Grorland
Just want to tell you that Wikipedia has numerous policies, but one of them is known as IAR, that is, if the strict application of the letter of a rule, any rule, undermines the quality of the encyclopedia, it must be ignored.
This said, I feel that your proposed change to the article Prayer would undermine the quality of the article by sacrificing readability on the altar of neutrality in a situation where any idiot can see through the lack of neutrality that you attempted to fix.
My mother tongue is French, and the modern inclusionists have a real problem in that language: it has no neuter gender (that is, "it"), and no "singular they". To complicate matters, the distinction between masculine and feminine is made in the plural just like in the singular. So it is no surprise to see, on ads, information leaflets, instruction manuals, etc., the following disclaimer: "The use of the masculine form shall not be interpreted as excluding women." I mean, you find that everywhere. And my heart cringes every time I see this. Why, oh why, do we have to waste so much paper to spell out something that should be obvious to everyone? How come no one in the publishing industry is shouting "DUH!" real loud about this? If that disclaimer were omitted, would that change the way people interpret the rest of the document? Probably for a handful, but if these go to court they are more likely to be tagged vexatious litigators than to win their case. For the rest, that is, normal, sensitive people, such a comment goes without saying, and spelling it out only angers environmentalists who look at the amount of extra paper used just to print that silly disclaimer.
So my point is this: if the neutral wording of a sentence were to be greeted with a loud "duh!" if spelled out, then it should be omitted. Only a vexatious litigator would disagree to that. -- Blanchardb -Me•MyEars•MyMouth- timed 23:41, 28 June 2009 (UTC)
- There is a new suggestion on the talk page: as your edit began this debate your input would be appreciated. KillerChihuahua?!? 19:50, 29 June 2009 (UTC)
- KillerChihuahua - thanks for your welcome, your moderation of this debate and your alerting me above. Grorland (talk) 13:40, 30 June 2009 (UTC)
- You are more than welcome. Please remember you can always contact me on my talk page, or place {{helpme}} on your talk page, if you need help or advice. KillerChihuahua?!? 22:00, 30 June 2009 (UTC)
- KillerChihuahua - thanks for your welcome, your moderation of this debate and your alerting me above. Grorland (talk) 13:40, 30 June 2009 (UTC)
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KillerChihuahua?!? 19:49, 29 June 2009 (UTC)