Conservapedia

Conservapedia
Official logo of Conservapedia
Logo
Screenshot
Screenshot of the main page of Conservapedia on March 6, 2013
Homepage screenshot of the top portion on March 6, 2013
Type of site
Available inEnglish
OwnerAndrew Schlafly
Created byVolunteer contributors[1]
URLconservapedia.com
CommercialNo
RegistrationOptional (required to edit pages)
LaunchedNovember 21, 2006; 17 years ago (2006-11-21)
Current statusActive
Content license
Unclear (see § Licensing of content)

Conservapedia (/kənˌsɜː(r)vəˈpiːdiə/; kən-SU(R)-və-PEE-di-ə) is an English-language, wiki-based, online encyclopedia written from a self-described American conservative[2] and fundamentalist Christian[3] point of view. The website was established in 2006 by American homeschool teacher and attorney Andrew Schlafly, son of the conservative activist Phyllis Schlafly,[4][5] to counter what he perceived as a liberal bias on Wikipedia.[6][7] It uses editorials and a wiki-based system for content generation.

Examples of Conservapedia's ideology include its accusations against and strong criticism of former US President Barack Obama—including advocacy of Barack Obama citizenship conspiracy theories[8]—along with criticisms of atheism, feminism, homosexuality, the Democratic Party, and evolution. Conservapedia views Albert Einstein's theory of relativity as promoting moral relativism,[9] falsely claims that abortion increases risk of breast cancer, praises Republican politicians, supports celebrities and artistic works it believes represent moral standards in line with Christian family values, and espouses fundamentalist Christian doctrines such as Young Earth creationism.[10][11] Conservapedia's "Conservative Bible Project" is a crowd-sourced retranslation of the English-language Bible which the site says to be "free of corruption by liberal untruths."[12]

Conservapedia has received negative reactions from the mainstream media and political figures,[13][14] and has been criticized by liberal and conservative critics alike for bias and inaccuracies.[15][16]

As of September 2023, Conservapedia has more than 54,000 articles.[17]

  1. ^ "Conservapedia: General disclaimer". Conservapedia. February 19, 2009. Archived from the original on March 18, 2009. Retrieved July 29, 2020.
  2. ^ Anderson, Nate (March 5, 2007). "Conservapedia hopes to 'fix' Wikipedia's 'liberal bias'". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on June 16, 2018. Retrieved April 5, 2019.
  3. ^ Stöcker, Christian (April 6, 2007). "Wikipedia for Christian Fundamentalists: The Lord's Encyclopedia". Der Spiegel. Archived from the original on August 10, 2019. Retrieved July 8, 2019.
  4. ^ Coyle, Jake (May 10, 2007). "Conservapedia, QubeTV mimic popular sites with spin to right". Press-Telegram. Associated Press. Archived from the original on June 13, 2011. Retrieved April 26, 2010.
  5. ^ "Andy Schlafly". Eagle Forum. Archived from the original on October 6, 2014. Retrieved July 29, 2020.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference NPR_conservapedia was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference heise was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Walker, Clarence E; Smithers, Gregory D (2009). The Preacher and the Politician: Jeremiah Wright, Barack Obama, and Race in America. University of Virginia Press. p. 3. ISBN 978-0-8139-3247-7.
  9. ^ Gefter, Amanda; Biever, Celeste (August 11, 2010). "E=mc2? Not on Conservapedia". New Scientist. Archived from the original on July 1, 2015. Retrieved August 26, 2017.
  10. ^ Stöcker, Christian (March 6, 2007). "Wikipedia for Christian Fundamentalists: The Lord's Encyclopedia". Der Spiegel. Archived from the original on April 22, 2015. Retrieved April 9, 2015.
  11. ^ Vettese, Troy (April 21, 2007). "What's the Difference Between Wikipedia and Conservapedia?". History News Network. Archived from the original on February 8, 2017. Retrieved June 6, 2017.
  12. ^ Cite error: The named reference Evangelical Textual Criticism was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  13. ^ Zeller, Shawn (March 5, 2007). "Conservapedia: See Under 'Right'". The New York Times. Archived from the original on September 22, 2008. Retrieved June 8, 2008.
  14. ^ Calore, Michael (February 28, 2007). "What Would Jesus Wiki?". Wired. Archived from the original on July 18, 2008. Retrieved February 28, 2007.
  15. ^ Cite error: The named reference The Star was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  16. ^ Clarke, Conor (March 1, 2007). "A fact of one's own". The Guardian. Archived from the original on December 1, 2016.
  17. ^ "Statistics". Conservapedia. Archived from the original on September 18, 2023. Retrieved September 18, 2023.