User:Will Beback/TM-Rebuttals

__NOINDEX__

Prior to this dispute, TM editors commented on my civility and helpfulness so these accusations of incivility and obstructiveness are a surprise. ''The Fairfield TM editors seem to be claiming that all of the problems with the TM topic are my fault, due either to my actions or inactions. I am not "anti-TM", I am not the leader of an "anti-TM team", and I'm not the Anti-Christ either. ''

@BKeithbob -
 * He links to an RfC on talk:Prem Rawat, but fails to note that the discussion ended in a compromise agreed to by all. That was a successful outcome on an unrelated article.
 * Kbob's accusation that I've engaged in "ownership" of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi is not consistent with reality. I've made only 29 edits, while he alone has made 234. He and the other TM editors that are parties here have made 832 edits, on top of over 800 edits made by now-inactive TM accounts. Combined, the pro-TM editors have made over 1600 of the 2969 total edits to the article.
 * His assertion that I edited the navigation template incorrectly is contradicted by his own compliments.Template talk:Transcendental Meditation movement
 * User talk pages are exactly the right places to talk to editors about potential problems with their editing. See WP:TPG: "...the purpose of user talk pages is to draw the attention or discuss the edits of a user."
 * It's clear that ChemistryProf is in Fairfield and he calls himself a professor, so the logical deduction is that he is a professor at MUM and thus a colleague of John Hagelin. ChemistryProf was engaged in a heated dispute over Hagelin's biography. I think it was legitimate to ask him to either disclose his connection to Hagelin or withdraw from the dispute. None of the Fairfield TM editors have acknowledged knowing any of the four faculty members about whom we have biographies.

@Hickorybark - Hickorybark complains that I supported the inclusion of the (well-sourced) word "crackpot" in the biography of his apparent colleague, John Hagelin, but he missed the fact that I later suggested it could be removed in place of more relevant criticism, a compromise to which TM editors agreed.

@Roseapple - This editors has made relatively few contributions and also claims to be neutral, but she too has removed sourced, negative material without discussion. Regarding COI, she has identified as a teacher and created the article on the Maharishi School MSAE in Fairfield, so there is a implication that she is a teacher at the school. I've worked on hundreds of school articles. There's no need to hide an affiliation with a school.

@Bigweeboy - Bwb apparently took offense at being referred to as a "true believer" by another editor, and came to me for redress. I don't know what he expected me to do. I told him, basically, "if the shoe fits, wear it." "True believer" is a term commonly used to refer to hard core members of the movement, and has even been applied to Merv Griffin. I don't see any reason that I should have regarded it as an insult requiring administrative action, and even if it were I would not be the person to act because I'm involved in the topic. Since becoming involved a year ago, I haven't used administrative tools on any of the TM-related articles, so my status as an admin is irrelevant to this case. In my role as an experienced editor, I've warned many editors on all sides about unhelpful behaviors. Bwb accused another editor of being a sock puppet on the basis of making his first edit to a TM-related article, but didn't tell me who he thought the puppetmaster was. I merely pointed out that other editors, including TimidGuy and Olive, have also made their first edits to TM-related articles to show that it is not a meaningful piece of data when taken alone.

@Luke Warmwater101 - I stand by my assertion that Luke made a non-neutral and unhelpful edit when he added, without any prior discussion, a large amount of material on an obscure paper not mentioned in any secondary source and which promoted fringe science. Reducing the size of the entire section devoted to that single paper required a lengthy talk page discussion, in which the TM editors never came to a consensus about even reducing its size.Talk:TM-Sidhi_program The movement has conducted at least 42 such studies on this exact topic, the Maharishi Effect, so giving each one that much weight, even the 140-word paragraph that it's been condensed to, would create a very long and unreadable article and there is no reason to give this particular study extra weight (or really, to even mention it beyond listing it as one of many).

@Littleolive oil - I will include a section in my evidence on the "Sexy Sadie" saga which Olive mentions. (See User:Will Beback/Saga of Sexy Sadie) For now, Bigweeboy never explained why that song should be removed from the Maharishi bio, despite repeated requests. The fact that he asked people if his private draft was OK, without mentioning any of the changes, does not excuse his non-neutral edits. Separately, Olive has made many charges of harassment and has repeatedly accused me of mis-characterizing her comments. When I've asked her to describe the harassment or point to the mis-characterizations she's refused, sometimes saying that the details would have to wait. I hope that she'll either substantiate those charges now or stop making them. (Since I wrote this Olive has made more vague accusations of false assumptions and mischaracterizations, and has again refused to explain herself.)

@ChemistryProf - It's a bit over the top to accuse me of "complicity in WP rule violations". No rule was broken at any time. He and other editors were trying to remove a well-sourced, negative characterization of John Hagelin, who is apparently a close colleague of ChemistryProf and the leader of the U.S. TM movement (Raja of Invincible America). See my comments in "@Hickorybark" above, this is just the same complaint repeated.

@Kevin Carmody - I assume that this account would have been included in the CU/SPI if had not been stale at the time as he says he lives in Fairfield. A person of the same name is on the staff of MUM. Kevin's user page links to a website which a has the most complete overview of all of the TM movement that I've ever seen.