OrthodoxWiki:Mediation

This document aims to outline how disputes over articles will be dealt with on OrthodoxWiki.

In cases of dispute, an appeal may be made to Fr. John or one of the other sysops asking for intervention. (The sysops are collectively usually very good at catching things like this quickly, but somethings may fall through the cracks.)

Appeals to the sysops may be made publically on their User_talk pages, or privately through the email link on their main User page.

Fr. John (or the other sysops) will appeal to the OrthodoxWiki's NPOV policy and ask that the contibutions steer away from taking any particular position in the conflict, but rather present the issues disputed in as descriptive and non-passionate a manner as possible.

If or when it is appropriate to recount the history of some conflict or disputed issue in an article, we will be interested in knowing who said what when and why (where is optional, I guess, though context is important).

In some cases, he (or the other sysops) may decide that certain pieces of information should not be included. Perhaps their veracity is questioned, or perhaps they are not edifying. (Not that we mean to cover over all unpleasant facts, but that this is not the place to defame or humiliate others.)

OthodoxWiki is not a place to grind out ideological or personal battles. We assume that all our contributors are adults, able to take part in a reasonable discussion, even in cases of disagreement. Moreover, as Orthodox Christians, we hope for a genuine mutual love, even of one's enemies, and ask that all contributors and sysops pray for each other, especially in cases of disagreement.

Once a sysop has made an intervention (whether solicited or not), users should not re-assert the edits which have been rejected. If they do so, they should expect to be banned, probably on a temporary basis.

User:FrJohn has the final say in disputed matters, though he takes advice from the sysops very seriously.

Disputed Articles

The most contentious area in OrthodoxWiki has been pages dealing with the Western Rite. I'm not sure why that is -- maybe the folks committed to the vision of Western Rite feel embattled and tend to become a little defensive? Enough speculation!

The only other major area that has been contentious has been the relations between the Chalcedonian ("Eastern Orthodox") and non-Chalcedonian ("Oriental Orthodox") churches.

Other than these two areas, and apart from various individual edits, things have been pretty peaceful so far, thanks be to God!