Wikipedia:Dirty laundry
Wikipedia needs a policy on dirty laundry. YOU can help formulate this policy.
Should we mention the youthful indiscretions of famous people, or not? How about not-so-youthful indiscretions?
- Richard Wagner wrote Judaism in Music -- should we hold that against him?
- Martin Luther King, Jr. committed adultery (many times, I think) -- should this detract from his civil rights accomplishments?
- Sun Myung Moon was imprisoned 6 different times -- does this mean he's not the Messiah?
My POV on this: Richard Wagner held contemptible views, and appears to have been an obnoxious person. At the same time, he wrote remarkable music. We should only report facts (when there is consensus) and opinions (where there is controversy). Wagner's views are a matter of record, their obnoxiousness an almost universal opinion about those views. Similiarly with the fact of his composition of his works, and the almost universal opinion that they are great works of music. All of these are significant facts and opinions about Wagner, and thus fitting encylopedia material.
Similar reasoning applies to the other cases: just report the facts and opinions.