[Aztlan] Mayanism mis-used on Wikipedia?

[Dave Pentecost]

I have to differ, John, and I will begin with your purely benign
notion of the suffix "-ism". There is a precedent in the word
"Orientalism" which is generally used to refer to a Western adoption
(at times, bastardization) of Eastern styles and culture.

And you may not be aware of the whole ethos of Wikipedia. Like it or
not (you don't have to use it!) it is created collaboratively by often
non-academic writers, and there is a well-established process by which
anyone can edit and dispute entries by others. The History tab in a
Wikipedia article can tell you quite a lot about the varying opinions
that exist on a topic, something that an authoritative encyclopedia
entry may not. Jump in! - editing entries may be an activity that
suits your knowledge and temperament.

If you Google "Mayanism" you will find over 1200 uses of it. It was
not coined by the person you are disputing. Most uses that you find
resemble precisely what the writer of the Wikipedia article is
intending to describe. Some examples:

"Mayanism is a book of philosophy, which combines Mayan/Tibetan/Reiki
philosophies"

"Mayanism is a modern New Age belief system, influenced in part by
Pre-Columbian Maya mythology and some folk beliefs of the modern Maya
peoples. "

and

"Mayanism blends spirituality from Mexico (Meso-America) with
teachings from the Plains natives of North America, shamanism, New Age
ideas, and Wicca.  An eclectic way of following the Red Road, the path
of walking with Spirit, Mayanism is practiced slightly differently by
all who embrace it."

Might as well let them have it at this point, John.

The word "Pan-Mayanism" has its own distinct, well-established meaning.

On another note, I was going to note your spelling of "mis-used" as a
coinage, but I find 81,200 instances of it in Google, as opposed to
3,430,000 occasions where "misused" was used.

Cheers
Dave





On Jan 15, 2008 6:32 PM, John Major Jenkins <kahib at ix.netcom.com> wrote:
> 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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