Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/List of current United States governors by religion

The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was delete. Many of the "keep" !votes are dependent on adequate sourcing of the entries in this list. However, given the contentious BLP nature of the material, it cannot remain without sources. I am willing to restore the page if someone is willing to source it. King of ♥ ♦ ♣ ♠ 22:03, 22 March 2011 (UTC)[reply]

List of current United States governors by religion[edit]

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Does not meet WP:GNG as a necessary article. It is just a copy of the list of current United States Governors re-organized by religion with no references. There is no list of current United States Senators by religion so I don't see how this article is necessary. Aaaccc (talk), 15 March 2011 (UTC)

FTR, see Religious affiliations of current United States Senators. --Orlady (talk) 04:12, 17 March 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Weak keep - I understand the concern about these sorts of lists. We certainly don't want a proliferation of lists made simply on the basis of some arbitrary criteria. I worry about how frequent such a list would be updated, if it'd be kept accurate with others, and just the general use of time spent on maintenance of hundreds of nearly identical lists. One simple list that's sortable is much easier to manage, keep upto date, and read. Note too that this article's an orphan, which only highlights why concise, encompassing lists are ideal. All of that said... this list is well put together and the topic is certainly one that's discussed--it's not OR. I would prefer some consolidation of personal characteristics of governors, etc., but absent that, this list makes the cut. I do think we should be careful about how wildly we let this kind of list-criteria grow, for the above reasons. Shadowjams (talk) 20:22, 15 March 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Delete - Religion is not a sufficiently notable feature of Governorship for it to merit a separate article. MLA (talk) 22:26, 15 March 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Delete - A textbook case of unencyclopedic cross-categorization WP:NOTDIR.--70.80.234.196 (talk) 23:20, 15 March 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Comment - I don't have an issue with the topic — I think it's encyclopedia-worthy. What I find objectionable is the lack of sourcing. Carrite (talk) 05:29, 16 March 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Delete An irrelevant list that has no value to an encyclopedia. SanchiTachi (talk) 12:31, 16 March 2011 (UTC)[reply]

That's a bit of hyperbole don't you think? I'm one to argue against gratuitous lists (see above) but let's make actual arguments. Shadowjams (talk) 00:00, 17 March 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Keep if sourced - interesting and useful to our core constituency, students. Religion in politics is a relevant public policy issue in the United States. However, I agree with Carrite that sourcing is a BLP issue here. Bearian (talk) 19:18, 16 March 2011 (UTC)[reply]

There are no references what so ever, and from looking at the articles on these Governors most of the claimed religious affiliations cannot be proven by sources. Aaaccc (talk), 18 March 2011 (UTC)

Note: This debate has been included in the list of Lists of people-related deletion discussions. -- • Gene93k (talk) 02:31, 17 March 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Merge to List of current United States governors. List of current United States governors by age also should be merged there. Both religion and age are encyclopedic facts about these people, but that does not make these facts an appropriate basis for stand-alone lists. More significantly, given the volatility of religion as a topic (and basis for personal attacks) in American politics, categorizing politicians by religion gives me the heebie-jeebies (i.e., it's a BLP issue). --Orlady (talk) 04:12, 17 March 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Merge to List of current United States governors per Orlady. Per same arguements, merge List of current United States governors by age to that page as well. Neither is suitable to be stand-alone list.--JayJasper (talk) 19:11, 17 March 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Keep and strongly so. Scholars of American politics are increasingly paying attention to religious dynamics. This is an article that needs to be IMPROVED, not deleted. Tchicken7 (talk) 04:42, 19 March 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Keep and improve. My concerns are expressed above. This is a serious matter of concern both to political scientists and to members of the general public. I'd like to see sourcing, obviously, but the article is fully encyclopedia worth, particularly given its status as a list rather than an article. Carrite (talk) 06:01, 20 March 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Delete leave it to the individual pages for each governor. Mtking (talk) 02:36, 21 March 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Keep Per Shadowjams. Gage (talk) 06:14, 21 March 2011 (UTC)[reply]

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.