on Wikipedia. For example: a pastor might
write in his book, "I like little children because they are precious
expressions of God's love." Some critic will misquote that pastor
as saying, "I like little children." In today's sick-minded
society, this type of twisting of the facts is very common.
- Shady Citations I've read some
malicious criticisms about great men of God, tearing them down, from
sources no more credible than someone's personal opinion. If a
critic writes a book, it can be used as a citation for slanderous
remarks. In effect, mere personal opinions are viewed as factual
evidence against a man. This is unethical and wrong. Many of
the references used to attack God's men are cited from personal
websites, which carry about as much credibility as Monopoly money
at the bank.
- Bigoted Unedited Edits Although
it is true that anyone can edit Wikipedia, I've often noticed that it's
the hatemongers who do most of the editing (because they don't have a
real life). Unless some decent person comes along and makes the
effort to UNDO the smut and lies posted by critics, the slanderous
information often remains on Wikipedia (which is often unverifiable
information).
- Guilt by Association On Wikipedia, many renowned pastors (and organizations) are being attacked and defamed simply because of their association with others who have done horrible things or crimes. This is wrong. It is unethical to assassinate a man's reputation on the basis of what's others do. A man must be held accountable for his own words and actions.
It is ridiculous to believe some of the garbage posted on Wikipedia. I encourage people to be careful about forming any opinions from information obtained on Wikipedia's website until they do their homework.
Note: I'm not talking about false prophets or known con-artists like Benny Hinn, I'm talking about misrepresentations of the truth here. There are some truthful bad things on Wikipedia about some great men of God, but the critics of those men have gone to great lengths to distort and stretch the truth as much as possible in their hatred of those men. Many critics will build a house-of-lies upon one or two mistakes a great man of God made in his lifetime. Since the primary accusation may be true, then all the lies built upon that negative truth become much more believable. This is a common tactic that liars use to destroy the credibility of their enemies.
