The result was keep. LFaraone 02:16, 28 December 2010 (UTC)[reply]
Fails Wikipedia:Notability --ARTEST4ECHO (talk/contribs) 16:17, 20 December 2010 (UTC)[reply]
I found 13 significant 2 unique news articles on Temple Riders, but all of them argue that the group is remarkable because they defy the "biker stereotype" that "Bikers are supposedly foulmouthed, freewheeling, hard-drinking highway desperadoes", and instead they are law-abiding, sober, well groomed and clean, and they proselytize their religion. The first problem with that claim to notability is that Google News archive has perhaps 3,400 articles about various groups that also "defy the biker stereotype": many of them religious, some oriented to women or law enforcement or the military or retirees or just regular people who like motorcycles. There are news articles dating back 30 years, at least, announcing the remarkable existence of motorcyclists who are not stereotypically thuggish. It's clear that non-stereotypical motorcyclists are not remarkable at all. There is a significant body of writing about the myth-making involved in spreading the biker stereotype, which is covered somewhat in the WP articles Outlaw motorcycle club, Motorcycle club and Hollister riot. This coverage could be expanded, obviously. How and why a media myth exists is notable and well documented, but how does that make Temple Riders notable?
What if we just accept the news articles at face value, and say that Temple Riders are notable because they are motorcycle club that obeys the law, and does not flout social convention. The problem there is that the reason Hells Angels, Bandidos, etc. are notable is because they break the law and raise hell. How can motorcycle clubs be notable for being stereotypical bikers and also be notable for not being stereotypical bikers? Does this mean motorcycle groups are notable no matter what they do?
Temple Riders articles |
---|
MormonTimes.com: Temple Riders rally in central Utah. Andrew Marshall Deseret News. Deseret News. Salt Lake City, Utah: Aug 5, 2008. p. WEB
Motorcyclists promote Christian values. Kathryn Jones. The Salt Lake Tribune. Salt Lake City, Utah: Oct 26, 2006. * Temple Riders defy biker stereotype. The Salt Lake Tribune. Salt Lake City, Utah: Oct 26, 2006.* Temple Riders not your typical biker club. Kathryn Jones. The Salt Lake Tribune. Salt Lake City, Utah: Sep 28, 2006.* Motorcycles, but not mayhem, drive the Temple Riders. Kathryn Jones. The Salt Lake Tribune. Salt Lake City, Utah: Sep 14, 2006. * Temple Riders defy biker stereotypes. The Salt Lake Tribune. Salt Lake City, Utah: Sep 14, 2006. * Mild-mannered motorcyclists promote Christian values. Kathryn Jones. The Salt Lake Tribune. Salt Lake City, Utah: Aug 31, 2006. * Bike Gang Blends Leather And Book Of Mormon; [METRO Edition]. Associated Press. Orlando Sentinel. Orlando, Fla.: Jan 29, 2000. p. E.7 ** Bikers Take Book of Mormon on Road; [Bulldog Edition]. Hannah Wolfson. Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles, Calif.: Dec 26, 1999. p. 53 ** Bike gang blends leather and the Book of Mormon. Hannah Wolfson The Associated Press. The Grand Rapids Press. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Sep 28, 1999. p. C.2 ** Mission to ride Mormons on motorcycles aren't out for a Sunday drive; [FINAL AM Edition]. Hannah Wolfson. Fort Worth Star - Telegram. Fort Worth, Tex.: Sep 24, 1999. p. 23 ** Temple Riders - leather, bikes, religion They're older and ride with copies of Book of Mormon. Hannah Wolfson. Idaho Statesman. Boise, Idaho: Jul 4, 1999. p. 10.a ** Motorcycle Mormons Take the Righteous Ride. Hannah Wolfson. The Salt Lake Tribune. Salt Lake City, Utah: Jul 3, 1999. p. C.1 ** * Reprint of same article. ** Reprint of another article. |
While we don't have a page for Azuza Street Riders, we do have Bikers for Christ, Tribe of Judah Motorcycle Ministries, God's Squad and Jewish Motorcyclists Alliance, all of which barely, if at all, pass the bar for notability, and none of which includes much critical thought, in violation of the neutrality policy. It might be better to think about merging all of these motorcycle ministries into a single page that summarizes the redundant information about them, along the lines of Christian metal, Christian hardcore etc.
A merged page would also give room to talk more plainly about the practice of infiltrating and co-opting subversive cultures for the purpose of proselytizing, in much the same way that Harley Owners Group has been an extraordinarily effective marketing tool by co-opting the outlaw biker style in the name of commerce. --Dbratland (talk) 17:34, 21 December 2010 (UTC)[reply]