User:ThomasHartman

I am a teacher at a community college in Chicago. I use Wikipedia quite frequently and appreciate the effort people have put into this project. I consulted the article Elijah just to seek the answer to an insignificant question. I don't even remember the the original question. What I found was an article in serious need of the help of an English teacher. That was quite a while ago!

I am presently up to mygradebook in research on Elijah.

My thought was to: 1. Give the basics of Elijah's career in the books of 1 and 2 Kings. 2. Give the basics of his appearance in Chronicles, Ecclesiasticus, and Malachi. 3. Give the basics of his impact on the NT. 4. Give the basics of his career in the Talmud. 5. Try to objectively analyze this material.

I am now also monitoring Sherlock Holmes.

Position Statement
Plagiarism

I began my teaching career as a High School History and English teacher in Ohio. I moved to Arizona and began teaching sixth grade. I needed to know about teaching reading, so I took some classes in reading education. I wound up with a Master's in Reading Education. I became a reading specialist. Took a few more classes and wound up with a doctorate in the developmental aspects of literacy. I've taught basic reading and graduate level reading ed. classes. I have written a number of term papers and professional papers. I have read even more of them.

I tell you all this because I want you to know: I am old, mean, and cynical!

Frankly, I don't care if something is in the public domain--you quote it, you cite it. Someone invested their time and effort in writing it. You obviously thought enough of it to use it. Cite it. To do less is lazy and dishonest. It is theft.

Second. I am not perfect at spotting plagiarism, but I am pretty good. You will be asked for sources.

Position Statement Con't
Point of View

In the character of Elijah, we are dealing with a biblical figure deep with meaning and from which many people draw insight, hope, and inspiration. Belief in the truth of his story runs from myth, legend, or even "fairy-tail" to absolute faith that it is literal truth. Our task is to so write this essay that anyone within that continuum can find useful information without having their sensibilities subjected to a full-frontal assault.

As a practical matter, we are unlikely to appeal to everyone, still, we should strive to not casually insult nor reject anyone's curiosity concerning Elijah. Therefore:

The Use of "Christ"

Christ is not a person's name. It is the Greek of the Aramaic Messiah.

The rabbi in question was named Jesus (Greek) or Yehoshua (Aramaic) or Joshua (modern) or Yehoshua bar Yosef (Joshua son of Joseph) or Jesus of Nazareth.

I really want to insist upon referring to him as Jesus or Jesus of Nazareth.

POV

We have recently had the notice that our essay needs attention for neutrality removed. I would like to keep it that way.

Perfection
I could be wrong about anything. I would think it appropriate to keep my education here rather than burdening the Elijah page with angry comments.

For an example of how things can get very distracting see the discussion page for the Attack on Pearl Harbor.

Cookie of Merit for Elijah (prophet)
I, killing sparrows, hereby award you the Cookie of Merit for your excellent work on Elijah (prophet)! Take only one and then pass the plate on to someone else who is doing a great job on Wikipedia.

Seriously, you have done an excellent job expanding and editing this article. I have had it on my watch list for awhile as it related to another page I was interested in, List of people who went to heaven alive, which was up for deletion. It passed (barely) but still needs much work, including IMHO a different title. You might take a look at it and the discussion page and see if you have any advice or thoughts to offer.

Again, thanks for your great work on Wikipedia!-- killing sparrows  (chirp!) 05:09, 25 April 2007 (UTC)

Position Statement Part Three
I have been away for a while. When I left, I thought Elijah was in good hands. I see now that that was a mistake. Wikipedia has a shaky reputation as it is without us making it worse! example: Torah is is first five books of the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament). Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. By tradition, these books were written by Moses. They were most emphatically not given to Moses on Mt. Sinai. Moses received the 10 Commandments on Sinai. This is not the only error I have found. There are statements that need citations, there errors dealing with the story of Elijah in Kings, as well as the a fore mentioned error on Torah. Over the next few weeks, I will be reviewing this article. As I have said elsewhere, I am old, mean, and cynical! My doctor wants me to give up tobacco, salt, sugar, alcohol, or anything that might be aggravating. I am not going to tell him about this, because you are going to help.