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→Appeal of Fr. Andrew's Inequitable Treatment: new section
:Hmm... I agree that the content was worthwhile, and I also recognize why Fr. Andrew wants to keep it out of the "encyclopedia." It's not really the intention of OrthodoxSource, but we could move it over there... Or put it on another site. But, like he says... someone needs to moderate it. For my part, I'm not *too* opposed to its being on here. — [[User:FrJohn|<b>FrJohn</b>]] ([http://orthodoxwiki.org/index.php?title=User_talk:FrJohn&action=edit§ion=new talk])
== Appeal of Fr. Andrew's Inequitable Treatment ==
Fr. Andrew issued an official warning to me over the [[Talk:Liturgy of St. Tikhon of Moscow]] page. I feel his actions represent highly inequitable treatment, arbitrary standards, and partiality in implementation of the rules. He acknowledged that the statements in question were ''not'' actually offensive (I quote: "no one of your comments recently has been above the top") but issued one anyway. However, his entire comment, [http://orthodoxwiki.org/Talk:Liturgy_of_St._Tikhon_of_Moscow/Archive_1b#Some_straightforward_facts found here], is misleading.
The warning came over the Talk page for St. Tikhon's Liturgy, the longest talk page on OrthodoxWiki and one of the most contentious. The discussion centered on an edit war a poster who goes by the ID "Fr Lev" instigated. He did the same to [http://orthodoxwiki.org/index.php?title=Liturgy_of_St._Tikhon_of_Moscow&action=history several] of my [http://orthodoxwiki.org/index.php?title=Liturgy_of_St._Gregory_the_Great&action=history articles] between [http://orthodoxwiki.org/index.php?title=Western_Rite&action=history Feb. 12-14] of this year, getting at least one "Protected" as a result.
As I [http://orthodoxwiki.org/User_talk:ASDamick#The_Reason_You_Make_the_Big_Bucks explained on Fr. Andrew's discussion page], the last time this poster started an edit war [http://orthodoxwiki.org/Talk:Western_Rite#Article_protection Fr. Andrew, acting as a moderator, wrote], "If y'all move your edit war (i.e., repeated reversions to the same edit) to another article, then you'll both be banned temporarily to allow a cooling-off period." I made an edit to the St. Tikhon's Liturgy page and saw this poster immediately revert it. I reverted this article [http://orthodoxwiki.org/index.php?title=Liturgy_of_St._Tikhon_of_Moscow&action=history once], and he again immediately reverted it. When I saw this poster was again determined to continually revert to a previous edit, ''I left his version up'' and alerted Fr. Andrew I was ''not'' going to engage in an edit war but would abide by a moderator's decision. Pistevo moved in and moderated that poster's objections; I think the moderator would testify I proved more than willing to cite sources and answer objections with verifiable facts. (Perusing the gargantuan archives of that Talk Page would prove that. Note: The discussions were not written chronologically, and since comments were split up, not all were signed -- making it somewhat hard to follow.) Ultimately, Pistevo agreed I had proven my point from third party sources.
At essentially that point, Fr. Andrew upbraided me for allegedly not referring to third party sources on a specific point (I had cited them) and furthering an edit war (see above).
He then issued a warning for allegedly refusing "to engage the arguments without attacking those making them." I think the substantive refutation of those arguments in the 80K talk page belies that. Moreover, the argument he warned me over, which he acknowledged was not ''actually'' objectionable in any way (!), was directed at that poster's ''argument'', not at ''him''; I did (and do) find his argument repetitive, semantical, and in error. However, '''it is far from even-handed treatment''' that Fr. Andrew warned me, much less only me, for behavior he did not find objectionable and which the other poster had done much more than I could dream of. Although I am not quick to claim offense, you'll verify in the Talk Archives ([http://orthodoxwiki.org/Talk:Liturgy_of_St._Tikhon_of_Moscow/Archive_1a archives 1a] and [http://orthodoxwiki.org/Talk:Liturgy_of_St._Tikhon_of_Moscow/Archive_1b 1b]) that this poster has repeatedly used ''ad hominem'' attacks against me, writing that I am someone who "wishes to pretend" my edits were true and have made "an attempt to confuse" your readers about the matter ([http://orthodoxwiki.org/OrthodoxWiki:Disciplinary_policy#Uncivil_behavior '''''both implying bad faith and imputing a hidden agenda''''']). In his rhetorical first-strikes, he's asserted I have made "false claims" and spread "misinformation" (try counting the number of times he used that word on that Talk page) through "misrepresentations" and "personal invective" (and then accused me of making statements I had not made). He wrote that I believe Met. PHILIP "is acting 'in ignorance or malice'" (!) My words are "silly"; "silly, incoherent, and demonstrably false." And you'll notice [http://orthodoxwiki.org/Talk:Liturgy_of_St._Tikhon_of_Moscow#Misinformation_continues who used the term Fr. Andrew referenced in his official warning as allegedly offensive, "puzzling," first].
1. Fr. Andrew acknowledged in his message my words DID NOT go "over the top" and violate any standard. Thus, there is no ''habeas corpus'' here, if you wish. This seems to allow moderators to discipline people whenever they feel like it, reason or no reason. C.S. Lewis eloquently addressed the notion of [http://www.angelfire.com/pro/lewiscs/humanitarian.html The Humanitarian Theory of Punishment], that we should punish others, not because they actually violate rules, but to deter them somehow. If no standard was broken, as Fr. Andrew admits, '''no punishment is in order'''.
2. If the mild comments he cited did violate the rules, the other poster's comments to which they responded did so far more. Yet I alone got reprimanded (and blamed for an "edit war" in return for following Fr. Andrew's instructions, as well). This implies partiality or a sliding scale of discipline.
'''This is not equitable'''. I request that the moderators rescind said warning, send this poster an equal official warning, or (preferably) both. --[[User:Willibrord|Willibrord]] 10:31, August 18, 2008 (UTC)