After all my many dealings with the conservative party, I have learned quite a lot about their politics and perspective on the world. I have written about their blind faith and partisan righteousness with what is fact and what is not in an earlier article. Well, I have found something that is humorous on the surface, but once you really let it sink in, it gets quite scary. Where do conservatives go to get there facts about the world? Where else, but Conservapedia! Why is this scary, well after I have done some serious comparing of Wikipedia to Conservapedia, I have found that they are rewriting history to make sure that their manufactured facts back up their manufactured perspectives. Before I get into what the differences are, you ought to know that their slogan is “The Trustworthy Encyclopedia”.

For my first comparison, I will use the Iraq War. Here is what Wikipedia says about the war in general:

The Iraq War (March 20, 2003 to present), sometimes known as the Second Gulf War,[21] is an ongoing war and occupation that began with the United States-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. Part of the rationale for the war offered by the George W. Bush administration at the time of invasion was that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction which posed an “imminent threat”[22] to the United States and the world community. This claim has since been found to be false based on the work of the Iraq Survey Group. Other reasons for the invasion offered by U.S. officials have included concerns about terrorism, the Iraqi government’s abuse of its own citizens, and the economic importance of Iraq’s oil supply.[23][24]

The war started in March 2003 when a US-led coalition overthrew Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and occupied Iraq in an attempt to establish a new governmental regime. However, the coalition was unsuccessful at restoring order to the entire country, leading to asymmetric warfare with the Iraqi insurgency, civil warfare between Sunni and Shia Iraqis, and al Qaeda operations in Iraq.[25][26] Despite this failure to restore order, a growing number of coalition nations have decided to withdraw troops from Iraq.[27] The causes and consequences of the war remain controversial.[28][19][16]

That sounds pretty solid to me. Notice that it also has 10 sources cited. Okay, now let’s look at Conservapedia on the same listing:

Operation Iraqi Freedom is largest of several active fronts in the ongoing War on Terrorism. Other fronts include Afghanistan, Philippines, and the Horn of Africa. Operation Iraqi Freedom began on 3 March 2003 with the removal of the Ba’athist regime of Saddam Hussein by a “coalition of the willing” led by the United States and allies including the United Kingdom[1]. An interim government, Constitutional Assembly, and later an elected Parliament and Executive have assumed authority, however sectarian insurgent violence has hindered stability and reconstruction efforts by US contractors and the new government. Iraq’s new Constitution strictly limits the emergency powers of the Executive in dealing with civil strife–a post Saddam democratic reform.

Well, that gives the war a warmer feeling. With the one source cited, we can trust that they know what they are talking about… right? Well, let’s get into the meat of the article. Here is what Wikipedia says about the rationale behind the invasion:

Throughout 2002, the Bush administration made clear that removing Saddam Hussein from power was a major goal. The principle stated justifications for this policy of “regime change” were that Iraq’s alleged production of weapons of mass destruction, and purported ties to terrorist organizations, amounted to an imminent threat to the U.S. and the world community. Bush’s advisers, notably Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz, even went as far as alleging that the Hussein government was responsible for the September 11 attacks.[31] The overall rationale for the invasion was outlined by Secretary of State Colin Powell in his February 5, 2003 presentation to the U.N. Security Council.

Since the invasion, U.S. and British claims concerning Iraqi weapons programs and links to terrorist organizations have been called into serious question. While the debate of whether Iraq intended to develop chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons remains open, no major stockpiles of WMDs have been found in Iraq since the invasion despite comprehensive inspections lasting more than 18 months.[33] Similarly, assertions of links between Iraq and al Qaeda have largely been discredited by the intelligence community and were eventually retracted by Secretary Powell himself.[34]

Now we will look at Conservapedia:

The battle [war on terrorism] had to happen somewhere, and since the West could not fight everywhere at once, the West chose to create a focal point for the battle, in Iraq. Mr Kraft went on to summarize what the West did and is doing which is important in Iraq, quote:

(1) We deposed Saddam Hussein. Whether Saddam Hussein was directly involved in 9/11 or not, it is undisputed that Saddam has been actively supporting the terrorist movement for decades. Saddam is or was a terrorist, a weapon of mass destruction, who is responsible for the deaths of probably more than a million Iraqis and two million Iranians.

(2) We created a battle, a confrontation, a flash point, with Islamic terrorism in Iraq. This has focused the battle. The ones killed there won’t have to be killed here, or somewhere else. We have a good shot at creating a democratic, peaceful Iraq, which will be a catalyst for democratic change in the rest of the Middle East, and an outpost for a stabilizing American military presence in the Middle East for as long as it is needed.

The Europeans could have done this, but they didn’t, and they won’t. We now know that rather than opposing the rise of the Jihadists, the French, Germans, and Russians were selling them arms - we have found more than a million tons of weapons and munitions in Iraq. If Iraq was not a threat to anyone, why did Saddam have a million tons of weapons?

The bottom line here is that we will have to deal with Islamic terrorism until we defeat it (or are defeated by it), whenever that is.

Although no large physical stock piles of weapons of mass destruction have been found in Iraq, the search is not over, and has yielded some results so far. Only about one-third of 36 million captured pages have been examined by a linguist and a summary gist of the document prepared.[28] Many believe the physical WMDs that had been produced prior to the invasion were smuggled out of the country, possibly to Syria, before the onset of the war.

Wow, there is some discrepancy there. What do you think? I like the fourth paragraph — “If Iraq was not a threat to anyone, why did Saddam have a million tons of weapons?” I have never heard any encyclopedia try to argue that point.

Well, I could go on, but I think you got the point. If you want other great funny listings in Conservapedia, just type in abortion…

Abortion is the induced termination of a pregnancy.[1] The father of medicine, Hippocrates, expressly prohibited abortion in his ethical Oath long before Christianity. Today abortion is a billion-dollar industry[2][3] in the United States and Western Europe except for Ireland, Malta and Poland, where it is generally illegal.[4] Here is a discussion of the position of the United States National Cancer Institute on Abortion.

or homosexuality…

Homosexuality is a sexual attraction or activity between members of the same sex. It is condemned by the Bible as explained below…. [first sentence of item]

Homosexuality is condemned in both Old and New Testaments. It is mentioned directly four times in the Bible. [second sentence in item]

Many people have reported leaving homosexuality and becoming heterosexual through their Christian faith. [third paragraph in item]

or Nigerian Yellowcake… opps nothing comes up.

or US military aid to Israel… opps nothing comes up.

or Valerie Plame… opps have to log in to view that one.

Well, I just thought I would keep you abreast with the wonderful world of conservatives. I urge you to have some fun with Conservapedia and type in some items that tend to be controversial if you are curious what our opposition thinks. Have fun!