Talk:Fellowship of Friends

Fellowship of Friends Draft
Thank you for your suggestions on how to improve the Draft:Fellowship of Friends before a potential re-submission. I implemented the changes you indicated to the best of my capacity; please let me know what you think. Regarding the issue of the organization's notability, in my opinion the Fellowship of Friends matches these criteria of relevancy: 1. The organization has been featured in several major newspapers (the Los Angeles Times, the San Francisco Chronicle and the Sacramento Bee among others) over the 48 years of its existence because of its controversial nature, 2. The organization has 1,600 current members and 15,000 former members, and 3. Of the list of podcasts on 42 famous cults on the Parcast web site (see https://www.parcast.com/cults), only the Fellowship of Friends and the River Road Fellowship don’t have an article on Wikipedia (in bold on the list below). By the way, I'm working on a draft for an article on the River Road Fellowship and I would like you to review it if you have the time.

LIST OF PODCASTS ON FAMOUS CULTS ON PARCAST

The Manson Family (Charles Manson), Heaven’s Gate (Marshall Applewhite & Bonnie Nettles), Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God (Credonia Mwerinde & Joseph Kibweteere), The Family (Anne Hamilton Byrne), The Ant Hills Kids (Roch Thériault), The Children of God (David Berg), FLDS (Warren Jeffs), Aum Shinrikyo (Shoko Asahara), The Branch Davidians (David Koresh), The Peoples Temple (Jim Jones), True Russian Orthodox Church (Pyotr Kuznetsov), Nuwaubian Nation (Dwight York), Sect of Nacozari (Silvia Meraz), Apostles of Infinite Love (Michel Collin & Jean-Gaston Tremblay), Church of Euthanasia (Chris Korda), Rajneeshpuram (Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh & Ma Anand Sheela), The Brethren (Jimmie T. Roberts), Twelve Tribes (Gene Spriggs (Yoneq)), Oneida Community (John Humphrey Noyes), The Moonies (Sun Myung Moon), The Narcosatanists (Adolfo Constanzo & Sara Aldrete), Leopard Society), Order of the Solar Temple (Joseph Di Mambro), Raëlism (Claude Vorilhon), Church Universal and Triumphant (Elizabeth Clare Prophet), Sahaja Yoga Movement (Nirmala Srivastava), The Hernandez Brothers’s Cult (Magdalena Solís), Lumpa Church (Alice Lenshina), Mankind Project (Arthur Bell), The Kirtland Cult (Jeffrey Lundgren), The Church of the Last Testament (Sergey Anatolyevitch Torop (Vissarion)), Church of Satan (Anton LaVey), The Way International (Victor Paul Wierwille), Freemasonry (The cult that built America), Kashi Ashram (Ma Jaya), Fellowship of Friends (Robert Earl Burton), River Road Fellowship (Victor Barnard), The Sons of Freedom / Doukhobors (Peter V. Verigin), The Workers’ Institute (Aravindan Balakrishnan), New Vrindaban (Kirtanananda Swami), “The Source Family” (James Baker), “Eastern Lightning” (Zhao Weishan)

Greetings and thank you for your help. UltraEdit (talk) 14:58, 13 April 2019 (UTC)

Regarding the edits from IP 38.80.239.148
Whoever is editing the article from IP 38.80.239.148 please explain here on this Talk page the reason behind the edits before removing pictures, blanking entire sections and deleting references. The article has been stable since May of 2019 -- removing content without explaining the reason for the deletion could be considered vandalism and it may lead to the protection of the page. Thank you for your cooperation. --UltraEdit (talk) 08:50, 12 November 2019 (UTC)

Protected edit request on 13 November 2019
I am the editor that requested the protection of the Fellowship of Friends page because of disruptive edits from an IP address (picture removal with false copyright allegation, sections blanking and references deletion). The version that is now protected is the one after the last edit of the person removing content from an IP address, not the one that was stable since May this year. I'm asking to restore the page to the original version before the IP edits. UltraEdit (talk) 07:59, 13 November 2019 (UTC)
 * Pictogram voting question.svg Question: the image was removed with the summary "removed copyrighted photo". Can you confirm if you took this picture yourself? Or if not, where did it come from? Thanks &mdash; Martin (MSGJ · talk) 08:24, 13 November 2019 (UTC)


 * The image is from Instagram -- here is the link: https://www.instagram.com/p/yfuGAXjEVV/ --UltraEdit (talk) 08:47, 13 November 2019 (UTC)


 * I'm aware that in some cases images from social media can be used (Flickr, YouTube, etc), but if this is not the case, we can use the picture that I used for the creation of the article since I own the copyright (see image below) Robert Earl Burton, founder of the Fellowship of Friends.png --UltraEdit (talk) 08:54, 13 November 2019 (UTC)


 * ✅ in terms of handling the protected edit request. The image is nominated for deletion on commons, though, see below. Fish +Karate  10:55, 18 November 2019 (UTC)

A Commons file used on this page has been nominated for deletion
The following Wikimedia Commons file used on this page has been nominated for deletion: Participate in the deletion discussion at the. —Community Tech bot (talk) 08:03, 16 November 2019 (UTC)
 * Robert Earl Burton, founder of the Fellowship of Friends.png
 * I own the copyright of this photograph. --UltraEdit (talk) 17:55, 18 November 2019 (UTC)
 * I restored the image deleted by the bot since I own the copyright (I took the picture myself, as I explained before) --UltraEdit (talk) 02:21, 2 December 2019 (UTC)

A Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion
The following Wikimedia Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion: Participate in the deletion discussion at the. —Community Tech bot (talk) 04:26, 9 February 2020 (UTC)
 * Robert Earl Burton, founder of the Fellowship of Friends.jpg

apocalypse predictions
article says he's made past doomsday predictions. what dates has he predicted the world will end on? Nyuuposting (talk) 17:44, 23 June 2022 (UTC)


 * First 2006, and maybe again sometime after that didn't happen. The sources I've seen so far only mention 2006, and I hadn't yet gotten around to putting that into the article, but I plan to shortly.  If you can find any other sources than those that already exist in the article that would be helpful. --- Avatar317 (talk) 22:03, 23 June 2022 (UTC)

Fellowship of Friends - copied/pasted from The Troutinator's Talk page
Hello, the Fellowship of Friends information is misleading, untruthful, and biased. It was created by former students who have been trying for many years to destroy the School via hate speech and defamation, but enough is enough!

I’ve just tried to clean it up, but you declined my changes. Please advise. Thank you. Cleopatra888 (talk) 03:47, 17 June 2023 (UTC)


 * Hi Cleopatra888, thanks for your comment, and in response to it, I'm sorry that some of the content I reverted was deserving to be deleted. But, I noticed that you deleted an infobox, and I would like to say that generally, you should prioritise changing article content without wholly deleting it. You have already restored your edit - don't worry about it, but you should probably wait for the reverting editor to restore your edit first. It may also be helpful to discuss at the article's talk page first before making larger changes. Thanks, The Troutinator 🐟 - Slap me &#124; What I've slapped 04:08, 17 June 2023 (UTC)
 * Thank you kindly for your reply. My apologies, I didn’t mean to delete the inbox. I’m new here and wasn’t aware of the process. Thank you, I’ll keep that in mind for the future. Most of the info on the Fellowship of Friends page must be re-written. What’s the best way to do it? Should I explain as I go, section by section? Thank you! Cleopatra888 (talk) 04:17, 17 June 2023 (UTC)
 * Hi there! I'm sorry, but I'm not that experienced to know what exactly you should do. However, one of the things you can do is pop a tag on the page. (Copy and paste the text, curly braces included.) This will attract the attention of (hopefully) experienced editors who will fix problems. The other thing I'd like to say is BE BOLD. There's no strict rules on editing Wikipedia, so feel free to make constructive edits whenever and wherever you like. Again, notifiying people on the article's talk page is the recommended thing to do. I'd also like to point you towards the Teahouse if you want to ask questions about best practices to edit. No worries, and happy editing! The Troutinator 🐟 - Slap me &#124; What I've slapped 04:30, 17 June 2023 (UTC)
 * Awesome, thank you so much! Cleopatra888 (talk) 04:33, 17 June 2023 (UTC)
 * Quick follow up - If you feel like you can fix something yourself, please do, as it helps reduce the number of pages with tags which are unsightly for general readers. It also diverts attention from smaller problems to bigger ones. Thanks, The Troutinator 🐟 - Slap me &#124; What I've slapped 04:33, 17 June 2023 (UTC) (P.S. You might want to consider creating a user page with a little bit about you and a few userboxes to show where you're most active and your interests.)
 * Exactly, I feel the same! I will also do my best to stay as objective as I possibly can. Thank you, have a wonderful weekend!🙏🏻 Cleopatra888 (talk) 21:51, 17 June 2023 (UTC)
 * FYI: In Wikipedia, you can't just add or change something because you know something; ALL content MUST be sourced from WP:RS. Please also see WP:NOR. --- Avatar317 (talk) 05:31, 19 June 2023 (UTC)
 * Great, thank you! Cleopatra888 (talk) 04:22, 20 June 2023 (UTC)

Dear Troutinator, with your permission, I’ve been trying to clean up the Fellowship of Friends page, but all of a sudden I received this message from Fragrant Peony who reverted all my changes. “Please stop. If you continue to add unsourced or poorly sourced content, as you did at Fellowship of Friends, you may be blocked from editing.”

I haven’t even added anything yet, just deleted a few sentences and explained everything as clearly as possible within the box. Please advise. Thank you. Cleopatra888 (talk) 05:43, 20 June 2023 (UTC)


 * Hi User:Cleopatra888, it seems like they reintroduced non-neutral content to the article, and I readded your content on these grounds. Likewise, they probably didn't mean to do this, as they have been a prolific vandalism reverter. Have a nice day! The Troutinator 🐟 - Slap me &#124; What I've slapped 23:25, 20 June 2023 (UTC)
 * Wonderful, thank you kindly! Cleopatra888 (talk) 14:26, 21 June 2023 (UTC)
 * Wikipedia characterizes organizations as stated in Reliable Sources WP:RS. If you do not LIKE what Reliable Sources like the Los Angeles Times or the New York Times say about Fellowship of Friends, that is your problem.  If you feel that they have printed outright lies (which you have claimed on your edit summaries) than you can take that issue up with them or their reporters.  If they offer a retraction or article change, THAN we can change the Wikipedia article.  But until then, content doesn't get deleted just because you CLAIM that it isn't true, or you don't like the picture it paints of FoF. --- Avatar317 (talk) 22:39, 21 June 2023 (UTC)

The proper venue for this discussion is in THE ARTICLE's Talk page; and I will copy this there. All further discussion about FoF should take place there, so other editors of that article can be aware of this discussion, and offer their comments. --- Avatar317 (talk) 22:43, 21 June 2023 (UTC)

fresh civil lawsuit
- https://www.thedailybeast.com/fellowship-of-friends-and-robert-earl-burton-hit-with-sexual-abuse-lawsuit - https://www.theunion.com/news/lawsuit-filed-against-yuba-county-cult/article_9970033a-ab40-11ee-8824-ab1d44164419.html - https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-12-21/six-men-allege-sexual-abuse-fellowship-of-friends 166.216.158.183 (talk) 20:24, 5 January 2024 (UTC)