Category talk:John Birch Society members

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Wisconsin

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Names Listed as JBS Members

Just for the record, several of the names listed in this article as JBS members were NOT individuals who actually joined the JBS.

Examples include:

Roy Cohn, H.L. Hunt, John Wayne

In addition, some other persons listed might have joined the JBS but they quickly terminated their membership after they discovered the scope of what JBS founder Robert Welch believed -- such as Morrie Ryskind and Denison Kitchel. In fact, Kitchel resigned within two weeks of joining -- and others resigned from the JBS or were expelled -- such as Robert DePugh and Ben Klassen. Ernie1241 (talk) 13:35, 4 November 2016 (UTC)ernie1241Ernie1241 (talk) 13:35, 4 November 2016 (UTC)[reply]

We usually do not disambiguate between current and former members of organizations. Expelled members should still be counted. Dimadick (talk) 13:35, 17 November 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Well, Dimadick, that does not change the FACT that there are many names on your "member" list who were NEVER members of the JBS. Some others listed have never been previously verified as JBS members. It is not just misleading, but morally indefensible, to list people as "members" of some organization (right wing or left wing) IF they "joined" but then immediately left -- because they discovered more about the actual beliefs of that organization which they did not know initially (like Denison Kitchel). It is even more misleading to identify somebody as a member if they were expelled or they resigned because of profound disagreements with what that organization actually believes. Due diligence (and truth) requires more than a cursory or perfunctory examination of available evidence. The integrity of Wikipedia is lessened when it does not at least inform readers about relevant information---particularly when associating someone's name with an organization that is widely despised. Ernie1241 (talk) 16:30, 25 September 2018 (UTC)ernie1241Ernie1241 (talk) 16:30, 25 September 2018 (UTC)[reply]