Peter Singer says sacking of Israel Folau was an 'own goal'; and that
Freedom is at risk
Newsletter published on June 17, 2019
(1)
Peter Singer says sacking of Israel Folau was an 'own goal'; and that Freedom is
at risk
(2)
Trans vs Feminism: Edinburgh LGBT+ committee resigns as Feminists resist Trans
rights
(3)
Trans Regret: America's First Legally Recognized Transgender 'Regrets'
Transitioning
(4)
Mother Investigated for 'Hate Crimes' for Calling Transgender 'He'
(5)
Christian Teacher Fired for Referring to ‘Gender Fluid’ Girl as
‘She’
Peter Singer's comments show that the Folau
sacking has become an international test-case. Of equal significance is the fact
that Singer's comments were published on Geerge Soros' site Project Syndicate.
The other four reports show that Political Correctness is taking us down the
path of insanity. As Peter Singer warned, Freedom is in grave danger. The
Cultural Revolution in the West is just as unhinged as Mao's was in China. -
Peter M.
(1)
Peter Singer says sacking of Israel Folau was an 'own goal'; and that Freedom is
at risk
Rugby Australia’s "Own Goal"
Jun 11, 2019 PETER SINGER
If Rugby Australia had existed in the first
century of the Christian era, and Paul had had enough talent to be a contracted
player, the sport's national governing body presumably would have ripped up his
contract once his first letter to the Corinthians, with its injunction against
homosexuality, became public. Just ask star fullback and born-again Christian
Israel Folau.
MELBOURNE – There is no such thing as an own
goal in rugby, but Rugby Australia, the game’s governing body in Australia, has
done its very best to score one by
terminating the contract of Israel Folau. In doing so, it has lost the
services of a star fullback who has
played 73 tests for Australia.
Rugby Australia’s reason for ending Folau’s
career is that he posted on his Instagram account a photo of a notice saying
that "hell awaits… drunks, homosexuals, adulterers, liars, fornicators, thieves,
atheists, and idolaters." To this, Folau added some words of his own: "Those
that are living in Sin will end up in Hell unless you repent. Jesus Christ loves
you and is giving you time to turn away from your sin and come to
him."
In a statement issued after the sacking,
Rugby Australia Chief Executive Officer Raelene Castle said: "I’ve communicated
directly with the players to make it clear that Rugby Australia fully supports
their right to their own beliefs and nothing that has happened changes that. But
when we are talking about inclusiveness in our game, we’re talking about
respecting differences as well. When we say rugby is a game for all, we mean
it."
Folau is a born-again Christian, and his
post was an expression of his religious beliefs. To prevent misunderstanding, I
should say that I do not share those
beliefs. As an unrepentant atheist, I am among those for whom, Folau believes,
hell awaits. But that does not
trouble me, because there is, in my view, no god, no afterlife, and no hell.
Nor do I differentiate, ethically, between homosexual and heterosexual
relationships.
Nevertheless, it cannot be denied that Folau’s post falls squarely within
traditional Christian teachings that Christians accepted almost unanimously
until the twentieth century, and that continue to be held widely – though
against strong and growing opposition – among Christians today. The post clearly
draws on Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, in which Paul is reported as
saying: "Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God?
Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers
nor men who have sex with men,nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor
slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God."
Paul also tells his Christian readers that
they must not associate with anyone who is sexually immoral: "Do not even eat
with such people." That would have included not only homosexuals and adulterers,
but also sexually active singles.
If Rugby Australia had existed in the first
century of the Christian era, and Paul had had enough talent to be a contracted
player, Rugby Australia would presumably have ripped up his contract once his
letter to the Corinthians became public. That makes it quite bizarre that Castle
should have justified Folau’s dismissal by saying, "People need to feel safe and
welcomed in our game regardless of their gender, race, background, religion, or
sexuality." Did she mean that you can feel welcomed in rugby, regardless of your
religious beliefs, as long as you don’t express them in public? That looks a lot
like telling homosexuals that they can do what they want in the privacy of their
bedroom, but they must not show their affection in public because some people
might find it offensive.
As this example shows – and as John Stuart
Mill argued in his classic On Liberty – once we allow, as a ground for
restricting someone’s freedom of speech or action, the claim that someone else has been
offended by it, freedom is in grave
danger of disappearing entirely. After all, it is very difficult to say
anything significant to which no one could possibly take offense. Mill had in
mind restrictions imposed by the state, but when employers dismiss employees who make
controversial utterances, that is also a threat to freedom of expression –
especially when the employer has a monopoly on the employment of workers with
special skills, as Rugby Australia does.
Rugby Australia would have a stronger basis
for its decision if Folau’s post had expressed hatred toward homosexuals and
could have been interpreted as an incitement to violence against them. But the
post no more expresses hatred toward homosexuals than cigarette warnings express
hatred toward smokers.
If that analogy seems implausible, that’s
because you do not take Folau’s beliefs seriously. Granted, for anyone outside
that particular faith, it’s hard to take such beliefs seriously. But try putting
yourself in the position of someone with Folau’s beliefs. You see people on a
path toward a terrible fate – much worse than getting lung cancer, because death
will not release them from their agony – and they are blind to what awaits them.
Wouldn’t you want to warn them, and give them the chance to avoid that awful
fate? I assume that is what Folau believes he is doing. He even tells
homosexuals that Jesus loves them, and calls on them to repent so that they can
avoid burning in hell for eternity. That doesn’t sound like hate
speech.
What should Rugby Australia have done about
Folau’s post? It might have just said
that people are entitled to express their religious beliefs, and that would
have been the end of the story. Only 14% of Australians say that religion is
very important to them, and not all among them are adherents of religions that
believe in hell. So most Australians would be more likely to laugh off Folau’s
beliefs than to take them seriously. Perhaps that is the best way to react to
them.
(2)
Trans vs Feminism: Edinburgh LGBT+ committee resigns as Feminists resist Trans
rights
Edinburgh LGBT+ committee resigns in row
over speakers at feminist meeting
University network says opposition to event
was censored
Speaker Julie Bindel left ‘shaken’ after
alleged abuse
Libby Brooks Scotland
correspondent
Fri 7 Jun 2019 04.36 AEST Last modified on
Fri 7 Jun 2019 21.38 AEST
All 12 members of Edinburgh University’s
staff pride network committee have resigned after accusing the university
authorities of “failing to take a stand against transphobic hate on
campus”.
The committee claims the mass resignation
was prompted by the university’s attempts to censor its opposition to a feminist
meeting, held on Wednesday evening, which included speakers who have
previously been critical of proposed reforms to transgender rights.
After the meeting, the campaigner Julie Bindel, who spoke on the panel, was
allegedly verbally abused and lunged at by a transgender
activist.
She said she had been left “shaken”,
believing her attacker “would have punched me full in the face” had university
security guards not intervened. But Bindel said she believed the protester did
not represent the transgender community. “This is not in their name,” said
Bindel, who was speaking at a panel event discussing the future of women’s
sex-based rights and organised by a long-standing staff member.
In their resignation letter, seen by the
Guardian, the staff pride network committee says it raised concerns about
Wednesday’s event but claim it was told to “support the university [over the
event] or be quiet. We were also told that, in future, should the committee wish
to take a stance on anything for our members that we must first ask permission
of the university.”
Co-chair Rosie Russell told the Guardian:
“We had concerns that panel members had a history of animus toward trans women
and it looked to be very one-sided. At no point did we ask the university to
cancel the event. We support freedom of speech.”
Describing the university’s approach as
censorship, the resignation letter continues: “When you add this to the decision
of the university to withdraw from the Stonewall Workplace Equality Index, we
see a reversal of the progress that the network has made over the last three
years. We feel viscerally upset that the good work over the last three years is
being undone.
“As such, your committee has decided that
the only tenable response is to resign as we cannot volunteer our time to help
run the network for a university that has allowed hate on its campuses and
failed to take a stand against it.”
The Guardian understands that the university
decided to take a one-year break from the Stonewall Index, a thorough
benchmarking tool for employers to rate their progress on inclusion, because of
its heavy administrative burden, but remains open to rejoining next
year.
A spokesperson for Edinburgh University,
which hosted a major conference on international transgender rights at the end
of May, expressed regret at the resignations and said that senior managers had
offered to meet with the committee to discuss their concerns. “The university
places great importance in the staff pride network and its valuable job in
representing the university’s LGBT+ community.”
Bindel, who underlined that she had been
talking about male violence, not transgender issues, at the event, said a person
had approached her as she was leaving the George Square lecture hall around 7pm,
and shouted abuse.
Bindel expressed her gratitude to the
security staff, who had earlier swept the lecture hall before the event and
attended a peaceful protest by transgender activists which had dispersed by the
time Bindel was leaving.
Bindel’s alleged abuser identified
themselves on Twitter as a trans woman who uses the name Cathy Brennan. They
tweeted: “Truth of the matter is that I did not raise a fist. I attempted to
push past security so I could speak face to face with a person who has caused
great harm to trans people across this country.”
They added that they would not respond to
requests for further comment unless they were offered “the chance to write a
full opinion piece in my own words”.
Bindel told the Guardian she was regularly
abused in this manner and that she did not intend to involve the police. “I know
these people do not represent transsexual people, who suffer daily
discrimination and are appalled at this,” she said.
The Edinburgh University row reflects
broader tensions around proposed changes
to gender recognition legislation in Scotland. The Scottish government was
last month forced to clarify its stance after leaked emails suggested that Nicola Sturgeon was “out of step” with her
party.
Lucy Hunter-Blackman, another panellist and
an Edinburgh University researcher who has been critical of proposed changes to
the next census around the question of biological sex, said she “condemned the
assault on one of my fellow speakers”.
Describing the atmosphere at the event as
positive, she added: “We were pleased that some of the protesters felt able to
come in and listen and ask questions and hope they feel we responded seriously
and honestly. The discussion offered a glimpse of what a better debate might
look like.”
• The headline and standfirst were amended
on 6 June 2019 to better reflect the content of the article.
(3)
Trans Regret: America's First Legally Recognized Transgender 'Regrets'
Transitioning
America's First Legally Recognized
Transgender 'Regrets' Transitioning
Jamie Shupe was first American to change
gender by law, is now fighting against sex change
By: Jay Greenberg |@NeonNettle on 13th March 2019
Jamie Shupe is the first American to legally
change his gender but now regrets transitioning
The first person in America to be legally
recognized as transgender now says he regrets transitioning from his born gender
and is campaigning against sex change surgeries, laws, and drugs.
Jamie Shupe became the first American to
have his gender legally recognized as "non-binary" - a "third gender" that's
neither male or female - by order of an Oregon court in June 2016.
At the time, Shupe was a transgender female
who was born male and had already started taking female hormones when the court
ruled that his sex would be changed to non-binary.
Now the former Army sergeant says that he
was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) from his military
service and was encouraged to switch gender by medical professionals and liberal
campaigners, who incorrectly led him to believe he was the "wrong"
gender.
Shupe now says he's been shunned by the LGBT
community because of his outspoken disagreement with transgender surgeries and
the rise in transitioning of children.
On Monday night, he spoke to Fox News's
Laura Ingraham about what he's learned from his own experience.
"Regret, unfortunately, is very common,"
Shupe told Ingraham.
"But again, the media doesn't want to talk
about these surgeries that go wrong and the host of health
complications.
"And it's really wrong to even call this
transition because gender identity is, essentially -- it's legal
fiction.
“You know, first they claimed that I was a
woman, and then they claimed that I was a combination of male and female, and
everybody went along with this.
"But as I said, it's nothing but legal
fiction.
(4)
Mother Investigated for 'Hate Crimes' for Calling Transgender 'He'
Mother Investigated for 'Hate Crimes' for
Calling Transgender 'He' on Twitter
Devout Catholic to be questioned by police
for 'misgendering' during debate online
By: Jay Greenberg |@NeonNettle on 20th March 2019
Caroline Farrow is the subject of a 5-month
police investigation for allegedly 'misgendering' on Twitter
A devout Catholic mother is being
investigated by police for "hate crimes" after she allegedly referred to a
transgender as "he" on Twitter following a TV debate appearance.
44-year-old Caroline Farrow, a British
broadcaster and writer for Roman Catholic newspapers, says she's been the
subject of a five-month police investigation and is due to be taken in for
questioning by investigators.
Mrs. Farrow says a police officer confirmed
on Monday that she is to be questioned by law enforcement for calling someone's
transgender daughter "he" in a tweet after they debated primary school sex
education the TV show Good Morning Britain with host Piers Morgan.
The high-profile Christian journalist says
she is prepared to go to jail, adding: "I don't know what I am suspected to have
done.
"The only thing I can think of is that I may
have referred to a 23-year-old transgender woman as someone's 'son.'
"I try at all times to be polite on Twitter,
but it is my belief on both a religious and scientific basis that you cannot
change the sex into which you were born."
She added that the police investigator said
her tweets had "misgendered" an individual by using the wrong gender pronoun,
which could be an offense under the Malicious Communications Act.
The Twitter incident followed a studio
debate between Mrs. Farrow and Susie Green, a transgender campaigner whose
daughter Jackie, 25, is transgender.
Mrs. Farrow, who is married to a priest,
said she was "worried and alarmed" following the call from police.
She wrote on Twitter on Tuesday: "I don't
even remember said tweets! I probably said 'he' or 'son' or something. I have
done nothing wrong, nothing illegal and will happily do jail time for my right
to say that people cannot change sex."
The tweet case was pursued by Surrey Police,
whose former Chief Constable Lynne Owens said in 2015 that as a result of
£25million in cuts and the loss of 250 officers, minor crimes would be ignored
in favor of investigations of offenses against vulnerable people. ...
(5)
Christian Teacher Fired for Referring to ‘Gender Fluid’ Girl as
‘She’
Christian Teacher Fired for Referring to
‘Gender Fluid’ Girl as ‘She’
Respected teacher committed the
'politically-incorrect' sin of not using preferred pronoun
By: Daniel Chaitin |@NeonNettle on 10th December 2018
Respected teacher committed the
'politically-incorrect' sin of not using preferred pronoun
A Christian teacher in Virginia has been
fired from his job after he used the word "she" to refer to one of his female
students.
Peter Vlaming, a respected teacher amongst
the community, committed the 'politically-incorrect' sin of refusing to use the
child's preferred pronoun.
Vlaming was fired from his teaching job at
the West Point High School on Thursday following a vote where all five board
members decided his refusal to use male pronouns for a female was too
'offensive' for him to retain his teaching position.
The female 'gender fluid' student, who
decided that she is transgender, demanded everyone call her by her new name,
according to wric.
Although Vlaming didn't have a problem with
this, he did, however, draw the line at saying “him” and “his” to refer to the
student who is biologically female.
Many teachers and students who know Vlaming
defended him explaining that he didn't deliberately insult the transgender
student, but instead he stood behind his personal beliefs.
“My religious faith dictates that I am to
love and respect everyone, whether I agree with them or not. Because we are all
made in God’s image,” Vlaming told the board in an opening statement.
...
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