Wednesday, June 19, 2019

1029 Peter Singer says sacking of Israel Folau was an 'own goal'; and that Freedom is at risk

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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