Approaching Sodom > Richard Dawkins abandons journal over transgender foolishness

 

Richard Dawkins leaves FFRF board after it pulled article opposing transgender ideology

By Ryan Foley, Christian Post Reporter Tuesday, January 07, 2025

Atheist and evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins speaks to LBC host Rachel Johnson about Easter and the waning role of Christianity in British life on March 31, 2024. | Screenshot: LBC/YouTube

Prominent atheist evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins has left the board of a noted secular advocacy group after it took down an article unleashing support for the traditional definition and understanding of sex. 

Dawkins, 83, stepped down from the honorary board of the Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation, an atheist legal organization that advocates for a strong separation of church and state.

Dawkins' departure comes after FFRF pulled an article titled "Biology is Not Bigotry" from its FreeThought Now blog following backlash from LGBT activists.

The "Biology is Not Bigotry" article, written by honorary board member Jerry Coyne and published on Dec. 26, was a response to a previous FreeThought Now piece titled "What is a Woman?" As Coyne explained, the article titled "What is a Woman?" concluded that "A woman is whoever she says she is."

Coyne vehemently pushed back on this analysis.

"This of course is a tautology, and still leaves open the question of what a woman really is. And the remarkable redefinition of a term with a long biological history can be seen only as an attempt to force ideology onto nature," Coyne wrote.

"Because some nonbinary people — or men who identify as women ('transwomen') — feel that their identity is not adequately recognized by biology, they choose to impose ideology onto biology and concoct a new definition of 'woman.'" 

Coyne's article defended the biological definition of a woman as "an adult human female" and elaborated on the consequences of failing to recognize the biological differences between males and females, specifically highlighting the domination of women's sports by trans-identified male athletes. He concluded by stating, "It is not 'transphobic' to accept the biological reality of binary sex and to reject concepts based on ideology."

"One should never have to choose between scientific reality and trans rights," he added. "Transgender people should surely enjoy all the moral and legal rights of everyone else. But moral and legal rights do not extend to areas in which the 'indelible stamp' of sex results in compromising the legal and moral rights of others."

Coyne insisted that "Transgender women, for example, should not compete athletically against biological women; should not serve as rape counselors and workers in battered women's shelters; or, if convicted of a crime, should not be placed in a women's prison."

Coyne contends FFRF's "incursion into gender activism takes it far outside its historically twofold mission: educating the public about nontheism and keeping religion out of government and social policies." Asserting that "tendentious arguments about the definition of sex are not part of either mission," Coyne maintained that "sex and gender have little to do with theism or the First Amendment."

Referring to the embrace of a "progressive" viewpoint on sex and gender as part of a "battle against Christian nationalism," Coyne wrote, "Mission creep has begun to erode other once-respected organizations like the ACLU and SPLC, and I would be distressed if this happened to the FFRF."

On Dec. 27, FFRF Co-Presidents Dan Barker and Annie Laurie Gaylor released a statement describing their publication of the post as "an error of judgment."

"We have decided to remove it as it does not reflect our values or principles," they wrote.

The removal of Coyne's post from the FFRF website prompted Dawkins to resign from the board on Dec. 29. Coyne shared the contents of the email Dawkins sent to Barker and Gaylor announcing his departure on his personal blog. 

"It is with real sadness, because of my personal regard for you both, that I feel obliged to resign from the Honorary Board of FFRF," he wrote. "Publishing the silly and unscientific 'What is a Woman' article by Kat Grant was a minor error of judgment, redeemed by the decision to publish a rebuttal by a distinguished scientist from the relevant field, namely Biology, Jerry Coyne."

"But alas, the sequel was an act of unseemly panic when you caved in to hysterical squeals from predictable quarters and retrospectively censored that excellent rebuttal," he added. "Moreover, to summarily take it down without even informing the author of your intention was an act of lamentable discourtesy to a member of your own Honorary Board. A Board which I now leave with regret."

Coyne, who considers himself a "liberal atheist," also stepped down from the FFRF honorary board, as did Canadian psychologist and psycholinguist Steve Pinker. Coyne shared the contents of Pinker's resignation email, which accused FFRF of embracing characteristics of organized religion, which it claims to oppose. 

"With this action, the Foundation is no longer a defender of freedom from religion but the imposer of a new religion, complete with dogma, blasphemy, and heretics. It has turned its back on reason: if your readers' wrongfully perceive' the opposite of a clear statement that you support the expression of contesting opinions, the appropriate response is to stand by your statement, not ratify their error."

Pinker argues that FFRF "has turned the names Freethought Today and Freethought Now into sad jokes, inviting ridicule from its worst foes. And it has shown contempt for the reasoned advice of his own board members."

In response to the resignations, the FFRF leaders pushed back against the criticism and believed such departures were likely "inevitable" amid growing differences in beliefs on sexuality and gender. 

"We have had the greatest respect for Richard Dawkins and Steven Pinker, and are grateful that they sat on our honorary board for so many years," Barker and Gaylor said in a statement shared with The Telegraph. 

"We do not feel that support for LGBTQ rights against the religious backlash in the United States is mission creep. This growing difference of opinion probably made such a parting inevitable."

Dawkins has repeatedly spoken out against the rejection of traditional definitions of sex by LGBT activists and the idea that it is possible to change one's sex. In a 2023 appearance on "Piers Morgan Uncensored," Dawkins proclaimed, "As a biologist, there are two sexes and that's all there is to it."

In 2021, Dawkins signed a "Declaration on Women's Sex-based rights," which pushed back on laws that define the term "mother" to include people who are not biologically female. 

So, all this means that FFRF is not a scientific journal anymore, if it ever was, but is ideological propaganda.

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Approaching Sodom > Insane Transgender Status; Little Girls in L.A. Drag Show; Richard Dawkins Hammered for Questioning Transgenderism

Scottish police confirm male-born rape suspects are recorded as female, where requested, regardless of legal (or biological) status

18 Apr, 2021 13:37

FILE PHOTO. Protest in the aftermath of the kidnap and murder of Sarah Everard in London. ©REUTERS / Henry Nicholls

Transgender women suspected of sexual crimes are recorded as female by Police Scotland, even if they didn’t legally change their sex. Critics say the practice deceives the public about crime prevalence.

As the Scottish government is considering ways to make it easier than ever for people to change their legal sex, skeptics say the drive to embrace trans rights is often going in the wrong direction. One latest example is the way Police Scotland records suspects’ self-identified gender rather than biological sex, even when the alleged crime in question is rape.

UK law defines rape as penetration of the vagina, anus or month with a penis without the victim’s consent. When such an act is committed or attempted by “a male who self-identifies as a woman,” Police Scotland would register this as a rape or attempted rape, but the alleged perpetrator would be “recorded as a female on relevant police systems.” The law enforcement agency said this in response to a Freedom of Information Act request. “Male” in this case means “a person who does not have a gender recognition certificate and has not changed their legal sex,” as per the request.

The explanation was revealed earlier this week by the Edinburgh-based policy analysts Murray Blackburn. The group’s Lucy Hunter Blackburn cited it in an opinion piece explaining how she believes the practice distorts crime statistics and thus misinforms the public on crime policy issues. A better approach would be to record the biological sex and possibly seperately the gender, the group says.

The recording policy “evolved as best practice and ensures all people are treated fairly and with respect,” Police Scotland said in 2019. It also seems to contradict what Scottish Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf told MSP Johann Lamont in a letter reported by the Times on Sunday. There, he said a person born male would need a full gender recognition certificate – “and so is legally female” – for that person to be statistically recorded as a female.

Earlier in January, Lamont questioned Yousaf about a draft guidance by Scotland’s chief statistician, which recommends that self-identified gender rather than biological or legal sex should be recorded by the government bodies, “except potentially where there is direct relevance to a person’s medical treatment.” Lamont asked how the government expects to “measure the scale of offending by men” and the effect of preventive measures if it won’t track the biological sex of the offenders. Yousaf said it was his understanding that the rape statistics are supposed to be an exception to the guideline.

Treatment of trans women by the criminal justice system is a thorny issue. Trans rights activists tend to dismiss any doubts about giving such people all the privileges of those who were born female as transphobic. Critics point out uncomfortable facts to argue that this approach is inherently harmful towards biological women. For instance, British prison statistics indicate that trans inmates are five times more likely to commit a sex attack on other prisoners at female jails.

‘Insane’ VIDEO of children being paraded and tipped at

DRAG SHOW causes uproar

19 Apr, 2021 16:09

© Twitter / @DistortedLinds

Footage from a drag show in Los Angeles is causing uproar on social media as it shows children posing for the crowd and being tipped cash.

Caution: Language is pretty disgusting.

“Why in the hell do these people got these f***ing little-bitty a** kids at this f***ing drag show,” the unidentified person in the video says, before a couple of young girls are brought out onto the stage. 

The person filming notes it is nearly midnight. An adult drag performer can be seen encouraging the kids to take cash tips from the audience, as they direct the children in poses and take them on a catwalk.

The user who posted the video, podcaster Lindsay Platoshyn, followed up her tweet with a YouTube investigative piece on the trend of underage performers earning money at adult drag shows – a hot topic in recent years, and one that has become wrapped up in a larger debate about gender identity.

Critics online have expressed shock over the video.

“I can’t fathom what kind of woke a** stupid parent lets their little girls parade suggestively in front of a room full of horny sauced-up freaks while they get bills thrown at them like strippers,” one user commented.  

“11.40pm. People giving money to children. This is insane,” another wrote. 

When some Twitter users defended drag shows in general, saying many performers would balk at the idea of using children in their acts, Platoshyn pushed back saying, “Now is not the time to be ignorant.”

“The fact is it happened, and has been happening & no one is saying anything. Now is not the time to remain ignorant with our heads down, making random claims of ‘but the others are innocent!’ That’s entirely not the point,” she wrote. 

You know the world must be close to coming to an end when Richard Dawkins joins J.K. Rowling in finding common ground with Christians.

Richard Dawkins stripped of ‘humanist of the year’ award after inviting discussion on transgender issues in tweet

20 Apr, 2021 05:26

FILE PHOTO: Biologist and atheist author Richard Dawkins speaks to a crowd during an event at Fort Bragg army base in North Carolina. ©  Reuters / Chris Keane

The American Humanist Association has withdrawn its top honor from evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins over a tweet calling for dialogue on transgender issues, accusing the atheist speaker of “demeaning marginalized groups.”

Just a curious thought here: If marginalized groups weren't demeaned, how could the theory of 'the survival of the fittest' ever have worked out?

The organization said Dawkins had recently implied that “the identities of transgender individuals are fraudulent, while also simultaneously attacking Black identity as one that can be assumed when convenient,” noting he would be stripped of an award granted to him some 25 years ago. It declined to specify the offending comment.

“Regrettably, Richard Dawkins has over the past several years accumulated a history of making statements that use the guise of scientific discourse to demean marginalized groups, an approach antithetical to humanist values,” the AHA said on Monday.

Don't humanists adhere to 'the survival of the fittest' aspect of evolution? If not, what do they believe in?

Consequently, the AHA Board has concluded that Richard Dawkins is no longer deserving of being honored by the AHA, and has voted to withdraw, effective immediately, the 1996 Humanist of the Year award.

While the Humanist Association gave few other details and offered no examples of Dawkins’ “accumulated history” of inflammatory remarks, an April 10 tweet from the biologist drawing comparisons between transgenderism and the self-described “trans-black” activist Rachel Dolezal is a likely culprit. 

“In 2015, Rachel Dolezal, a white chapter president of NAACP, was vilified for identifying as Black. Some men choose to identify as women, and some women choose to identify as men. You will be vilified if you deny that they literally are what they identify as,” Dawkins wrote, calling on his followers to “discuss” the apparent contradiction.

He followed up with another post days later, presumably in response to netizens outraged over the first missive, saying he did not “intend to disparage trans people.”

“I see that my academic ‘Discuss’ question has been misconstrued as such and I deplore this. It was also not my intent to ally in any way with Republican bigots in US now exploiting this issue,” Dawkins added.

Oh, horror of horrors! Agreeing with Republicans! Perhaps even Christians!

The later post apparently did nothing to appease the AHA, which said that Dawkins’ “subsequent attempts at clarification” were “inadequate” and did not convey “sensitivity” or “sincerity.” 

While some observers said rescinding Dawkins’ award was a “good call,” the move also triggered an outpouring of criticism online, with many suggesting the atheist org had become beholden to “woke gods” and adopted a “pseudo-religious” devotion to political correctness.

“Identity politics is the new religion. We can be good without it,” one user wrote, putting a spin on the AHA’s slogan, “Good Without a God.”

One self-avowed humanist and Dawkins critic called on AHA members to terminate their ties with the association over its decision, which other users deemed an overreaction to the biologist’s “reasonable” call for discussion.

Dawkins’ April 10 tweet is far from his first controversial post, stoking a wave of condemnation in February after suggesting that eugenics could “work in practice,” while also indicating that he “deplore[d]” the idea on “ideological, political [and] moral grounds.” Before that, he was accused of racism in 2018 after tweeting that the bells of England’s Winchester Cathedral were “so much nicer than the aggressive-sounding ‘Allahu Akhbar’” heard at Muslim mosques, one among several hot-button posts about Islam over the years.

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