User talk:Gunther40

Welcome
Hello, Gunther40, and welcome to Wikipedia! Thank you for your contributions. I hope you like the place and decide to stay. Our intro page provides helpful information for new users - please check it out! If you need help, visit Questions, ask me on my talk page, or place  on this page and someone will show up shortly to answer your questions. Slp1 Happy editing! Slp1 (talk) 12:15, 9 October 2009 (UTC)

Ecole Polytechnique Massacre
I have removed, again, the emphasis on Lepine's father's religion from the lead of the article. Since you are new to Wikipedia, you may not know that there are rules that guide us about editing, and one of these is that the articles must be of neutral point of view. Emphasizing his father's religion (and not his mother's) is clearly not neutral, I am sure you will agree. I have other concerns about the edit and the source too. You may also not know that if your edits are reverted you should check the talkpage of the article, and engage in discussion there. If you want to discuss this further don't hesitate to respond to the messages currently there, or here if you prefer. --Slp1 (talk) 12:23, 9 October 2009 (UTC)

A few concerns with your edit and remarks. Are you disputing that his father was a Muslim? Are you disputing that Maclean's is an adequate source for making the claim his father was a Muslim? Are you claiming that the religion of Marc or either of his parents is wholly irrelevant? Are you aware that under the Marc Lepine article his mother is referred to as a former nun and that Marc is said to have been baptized a Roman Catholic. NPOV requires objective editing.


 * Thank you for responding. To answer your questions.


 * That Lepine's father was a Muslim is not in dispute: a Mark Steyn film review is certainly not the best source for this fact, but other, better sources are certainly available, if required.
 * As Wikipedia aims to summarize what reliable sources have to say about the subject, not the opinions of its editors, my views on the importance of his parents' religions is not relevant to this discussion.
 * No reliable source that I know of (and I have researched this matter long and hard), claims that Lepine's father's religion had any more to do with the massacre than his mother's. None comment about the issue at all, and in fact, even Steyn disclaims the connection "And, as I always say, no, I’m not suggesting he’s typical of Muslim men or North African men".
 * You suggest that "NPOV requires objective editing". It depends on what you mean by objective, but technically, no, that isn't the way that WP determines NPOV.  NPOV policy means that we accurately report and appropriately weight the various published, verifiable sources on the matter; and the no original research policy means that we cannot advance arguments that are not supported by these sources, by for example, implying that  Lepine's father's religion is somehow considered important by the sources by mentioning it the lead of the article.  These policies avoid the difficulties that might come up if you and an editor from this bunch of commentators ended up trying to edit the article at the same time.  The rules can be frustrating, but they are there for very good reasons. --Slp1 (talk) 20:40, 9 October 2009 (UTC)

I would like to reply, but would appreciate your response to the last question (an oversight, no doubt).