User talk:Cathy Matt

Hi Cathy, thanks for the email, and welcome to Wikipedia! I made some edits to satanic ritual abuse, but much of it was written by others. Mind you, I didn't choose to know what I know on the subject, and at times I rather regret my knowledge

What you need to remember is that Wikipedia is not a repository of truth, but rather a repository of knowledge. SRA may be true. It may be false. It is not the job of Wikipedia to find out - that would be an impossible task for a mere handful of volunteers! Rather, we have to report what is known.

For example, we report the claims of Michelle, and we report the denials of Michelle's father, but we don't say "Michelle was abused", nor do we say "Michelle was lying", nor do we say "Michelle was the victim of false memory syndrome". Instead, we leave the reader to make their own judgement - and tell them where to get more information if they wish.

Having said all that, I expect there's a lot of work to be done to make the SRA article properly neutral, as well as more informative - and I'd love to work with you to do this. Just as long as you're clear on what Wikipedia can give you.... and what it can't. Martin 22:36, 14 Aug 2003 (UTC)