Wiki for Minorities/Religious Minorities and Underrepresented Spiritualities

The Religious Minorities and Underrepresented Spiritualities or also called Spirituali-Ties is a working group within the Wiki for Minorities (WfMin) project, focused on increasing and expanding the content within the different Wikimedia projects on minority spiritualities and religious communities that have been marginalized, persecuted, prevented or limited to freely practice their traditions. It is also a space to make religious syncretism and freedom of worship visible, promoting that citizens around the world can freely believe in whatever they want. In some cases, religious minorities are closely linked to ethnic minorities, immigrant diasporas and linguistic minorities.

Interfaith in a sense of positive and constructive cooperation between different faiths helps us contribute to understanding between peoples, world peace and the development of societies based on understanding, respect and tolerance. Everything that our movement also seeks.

Details

Through multiple activities organized by users and user groups within the wiki movement, we raise awareness about the religious diversity of different countries in the world. The main Wikimedia projects to work on are Wikipedia, Wikimedia Commons and Wikidata. Everyone is welcome to contribute without distinction of nationality, age, gender, sexual orientation, religion or spirituality, socioeconomic or academic level, etc.

Considerations

Involvement with the sacred

Each religious or spiritual community has its own worldview and relationship with the elements considered sacred according to their beliefs. Many of them carry out a large part of their activities in public spaces or open to the public, so it does not represent major difficulties for free knowledge. However, we suggest that users contact the respective religious authorities before taking photographs, so you can explicitly know what you can and cannot photograph.

If it is not our own religion or spirituality that you are working on

If it is not your own faith or creeds when you attend a religious or spiritual event, also make sure in advance about the conditions you must have before entering, such as clothing, if you must bring any donation of food or money that is part of the activity or ritual, etc. Always remember to maintain Wikimedia's friendly spaces policies. Find out beforehand if you can be part of the activities as a non-practitioner of that spirituality, or only some of them, as well as if you are only allowed as an observant guest. If you have questions at the time, always ask the organizers about it. Additionally, pleasse do not forget that there are places in the world where certain faiths or people who profess them are still being persecuted, so do not expose yourself unnecessarily and always your physical integrity comes first.

Activities

• Editathons: Sessions can be online, in-person and hybrid (recommended).
• Photo walks: One or more users meet in a location and plan a walking route to photograph different elements of historical, heritage or spiritual relevance for the groups they work with.
• Hackathons: Wikidata users come together to create and improve items related to underrepresented spiritualities and minority religions.
• Wiki tours: Wikimedians plan a travel route to document content that includes more than one location.
• Visit to a GLAM institution: Users coordinate a visit to a museum, archive, gallery or library that preserves content on minority spiritualities and religions, in order to obtain agreements to be able to upload content to our platforms with free licenses.

Events

• November 8, 2023: First workshop and training to work with religious minorities and underrepresented spiritualities in Africa. Organized by user Oby Ezeilo from Nigeria.
• December 2, 2023: First photo walk through the churches of Jordan. Activity led by user Rotana al Hsanat from Jordan.
• November 27-December 10, 2023: Photo walks in Dili to photograph missing Christian architectural heritage to upload to Commons. Activity is led by user Diamantino Soares from East Timor.
• January 27, 2024: A wikitour to Ayamelum Local Goverment Area (LGA), Anambra State, Nigeria, will be led by user Onyinyeonuoha to document the different religious expressions of the place. There the participants will be received by a leader of a traditional spirituality, who will give them an introduction and invite them to do some activities.

Participants

Les utilisateurs suivants qui participent au groupe de travail sont :

•  Strong support Igallards7 (talk) 00:26, 7 novembre 2023 (UTC)
•  Support J'apprécie vraiment la pensée de l'organisateur sur une approche aussi importante.Hamza DK (talk)
•  Strong support Diamantino Soares (talk)21:52 (UTC)
•  Strong support Un projet très important. NikosLikomitros (talk) 14:38, 18 novembre 2023 (UTC)
•  Strong support Ce projet est d’une importance capitale. ArnoBOUJIKA (talk) 11:27, 27 novembre 2023 (UTC)