The left is none too pleased nowadays with famed atheist Richard Dawkins.
Dawkins, author of “The God Delusion,” in which he condemns the existence of a higher power as an “unjust, unforgiving control freak,” is in the hot seat for asking reasonable questions about the transgender agenda.
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Last week, he asked those who subscribe to such an ideology to “discuss” why it’s commendable for one to swap sexes but it’s morally reprehensible for someone — like the ex-NAACP leader Rachel Dolezal, a white woman — to identify with an ethnic group to which she or he does not biologically belong.
“In 2015,” he wrote, “Rachel Dolezal, a white chapter president of [the] 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.”
Just a couple days after the backlash ensued, Dawkins sent out a follow-up tweet, qualifying his earlier inquiry. In it, he attempted to wiggle his way back into the left’s good graces, writing: “I do not intent 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 [the] U.S. now exploiting this issue.”
Dawkins’ decision to backtrack wasn’t without motivation.
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In 1996, he was awarded the American Humanist Association’s highest honor; he was handed the prize for “Humanist of the Year.” Little did he know then that, a quarter of a century later, the title would be yanked from him over a tweet, a word that, at the time, meant nothing more than the sound a bird makes (my how times have changed, but I digress).
“Regrettably,” the AHA said in a statement, “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.”
“His latest statement implies that the identities of transgender individuals are fraudulent,” the group added, “while also simultaneously attacking black identity as one that can be assumed when convenient. His subsequent attempts at clarification are inadequate and convey neither sensitivity nor sincerity.”
Rising to the occasion of the weight of his secular sin, the board of the AHA decided Dawkins “is no longer deserving of being honored” with his 1996 prize, so it has been pulled from him “effective immediately.”
Following suit, the American Atheists is also condemning Dawkins.
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The group’s vice president for legal and policy, Alison Gill, who identifies as a transgender woman, said Dawkins’ tweet “dehumanizes” transgender people “and helps justify this violence [against us].”
“Given the repercussions for the millions of trans people in this country, in this one life we have to live, as an atheist and as a trans woman, I hope that Professor Dawkins treats this issue with greater understanding and respect in the future,” Gill said. “If he has questions, I am happy to help.”
Dr. Jordan Peterson — an author and clinical psychologist whose belief in God is complex but evolving — condemned the AHA for its action against Dawkins.
“I pray to the God Dawkins doesn’t believe in that you never get what is rightfully and justly coming your way, AHA,” Peterson wrote. “You pathetic, cringing, cowardly, malevolent, self-righteous weasels.”
Conservative YouTube star and author Dave Rubin responded to Peterson, expressing his disappointment over Dawkins’ backtracking.
“He bent the knee, unfortunately,” wrote Rubin. “Everyone knows he isn’t a bigot, but the mob attacked and, rather than stand up for himself, he turned his gaze to the ‘Republican bigots.’”
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Dawkins’ decision to kowtow to the left was also rebuked by evolutionary psychologist and fellow atheist Gad Saad, who asked if people like Peterson and “Harry Potter” author J.K. Rowling and journalist Abigail Shrier are also “Republican bigots,” because each one of them have also raised scientific questions about the transgender movement.
Rowling and Shrier have focused specifically on the damage the transgender agenda does to biological women.
Saad encouraged Dawkins to “focus” and “stop the political tribalism.”