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Unitarian-Universalist Encyclopedia -- WelcomeThis is a featured page

Welcome to the Unitarian-Universalist Encyclopedia. At the time of this writing, it contains over 3,000 entries. We'd like to see thousands more, and one day, a million (just like Wikipedia.) Feel free to browse our alphabetical index (left) to see if it contains your favorite topic, and if not, maybe make an entry yourself.

This is a wiki, and making it contain something is up to you, along the model of Wikipedia. (We have experienced serious vandalism events, so it will now be necessary to register and sign in before posting or editing. More on this below.)

A year or so after inception, it appears that we have more of a directory than an encyclopedia. But we have high hopes. If, in another year, the same is so, we may re-name the website the UU Wiki, or UU directory. But for the time being, we'll say it's an encyclopedia, and hope for the best.

Volunteers can find information by using Google or another search engine. When good information is found, it can be posted in the UU Encyclopedia. Please don't post copyrighted material. Posting a link to the material will get the same job done.

If you have specialized knowledge, you might want to look at an article from another source, and address the subject to fit your understanding. If it is sufficiently different, it is not a plagiarized copy, but a new item.

Thus, an article in the Catholic Encyclopedia on "Inerrancy of the Scriptures" might be responded to, or adapted to fit another view or other information, more in tune with a UU view. The idea isn't to bias the data for a second dogma, but to add information and to express other views clearly expressed as being viewpoints, aspiring to an ideal Neutral Point of View .

You can also post an article as a sub-article in a letter index, initially ID'd with a link. Posting an article as a separate, alphabetical item would clutter the system in a hurry. Go to the letter index page, then create another page from that point.

Your entry will initially show up as a title, only when the letter index page is open. Please do not create a new page from this Home page, or Welcome page, as the page title will be alphabetized with the index letters. If the number of those becomes a hundred or a thousand, it would become impossible to find anything in the clutter. (Adding a page is selected below the "Wiki Pages," or letter-indexes.)

If you post an article, please provide references for factual material. If you feel you do not have expert knowledge on a subject, but you still have an opinion, the "comments" section at the bottom is a good place to put that.

If you have searched for something here that you could not find, mention it below in "comments," and we might be able to provide that at a later time.

Incidentally, to get a variety of viewpoints, especially on some subjects, I am looking for encyclopedias with different perspectives. I have been unable to locate a good Islamic or Muslim encyclopedia. If you should find that, and if it is truly an encyclopedia, please enter that under the appropriate letter index (I or M, for example, or E for Encyclopedia.)

To be "truly" an encyclopedia, the sponsor should talk about something besides itself. For example, the Jewish Encyclopedia has entries for Constantine and the Nicene Creed, and the Catholic Encylopedia has entries for Mohammed and Islam. It should also contain a history and miscellaneous facts, other than just statements of beliefs and principles. For example, at the moment I would like to see what a Muslim encyclopedia says about the Crusades. (On the other hand, articles should be relevant. See "About This Wiki" for "relevance.")

After that, along the Wikipedia model, an article is inspected, possibly criticized, and possibly edited by other readers (assuming it isn't just a link.) This is the area where I get fuzzy, but apparently the Wikipedia folks have figured that one out and have perfected it. After all, isn't that kind of like what happens in real life, anyway?

There is a new online wiki encyclopedia, Citizendium, which requires a contributor to prove s/he is an expert before admittng them. We haven't got to that point yet, and it will be a long time before we do. (The Wetpaint folks have now produced tools for a "private" Wiki, requiring more than just registration, but advance permission to post or even read. That's a bit much for our purposes now, unless problems develop from abuse.)

I have recently discovered that Theopedia requires a reader to prove his fervency before being allowed to post. UU's can think whatever they want, either in life or here, which is much of the point of being a UU. Walking in lock step is not a requirement for posting any article. Doing it well is the most important thing. (See details in "About This Wiki.") Of course, an encyclopedia article is no place for "preaching." (See "Neutral Point of View" in the link above, or "About this Wiki" in the alphabetical list.)

If we have any problem getting ideas, good sources of topics are the 1910 Catholic Encyclopedia, OrthodoxWicki, Theopedia, Citizendium, the 1906 Jewish Encyclopedia, Bible Wiki, the 1851 Encyclopedia Americana, and the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica, which are all on line. They can give us a topic, and using that as a source of ideas, we can provide new articles of our own making.

Incidentally, the UU Association in Boston has nothing to do with this. At the moment, they don't even know about it. But if all goes right, they will.

At the moment, we need readership and participation -- in other words, publicity. Please tell your friends about this website. Post it on discussion groups and blogs, if you will.

Let me know what you think. Incidentally, the sitemap only contains the items with "bullets." Disregard it.

And don't forget to check the comments section at the bottom of any page, including this one. If you search for something and can't find it, tell us in the comments section, and maybe we can include it here.

For rules on how to play nice here, please see the page "About this Wiki" listed directly above "A index."

By the way, if you search for a word and can't find it here, send me a note, or post it in the comments section. You can also tell us in the Survey. That may help me or any reader to find something to enter.

Thanks a bunch,
Gene Douglas
Survey -- Click here to tell us what you think --

As mentioned above, there have been vandalism events, now forcing us to require registration before posting. Of course, it is possible to get around this, and some junior high school kid wanting to prove how smart he is may yet do this. It is also possible to read the IP address of anonymous posters. We can ban that address, and of course, there are ways of getting around that, too.

If vandalism continues, we will have to go to a system requiring advance permission to post, or moderation before a post is made public. I really want this site to be as free and open as possible, and wish to avoid doing that for as long as possible.

Minors under 16 years old use this site. Posting of obscenity here is punishable by up to 10 years in jail under 18 USC § 1470. Vandalism is punishable by up to 10 years in jail per 18 USC § 1030.

A poster's ISP number is displayed on moderator pages, even if he or she doesn't log in (which as of now can't be done, anyway.) Consequently, it is possible to trace a contributor, if need be, for either prosecution or automatic blocking.

See "Comments" below:


Threads for this page

Started By Thread Subject Replies Last Post
Anonymous I cannot believe such a valuable site is neglected! 0 Aug 27 2009, 8:11 AM EDT by Anonymous
 
Thread started: Aug 27 2009, 8:11 AM EDT  Watch
While I am not UU, I have a great respect for the ideals, and I believe a site like this would be a great resource. Get that word out! Thanks, Christine
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Anonymous Need a few more keywords 0 Jun 8 2007, 12:14 AM EDT by Anonymous
 
Thread started: Jun 8 2007, 12:14 AM EDT  Watch
Your keywords contain 6 variations on anti-trinitarian (which is a Unitarian term) but no variations on the term Universalist. Suggest you add "Universalism," "universal salvation," "universal restoration," "universal restitution," "restorationism," and "universal grace."

I have only just discovered your site and might have to become a humble contributor if only to prevent the Universalist side of our history from being neglected.

Cheers,
Gwen
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GeneDouglas Why have I used Catholic and other encyclopedias? 1 Nov 11 2006, 4:42 PM EST by GeneDouglas
Thread started: Oct 13 2006, 10:38 AM EDT  Watch
I suspect some people will wonder why Catholic Encyclopedia is on a UU website. Several reasons:

1. It is a convenient way to get a fast start.

2. It provides lots of topic material, suggesting more work we can do.

3. It is an excellent, scholarly work, as is the Jewish Encyclopedia.

4. Biases can be observed, and the reader can consider the source. However, it is at least honest, and nobody there is trying to "put one over," or any such thing. Meanwhile, it contains a world of really good data.

5. It gives us information about other points of view, especially on topics on which we disagree with them. For example, "Trinity" tells us of their arguments, which we can closely inspect. Under that topic are anti-trinitarian arguments from Nazarenes, Jehovah's Witnesses, Biblical Unitarians and the AUC (formerly calling themselves the AUA.)

6. We can also move from the Catholic Encyclopedia to the Jewish Encyclopedia, and find differing views of a subject. After all, UU's don't wear blinders, and we want to know all views and make up our own minds, right?

And, being a Wiki-type publication, we can post our own comments, criticizing ideas seen on a page (as I have done under maybe "crucifixion" or "atonement.") Of course, we are also free to find things on Google, or just write them ourselves, rounding out the fare.
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