Wikipedia:List of controversial issues

This is a list of previously controversial issues among Wikipedia editors. A controversial issue is one where its related articles are constantly being re-edited in a circular manner, or is otherwise the focus of edit warring. This page is conceived as a location for articles that regularly become biased and need to be fixed, or articles that were once the subject of an NPOV dispute and are likely to suffer future disputes. Other articles not yet classified as "controversial" have some edit conflict issues. The divisive nature of disputed subjects have triggered arguments, since opinions on a given issue differ as they are debated. These subjects create great deals of tension in wikipedia, just as controversies are sensitive subject matter to discuss freely in proper society, but depends on the time and place.

• Articles listed here may need more work to approach a neutral point of view than is usual. For articles that are currently unbalanced, see NPOV dispute instead.
• Articles on this list should be checked from time to time to monitor developments in the presentation of the issues. Use the "related changes" link to quickly review changes to these articles.
• Discussions about those controversies should be limited to the relevant Talk pages. For more information, see Wikipedia:Guidelines for controversial articles.

Further info: Category:Controversies

Boilerplate text warning

There is a boilerplate warning {{controversial}}, which should be placed at the top of a controversial article's discussion page. (It should not be placed on top of the article itself.) Ideally it would be placed on the page displayed after one starts editing the page, but for technical reasons this is not possible, yet.

• (This warning's text can be edited at Template:Controversial. See also the list of pages that currently have this warning.)

Major themes

Some of the biggest editing disputes at Wikipedia naturally mirror the intensity of the controversy in the outside world. The clash between what the West (and particularly the U.S.) call "liberal" and "conservative" fuels many of these disputes.

Categories of past controversial issues

Many of these articles could be classified into multiple categories.

Politics/ economics 2003 invasion of Iraq and related articles, dominated by advocates of one of the conflicting parties Abraham Lincoln's sexuality Abortion ACLU The American Civil Liberties Union African American Anarchism Anarcho-capitalism Anti-Americanism Anti-Semitism Ariel Sharon Apartheid outside South Africa (Formerly the "Alleged apartheid..." section of Apartheid) Bill O'Reilly Osama bin Laden Black supremacy British National Party Capitalism Cherokee Americans - who have Cherokee ancestry. China - economy, military, human rights issues. Communism Communist government Communist state Conservatism in the USA Copyright, Free software, viral license, Copyright infringement of software, DMCA, copyright term extension, Inducement/Child Exploitation crime in the USA Criticism of Wal-Mart Cuba Culture war in American politics Cyprus Cyprus dispute Demographics of Chile Domestic violence Economy of Japan Eisenhower and German POWs European Union (EU) Fascism Federal Marriage Amendment Feminism Fox News Freedom fighter Free trade Global warming and climate change Gun politics Hamas Hate crimes Hezbollah History of Israel Homosexual agenda Human rights in Cuba Illegal drugs and drug abuse Illegal Immigration into the USA India- economy and politics Isa Gambar Israeli terrorism Israel-Palestine conflict Japan - history of being a world power. American Jews John Kerry

Kashmir Korean War Dr. Laura Schlessinger Lebanon - ethnic/religious conflicts. Liberalism in the USA Macedonia, Republic of Macedonia, Macedonian Slavs Moldavia,Moldovans Movement to impeach George W. Bush Los Macheteros Masculism Mexico - economic and political systems. Morality and ethics Multiculturalism Muslim Brotherhood NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization). National Democratic Party of Germany (NPD) - (rel. bombing of Dresden) Native American name controversy Nazi Germany Northern Ireland Nullum crimen, nulla poena sine praevia lege poenali Pakkoruotsi Palestine Palestine Liberation Organization Patriotism in the USA People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals People's Republic of China Pioneer Fund - US racial research group. Political correctness Politics of Iran Politics of North Korea Political parties and partisan politics Poverty in USA and worldwide Price-Anderson Nuclear Industries Indemnity Act Public education in the USA Quebec, Canada Republika Srpska, Republic of Serbian Krajina Race relations in the USA Rush Limbaugh Salvador Allende Same-sex marriage School violence Sexual harassment Separatism September 11, 2001 attacks Silesia Socialism Switzerland- Banking Synarchism Syrian Social Nationalist Party Taliban The US in war on terror Terrorism Terrorist groups Tibet Torture (see also Medical torture) universal Health care in the USA United Nations (UN) USA PATRIOT Act Ward Churchill White Americans - non-racist white identity. wiretapping Zionism and racism

History 9/11 or Sept. 11 terrorist attacks 1992 Los Angeles riots 2000 US Presidential elections American Airlines Flight 77 American Revolution Apartheid Apollo moon landing hoax accusations Aryan invasion theory Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki Berlin wall Bromberg Bloody Sunday Bloody Sunday (1972) Bosnia and Herzegovina - 1992-95 war Centre Party Germany Chicano nationalism - also see Mexican American. Cold war era - i.e. Cuban missile crisis Communism - histories of communist regimes. Confederate States of America Crusades into the holy land Cyprus dispute D-Day 1944 allied invasion of France. German Democratic Republic - also known as East Germany Eisenhower and German POWs Falkland Islands French Revolution Genocide Great Depression Heimatvertriebene Holocaust Holocaust denial Internment of Japanese Americans during WWII Ireland - history, including 1850s Irish Potato Famine. Jesus Christ - historical/ biographical studies (the Bible and other sources). Jim Crow laws or racial segregation John F. Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy Kennedy assassinations of 1963 and 1968 Ku Klux Klan Kosovo War Kuril Islands

US Latinos or Hispanics List of military disasters Louisiana Purchase of 1803 Majestic 12 Maoism Mexican-American War Middle Ages Nazism Native Americans in the United States Okinawa - U.S. rule 1945-72 Operation Wetback - mass deportation program of Mexican aliens from the US in the 1950s. Panama canal Philippines under US rule 1898-1946. Prohibition in the US 1919-33. Prussia Protestant Reformation Quebec separatism Roswell UFO Incident Sanhedrin Silesia slavery stem cell research Soviet Union or the USSR Spanish-American war Spanish Inquisition Texas Revolution of 1836, known by the battle of the Alamo The Rape of Nanking (book) Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 TWA Flight 800 U.S. Civil War U.S. War of 1812 Numerous episodes of Ukrainian-Russian relations Numerous episodes of Ukrainian-Polish relations Numerous episodes of Russian-Polish relations Jews in Ukraine and Poland, "Ukrainian and Polish antisemitism" Ustaše Vietnam war Watergate scandal White supremacy causes and effect of World war I causes and effect of World war II

Religion Adventist Agnosticism Anti-Judaism Atheism Band Catholicism Christian Coalition Christian science Christianity Historicity of Jesus Paul and Gnosticism Gnosticism and the New Testament Creationism Cult Deism Dhimmi Evangelical Fundamentalism Guru (structure and criticism) Hare Krishna Hate group (new religious movements) Iglesia ni Cristo Islamophobia Islam - certain radical and politicized groups, and not entirely understood in the western world. Jehovah's witnesses Judaism

Kabbala List of groups referred to as cults Makkah/Mecca ('Offensive' spelling) Menachem Mendel Schneerson Mennonites - most notably the old order Amish. Mormonism - to a certain extent (variety of Latter-Day Saints churches). New Age New Kadampa Tradition Opus Dei Pacifism Paganism - various sects, some are racist/nationalist (Odinism or Wotanism). Politics and religion Prem Rawat and Criticism of Prem Rawat Protestant Reformation U.S. Republican Party connection with the religious right. Separation of Church and State Satanism Sathya Sai Baba enduring dispute about the amount of space devoted to describing the views of proponents and critics as published on their homepages Scientology Sharia sin Syncretism taboo Universalism Universal Life Church

Science / Biology / Health Abortion AIDS reappraisal Alcoholism Alzheimer's disease Alternative medicine and closely related issues Assisted suicide Aspartame Autism Bedside manner Bioethics Birth defect Blood transfusions Cancer cures Cesarean section Chakra Chiropractic Chromosome Circumcision Cloning Cold fusion Conjoined twins Cryonics Depleted uranium Depression Disability Drugs Dyslexia Ebola virus energy drinks Eugenics Euthanasia Evolution Family Planning Genetic Engineering Gender differences Genital modification and mutilation Healthy multiplicity Heredity HIV - virus that causes AIDS. HMO - US health care coverage. Homeopathy Hodgkin's Disease

Human cloning Human evolution debate Human longevity Huntington's disease Influenza strains like the H5N1 virus or bird flu. Jacobson's Disease Lactose intolerance as a genetic inherited trait. Lupus Master race Medical torture Mental illness Mental retardation Mind control Mucoid plaque Nutrition Obesity Organ donor and transplants Overpopulation Paternity testing Pharmaceutical industry in the USA Pluto demoted as a planet Premature birth Psychiatry Race and science Race and intelligence Recapitulation theory Sachs-Reye Disease Schizophrenia Self-mutilation Sexually transmitted diseases smoking and tobacco Sperm donor and Egg donor Suicide Stem cell research Subluxation Surrogate mother - child custody battles Tay-Sachs disease Test-tube babies Transgendered and Transsexual persons Universe - such as the Big Bang theory Vaccination Veganism and * Vegetarianism Women and health issues (see Pregnancy, menopause, breast cancer and ovarian cancer).

Sexuality Adultery ("cheating") Child sexuality Fetishism Genetic sexual attraction Genital modification and mutilation Homosexuality Incest North American Man/Boy Love Association Pedophilia Polyamorous Polygamy Pornography Sadism and Masochism Sex offender Swinging ("bisexuals" and "singles") Women (see Women and Sexuality) Zoophilia Entertainment Censorship Entertainment Software Rating Board Entertainment restriction MPAA film rating system Video game controversy Pop punk rap and hip-hop music heavy metal rock music Playboy Magazine Girls Gone Wild Environment 2005 hurricane season Chernobyl eco-fascism Eco-terrorism Endangered species Environmental vegetarianism Global warming An Inconvenient Truth - 2006 documentary movie on man's involvement in climate change. Kyoto Protocol treaty Love Canal Nuclear power Ozone depletion Ozone hole pollution recycling Sea level rise Three Mile Island toxic waste

Geography Sea of Japan naming dispute South China Sea - Paracel Islands Derry (Londonderry) and County Londonderry Israel occupied territories Gaza Strip/West Bank Kaliningrad, Russia - former German East Prussia Oder-Neisse line Persian Gulf Puerto Rico US-Mexico Border Republic of Macedonia Linguistics Ancient Macedonian language Balto-Slavic languages Dene-Caucasian languages Ebonics Graeco-Armenian Ladino Riksmål Spanish in the United States Philosophy Life extension Scientific Method Truth Friedrich Nietzsche Sigmund Freud Carl Jung Technology electric car electronic voting Norton AntiVirus Nuclear power Object-oriented programming Solar Power Unidentified Flying Objects Digital rights management esp re opening -- see talk and archive MySpace.com - online privacy and security issues net neutrality GNU/Linux naming controversy – discussed extensively at Talk:Linux Media/culture Media bias South Park Diversity on prime-time TV Federal Communications Commission or US FCC Time-Warner and Viacom as multi-corporate monopolies talk radio- limits on free speech American Mutoscope and Biograph Company People/ public figures Christina Aguilera Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Emperor Akihito Ali G played by actor Sacha Baron Cohen (who also plays Borat). George Allen Salvador Allende Pamela Anderson - animal rights activism. Kofi Annan Corazon Aquino Yasser Arafat Michelle Bachelet Barry Bonds and the BALCO drug scandal (includes other major league baseball athletes Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire). Bonnie and Clyde Ruđer Bošković - ethnicity. Brigette Bardot Glenn Beck Tony Blair Robert Blake - 2002 homicide defendant case. Hans Blix Pat Buchanan George W. Bush Jeb Bush Daniel Brandt - Wikipedia critic. Leonid Brezhnev Richard Butler - founder of the Aryan Nations group. George Carlin Jimmy Carter Cesar Chavez Jacques Chirac Charles de Gaulle Bill Clinton and wife Hillary Rodham Clinton Nicolaus Copernicus - (Copernicus' nationality) Fidel Castro and brother Raul Castro Hugo Chávez Dave Chappelle - satirist/comedian Dick Cheney Ward Churchill Kurt Cobain - 1994 suicide (or murder) controversy. Christopher Columbus Sean "Puffy" Combs - aka "Puff Daddy" Ann Coulter Stephen Colbert Tom Cruise (Due to his recent actions and scientology controversy). Salvador Dalí Angela Davis - former black panther member in 1973 federal homicide case. Andrew Dice Clay - satirist/comedian. The Dixie Chicks - politically charged anti-Bush comments in 2003. David Duke Eminem real name Marshall Mathers, rapper. Elton John Jerry Falwell Gerald Ford - 1975 Watergate pardons. Michael J. Fox and late Christopher Reeve - stem cell research advocates. Henry Ford Al Franken Janeane Garofalo Kathie Lee Gifford - 1995 children's sweatshop scandal involved her clothing brand, and her political/religious views spoofed in comedy. Mel Gibson- for verbal anti-Semitic, homophobic comments in DUI arrest. Wayne Gretzky and wife Janet Jones in sports gambling scandal. Josef Goebbels Al Gore Mikhail Gorbachev Ferenc Gyurcsány Ted Haggard Tarja Halonen Phil Hendrie - radio comedian. Paris Hilton Heinrich Himmler Emperor Hirohito- involvement in WWII Imperial Japan policy. Adolf Hitler Jimmy Hoffa - 1975 kidnapping/disappearance. J. Edgar Hoover John Howard Steve Irwin - animal poacher/TV's "crocodile hunter". George Jackson Jesse Jackson Michael Jackson - People vs. Jackson case in 2005 Thomas Jefferson John F. Kennedy, with brothers Robert F. Kennedy and Ted Kennedy. Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis - widow of John F. Kennedy, remarried to Greek billionaire. Kid Rock Martin Luther King Jr. Rodney King Philip J. Klass Nikita Khrushchev Shosei Koda Junichiro Koizumi K.D. Lang - homosexuality/animal rights activism. Lyndon LaRouche Jean-Marie Le Pen Vladimir I. Lenin John Lennon - US CIA investigations in the early 1970s. Rush Limbaugh Abraham Lincoln Jennifer Lopez Trent Lott Martin Luther Madonna John Major Nelson Mandela and wife Winnie Mandela Marilyn Manson Karl Marx Paul McCartney - alleged domestic abuse of ex-wife Heather. Carlos Mencia - satirist/comedian Angela Merkel Michael Moore Benito Mussolini Ferdinand Marcos and wife Imelda Marcos Notorious B.I.G. Roman emperors Nero and Caligula Richard Nixon Newt Gingrich Olivia Newton-John - environmental activism. Rosie O'Donnell Opie & Anthony Bill O'Reilly Ozzy Osbourne Terrell Owens - recent near-death, suicide attempt claims. Nancy Pelosi Juan Peron Augusto Pinochet Pope Pius XII Pope Benedict XIV Pope John Paul II Elvis Presley Sexuality of Abraham Lincoln Prince Charles, ex-wife Princess Diana and new wife Princess Camilla Vladimir Putin Scott Peterson convicted of murder of his missing pregnant wife Laci. JonBenet Ramsey - unsolved homicide case. Ronald Reagan Condoleezza Rice Geshe Michael Roach Oral Roberts Pat Robertson Pete Rose Theodore Roosevelt Donald Rumsfeld Bobby Sands Michael Savage Teofilo Vargas Sein Selena - disputed theories over her 1995 murder. Gerhard Schroder Arnold Schwarzenegger (as Cal. state governor). Tupac Shakur - homicide remains an open case. Al Sharpton Snoop Doggy Dogg- real name Calvin Brosius Terri Schiavo Matthew Shepard - media-publicized 1999 hate crime murder. O.J. Simpson Anna Nicole Smith Britney Spears and ex husband Kevin Federline. Barbra Streisand Joseph Stalin Erika Steinbach Jon Stewart Howard Stern Jimmy Swaggart Mother Teresa Margaret Thatcher Pierre Trudeau Donald Trump Ted Turner Varg Vikernes Andy Warhol Malcolm X Boris Yeltsin