[Aztlan] Mayanism mis-used on Wikipedia?

[John Major Jenkins]

It's very very very unfortunate that whoever got this "Mayanism" entry
going on Wikipedia chose to define Mayanism in a way that makes it
inseparable from New Age pseudoscience. Given the way that the -ism
suffix is used academically in the conceptual categorizing of other
religions and traditions (Southern Buddhism, Jainism, Hinduism,
Mormonism, Monism, etc), "Mayanism" will stand alone in referring to the
most irrational beliefs and ideas that are associated with the topic
under question. I really believe this is an extremely disappointing and
inappropriate circumstance. With this as a precedent, there is no room
for the use of the term Mayanism in the way that could lead to
agreements regarding Pan-Maya beliefs and distinctions such as "Highland
Mayanism," "Lowland Mayanism" and so on. My own use of the term since
2001 assumed it to be useful in a positive sense. Now, the term has been
distorted as a designator that corals all of the New Age nonsense under
one heading. I feel this heading is not consistent with the benign and
functional use of the -ism suffix as found in similar treatments of
other religions, and therefore call for a renaming of the Wik entry. By
the way, since when have the anonymous gatekeepers at Wikipedia been
crowned to define terms that may become time-hallowed conventions?  

John Major Jenkins


-----Original Message-----
From: aztlan-bounces at lists.famsi.org
[mailto:aztlan-bounces at lists.famsi.org] On Behalf Of Hoopes, John W
Sent: Tuesday, January 15, 2008 10:19 AM
To: Katherine Reece; aztlan at lists.famsi.org
Subject: Re: [Aztlan] Guatemala's New (Age) President?

To help disseminate more information on these trends, I've been editing
the Wikipedia entry on "Mayanism" (not my term--it's been in use for
several years):
 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayanism
 
Please feel free to modify and/or augment this entry, which will should
be helpful in educating the general public.
 
John Hoopes

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