Gentle as serpents and wise as doves

Jason Gastrich is a politician, preacher and evangelist. He's part of the public face of Christianity. He has generated a certain amount of negative public comment (see also this very similar page).

Someone using that name is also banned from editing English Wikipedia. Now we should be wary of assuming that these are the same person. All you need to do to set up a Wikipedia account is to request it. You can choose almost any name you like. Actually, this is much the same for most websites, not just wikis and weblogs. You can register almost any domain you like as long as it's not already taken, which is how many phishing frauds work. It's just that with Wikipedia (and most other wikis) it's a little bit more obvious. But it's still easy to forget!

This does appear to be the same person. His activities on Wikipedia are promoted at Jesus Christ Saves Ministies http://jcsm.org/ and at http://wiki4christ.com/ which is a site set up especially for the purpose. And in any case, the Wikipedian Jason Gastrich appears, like the politician, to be a sincere Christian, and even better, one who is prepared to do risky and imaginative things for the sake of the Gospel. So the ban is a reason for interest, and concern.

The reasons for the ban? Breaking the site rules, which ban for example personal attacks. Jason proved himsalf a master of insulting people. He was also found guilty of repeatedly and systematically lying. But most important, he showed disrespect and contempt for the well-meaning, respectful, accepting and generally idealistic people who make up the vast bulk of the thousands of volunteers who are Wikipedia, the world's largest and most successful online community, and who are building the only community-owned website that ranks in the world's top ten.

The results? A needless barrier has been erected between many, perhaps most, of these people and Christ. The Gospel has been associated in their minds, and many others who read Wikipedia without contributing, with deception, manipulation, and viciousness.

If that's not a disaster, what is?

Watch this space, and we'll bring you some of the sad details, and draw some lessons from them.