The Freedom from Religion Foundation (FFRF), an organization known for its critique of religious ideologies, particularly Christianity, is now being accused of adopting the very ideology it was established to combat.
The accusation comes after the organization censored an article by Jerry Coyne, a professor emeritus of ecology in Chicago, an atheist, and a board member of the FFRF, from its website.
According to WND, Coyne's article, titled "Biology is not bigotry," was a critique of an earlier column that advocated for transgenderism. Coyne's rebuttal to the FFRF stated, The gender ideology which caused you to take down my article is itself quasi-religious, having many aspects of religious and cults, including dogma, blasphemy, belief in what is palpably untrue ('a woman is whoever she says she is'), apostasy, and a tendency to ignore science when it contradicts a preferred ideology.
The Shapiro Professor of Public Interest Law at George Washington University, who has written extensively about such contradictions in his book, "The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage," suggested that the FFRF's censorship agenda was influenced by "transgender activists." He pointed out that Coyne's argument, which posits human sex as "binary," was an attempt to separate the science from the "politics" of the transgender ideology, a concept widely promoted by Joe Biden.
Coyne's critique targeted Kat Grant's earlier assertion that "A woman is whoever she says she is." The professor offered a view shared by many, stating, "[i]n biology a woman can be simply defined in four words: 'An adult human female.'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.'" While Coyne supports equal rights for transgender people, he argued that, as a scientist, 'feelings dont create reality.'"
The fallout from the FFRF's censorship resulted in the resignations of biologist Richard Dawkins and Harvard Professor Steven Pinker, who both supported Coyne. Despite this, the FFRF "caved into the pressure" and removed Coynes comments. The essay has since been published on "Realitys Last Stand."
In his resignation note, Pinker accused the foundation of being "no longer a defender of freedom from religion but the imposer of a new religion, complete with dogma, blasphemy, and heretics."
The intolerance for opposing views has reached such a level that the FFRF is willing to engage in atheist orthodoxy, a concept that would have been seen as a contradiction not long ago. This is a regrettable stance for a group that once defended those who were banned or canceled for their views. It is a moment that echoes Robert Oppenheimer's words about physicists, but it is particularly poignant for these atheists who have joined a mob to silence: they 'have known sin; and this is a knowledge which they cannot lose.'"
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