Wikipedia:Good article reassessment/Hinduism/1

Hinduism

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Result: Delist. There's a lot of good work going into this article, with further expansion taking place, but GA issues remain, e.g. with the lead. This is a clear case where it is best to delist, allow improvements to stabilize, and then renominate at GAN. Geometry guy 20:20, 10 August 2008 (UTC)

it does not meet the following good article attributes.

It is not well written: (a) the prose is not clear. For example it says": "Hinduism is often presented as the "oldest religious tradition" among the world's major religious groups, or as "oldest living major tradition" in the lead section. Therefore creates confusion about Why is it said as "often presented"? Who is presenting it as such? Or is it only a few people are presenting it as such and others do not agree? Is there a controversy around this? This is complicating a simple sentence which could have been simply written as "Hinduism is one of the oldest living religious tradition"

(b) it does not comply with the manual of style guidelines for lead sections, layout, jargon, words to avoid, fiction, and list incorporation For example it has two of the following sentences in the lead section : Early forms of Vedic religion are seen not as an alternative to Hinduism, but as its earliest form and there is little justification for the divisions found in much western scholarly writing between Vedism, Brahmanism, and Hinduism.[4],[5] Historical Vedic religion of Iron Age India, is at its roots. This is a clear attempt to imply a POV and to introduce an unnecessary contradiction. It is not factually accurate and verifiable: For example : Other major scriptures include the Tantras, the sectarian Agamas, the Purāṇas, and the epics Mahābhārata and Rāmāyaṇa. The Bhagavad Gītā, a treatise from the Mahābhārata, spoken by Krishna, is sometimes called a summary of the spiritual teachings of the Vedas.[14]

There is a implied POV that Tantras are more prominent than rest of the scriptures, which is incorrect. Bhagavad Gītā and Ramayana are the most prominent of other scriptures. In fact Tantras are not even considered holy and are vieved as notorious by most hindus because their purpose is for witchcraft and are used by a very small cults. It is given prominence over other major scriptures inorder to imply that Hinduism can be equated to witchcraft and fits into the Christian definition of Heathen religions. There are a lot of other similar inaccuracies which need to be corrected.

It is not broad in its coverage: (a) it does not addresses the main aspects of the topic properly because it appears to focus too much on Hindus and controversies surrounding Hindus rather than the theology of Hinduism (b) it does not stays focused on the topic without going into unnecessary detail For example "Other countries with large Hindu populations include Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Mauritius, Fiji, Suriname, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, United Kingdom, Canada and the USA."

What does this have to do with the topic of Hinduism and how can this be justified in the lead section of Hinduism.

It is not neutral: it does not represent viewpoints fairly and without bias. For example it saysThe Grihastha Dharma recognize four goals known as the puruṣhārthas. They are:kāma: Sensual pleasure and enjoyment Artha: Material prosperity and success....

Please note that the tone and the way in which this is presented makes it look like the most important goal in Hinduism is "Sensual pleasure and enjoyment " followed by "Material prosperity and success" which is diagonally opposite of how Hindus interpret this important aspect of their religion. First of all the order and meaning of these goals are delibrately being misrepresented. In the Hindu sources the order and interpretation is as

1. dharma - ethics,
2. artha - securities,
3. kama - pleasures,
4. moksa - liberation.

One of the most respected Hindu saint Swami Dayanand Saraswati explains Purusartha’as following “Dharma occupies the first place in the four categories of human goals, because the pursuit of security, artha, and pleasures, kama, need to be governed by ethical standards. Artha, striving for security, comes second, because it is the foremost desire of everyone. Everyone is obedient under the doctor's scalpel precisely because everyone wants to live. Granted life, one then wants to be happy, to pursue pleasures, kama. I want to live and live happily; and both pursuits, the struggle for security and the search for pleasure, must be governed by ethics. The last category is the goal of liberation, moksa, ranked last because it becomes a direct pursuit only when one has realized the limitations inherent in the first three pursuits.[1].

Therefore this seems to be an implied POV with intent of bringing disrepute.

The article is not stable: it has changed a lot in recent times and lot of implied POV with malicious intent are added.

Please see the talk page of the article. Sindhian (talk) 10:36, 7 July 2008 (UTC)

• Note This was appended onto another reassessment, which I have fixed. So this page was created by me even though Sindhian is the editor seeking reassessment. Ice Cold Beer (talk) 17:39, 7 July 2008 (UTC)

• Delist: On stabliity criteria alone, this article fails GA. 2500 edits since April 2008, involving enormous changes to content and tone. The article many not be the site of an edit war, but the skirmishes are never ending. The text is a hodge-podge as result, full of sudden shifts of tone and substances, and crazy with POV writing and OR. I sadly vote for delist; this topic is so meaningful to so many who want to put in their 2 cents that careful and legitimate editing has been overwhelmed. My sincere sympathies to the caring editors who have been doing their best to maintain this important article. In its current state, however, no one could point to it as an example of a 'Good' wikipedia article. Typical, yes -- all too typical of high-emotion articles, but no longer Good. With regret, I vote 'delist'.

• Delist. In amplification of the above, the article fails to meet WP:LEAD, e.g., the beliefs section is not covered. Geometry guy 23:04, 13 July 2008 (UTC)

• Delist. As per above, beliefs not covered in the Lead. Sentences like Other countries with large Hindu populations include Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Mauritius, Fiji, Suriname, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States. are not at all necessary. Too. much emphasis on scriptures in the Lead. The lead doesn't prepare the reader. The reader will surely be confused. A lot of text is uncited in Pilgrimage and festivals and Conversion. All personal opinions in Conversion. Being a core topic on Wikipedia, this article fails GA criteria. Kensplanet^Talk_E-mail^{Contributions} 14:56, 1 August 2008 (UTC)