Correction of errors on this web site

Errors found during 2007

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By the end of 2007, our web site contained over 4,080 essays and menus. During 2007, we ran across about one error a month and have recorded them here:

End of the world: We had quoted mystic Mother Shipton as predicting that the end of the world would occur in 1991; actually, she predicted 1881.

Mormon church:

	In our essay on whether the various Mormon denominations are Christians, we incorrectly stated that Joseph Smith founded The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1830 CE. Actually, he organized the Church of Jesus Christ. Over the next 17 decades, various schisms generated about 100 faith groups. All of them consider themselves to be the true successor of Smith's original church
	We had indicated that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints supported the death penalty. However, their web site now states that they take no position on executions.

Homosexuality: In our essay that describes six different viewpoints on homosexuality, we wrote "Very few homosexuals cannot change from 'gay' to 'ex-gay'." "Cannot" should have been "can."

Jesus Seminar: Our article on the Jesus Seminar said that the Seminar regards Mark 12:14 as the only actual saying of Jesus in the Gospel of Mark. It is actually Mark 12:17. Strictly speaking, even that verse is not Jesus' actual saying because he would have spoken in Aramaic, whereas Mark would have translated Jesus saying in Greek.

Buddhism:

	There are a range of dates proposed concerning when the Buddha achieved parinirvana -- enlightenment. An essay donated by a visitor used one value; our main menu on Buddhism used another. Most people agree that it happened between about 540 and 590 BCE.
	We used the term "reincarnation" to refer to the return of Miroku, the "future Buddha" who is expected by some Buddhist faith groups. "Reborn" is the appropriate term.

"Anti-Nicene" era: A spelling error caused some red faces at this office. In our essay on the early history of the Christian religion, we referred to the Ante-Nicene era -- the interval from about 170 to the first Council of Nicea in 325 CE -- as the Anti-Nicene era.

Date of Easter: Easter falls on the first Sunday after the first full moon after MAR-20, the nominal date of the Spring Equinox. Thus the earliest date would be if the first full moon fell on MAR-21 and the following day was a Sunday. This would make the earliest possible Easter fall on MAR-22. We had written MAR-23.

Spanking children: Our menu on spanking stated that corporal punishment is not practiced in Utah schools. Actually, state law allows corporal punishment to be inflicted on children with the permission of their parent or guardian. Probably because of the high percentage of Mormons in the state, very few parents approve of spanking children in school.

Apostasy in Islam: We quoted what we believed to be Article 306 of the Mauritanian Constitution concerning apostasy from Islam. But their constitution only has 103 articles. We suspect that we were supplied with misinformation. The U.S. State Department's "2006 Report on International Religious Freedom" has an essay on Mauritania that states:

"The implementation of Islamic law has created some limited restrictions on religious freedom. Shari'a, proclaimed the law of the land under a previous government in 1983, includes the Qur'anic prohibition against apostasy or conversion to a religion other than Islam; however, this prohibition had never been codified in civil law or enforced. The small number of known converts from Islam suffered no social ostracism, and there were no reports of societal or governmental attempts to punish them during the period covered by this report."

Polyandry in the Mormon movement: In our essay on polygyny -- the marriage of one man and multiple women, we mentioned that some faith groups in the LDS Restorationist movement practiced polygyny but not polyandry -- the marriage of one woman to multiple men. While that is true in the normal sense of the word, Joseph Smith did form unions with already-married women, thus creating a uniquely Mormon style of polyandry. The main Mormon church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, has at least temporarily suspended polygyny late in the 19th century. More details.

Buddha's birthplace: We had stated that the Buddha was born in Lumbinī, India. Actually, Lumbini is in Nepal. However, considerable archeological evidence now shows that he may have been born in Kalinga -- now Orissa in India. So, we may have been half right.

Stem cell research: We had incorrectly indicated that stem cell research had been permitted in government labs prior to 2001. In fact, they were prohibited under the Dickey Amendment to various Labor, Health and Human Services, & Education Appropriations Acts.

We had incorrectly reported the gender of Ipsita Roy Chakraverti in our essay on Wicca in Africa and Asia. She leads an information group in India.

Noah's ark: In comparing the story of the ark with the earlier Babylonian flood story we listed dozens of similarities. We said that both Noah and Gilgamesh complained about having to build the ark. Actually, Noah did not object.

In our essay about a reaction to religious intolerance in Billings, MT, we showed a Shabbat menorah (with seven candles). We should have shown a Chanukah menorah with nine candles.

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