Talk:Johanne Agerskov

A Question of Respect

Dear "Chris the speller" - and who else it may concern,

First of all I compliment you on your efforts to keep Wikipedia efficient without undue repetitions, spelling errors, etc., etc. However, due to some problems that have arisen, because the above Mr Avnskog chooses to circumvent Johanne Agerskov´s personal wish - which is NOT to have her own or her husband Michael Agerskov´s photos shown or otherwise distributed in connection with the work Toward the Light! and additional books - I cannot accept your suggestion to merge the two present entries, although they clearly refer to the same historical person.

As the history part of the articles concerning "Johanne Agerskov" and "Michael Agerskov" will tell you, it was I, not Mr. Avnskog, who originally started the Wikipedia entries concerning Johanne Agerskov and Michael Agerskov. Then, without consulting me prior to his contribution as would have been correct in this case the matter being of such a delicate nature, Mr Avnskog chose to arbitrarily add photos of the persons mentioned - thus forcing me to withdraw my text. Mr Avnskog then added his own, and peace be with him; this is a free world. At least Mr Avnskog had the goodness to leave the entry "Johanne Elisabeth Agerskov" in its present state, which happens to be the version that better reflects the late Mrs Agerskov´s own wishes.

The question is: should we respect the explicit wishes of departed historical persons - or should we do as we please, choosing to go against their own decisions? What would we prefer ourselves, if we were the persons discussed - and whose private and personal life was laid bare to the public eye in contexts where no such private concerns were relevant?

Mrs Agerskov´s desire to not have her photograph all around the place is duly accounted for by an eye/ear witness who is today member of the Board of Directors of The International Foundation for Toward the Light in Copenhagen. A signed document relating the true facts concerning Mrs Agerskov´s decision is found among the Foundation´s documents, and I therefore see no reason to counteract Mrs Agerskov´s moral will with a regard to publishing her portrait.

Mr Avnskog evidently does not trust the statement given by the mentioned, honorable and highly distinguished Board Member - but other people do, and, being myself an experienced scholar in the realm of Toward the Light! and connected works, I certainly do not wish to merge my article "Johanne Elisabeth Agerskov" with my own late article "Johanne Agerskov" which has been extensively edited by Mr Avnskog.

Everyone must decide for themselves which version to choose - the one that respects Johanne Agerskov´s last will - or Mr Avnskog´s.

I do see the need to keep Wikipedia efficient and to the point, and I therefore I regret the situation arisen. However, I am certainly willing to merge Mr Avnskog´s text with my own, once the adequate corrections have been agreed upon between the two of us - including agreement on the fact that no photos should be attached to the page. The nature of the current matter being as it is, in the case of a closer cooperation, Mr Avnskog would also have to agree to remove the photos of Johanne and Michael Agerskov from the article "Toward the Light", originally started by Mr Barfoed and much later edited by Mr Avnskog. In the latter case, it is even more desirable that the photos be absent.

With kind regards, --Ulla S. Qvistgaard 09:42, 30 November 2006 (UTC)

Text added to my article

I, Sverre Avnskog, who wrote the article about "Johanne Agerskov", have added into my article, a text which presents the differences about wether to publish pictures of Johanne Agerskov, or not. So now, both views are represented in the article.

It's correct that Mrs Quistgaard and Mr Barfoed earlier had written articles about the issues of "Toward the Light!", "Johanne Agerskov" and "Michael Agerskov", but at some point they volounteerly deleted their own articles. I then wrote new articles on the subjects - so the present text under the name of "Johanne Agerskov" has not been edited from an old text, but is entirely new, written by me.

I have deleted my previously published contributions in this discussion, and my latest statement represents all that I want to say in this matter.

--Sverre avnskog 20:50, 9 December 2006 (UTC)

Revisions, 18 February 2016

I have extensively revised this article, to improve the English idiom and style, and to eliminate expressions of the believer's point of view. The article originally made frank assertions that Agerskov communicated with spirits, which I regard as unencyclopedic. I have recast these assertions as claims, beliefs, suppositions, etc. I trust I have not been disrespectful of Agerskov or of believers in her teachings. J. D. Crutchfield | Talk 00:20, 19 February 2016 (UTC)