Wikipedia:Defend to the Death


 * "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it"


 * — Evelyn Beatrice Hall in The Friends of Voltaire, characterizing Voltaire's attitude when Claude Adrien Helvétius compared him with Prosper Jolyot de Crébillon and Bernard le Bovier de Fontenelle. (Sometimes misattributed to Voltaire himself.)

This is a good principle for Wikipedia editors to use when judging essays on Wikipedia.

Wikipedia does not require that essays be "correct" or "right" or "the truth". The requirement is that they present the views of one or more editors in a cogent manner. They must not bring disrepute onto the project, nor violate the policies of the project regarding essays, but there is no reason to require more. They may even evince humour.

Deleting an essay because "I disagree with it" is not a valid rationale. Most editors likely disagree with most essays on Wikipedia for that matter. Essays exist not to require others to believe in them or to agree with them, but to promote discussion about differing points of view and opinions.

If all essays required "majority consensus" there would be very little on Wikipedia, and we would indeed be in the position of Orwell's 1984 where "newspeak" is the rule.