Richard Dawkins Criticized for Sharing Pro Neo-Nazi Propaganda Tweet
Well-known atheist Richard Dawkins faced criticism this week after he accidentally tweeted pro neo-Nazi propaganda.
The controversy began when Dawkins, an evolutionary biologist, tweeted the cover of a fake book that mocked social justice politics.
The image, posted to Twitter on Monday, shows a photoshopped cover of Dawkins' book, The God Delusion, with the new title "The Social Justice Delusion."
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A photoshopped image of the book cover's back includes a description mocking the tenants of social justice politics, with the conclusion: "eat [expletive] and die. All I ever asked was to be left alone."
A caption accompanying the image read: "For those who- inevitably- won't get it, this IS a joke. But like most good jokes, it's also serious."
Dawkins deleted the tweet shortly after its posting when multiple social media users drew attention to the digital barcode on the back of the book cover.
As several people pointed out, the barcode belonged to a pro neo-Nazi book entitled, We Must Secure the Existence of Our People and A Future For White Children.
Dawkins had evidently retweeted the book image but failed to realize that the barcode accompanying the fake book belonged to neo-Nazi propaganda.
The famous atheist, who is known for his combative language, then sought to defend his actions when asked by fellow tweeters why he shared such an image.
"@RichardDawkins Hi Richard, are you aware you tweeted a link to Nazi propaganda (via QR code)? I see you deleted the tweet," Rob Price asked of Dawkins, to which the author, speaker and activist responded: "Yes. That's of course why I deleted it."
Dawkins has been criticized for offensive, controversial tweets in the past, receiving a rash of condemnation last week for poking fun at feminists and extremist Muslims, while also implying that Muslim men condone rape as consensual.
A YouTube video shared by Dawkins shows a cartoon feminist and a cartoon Muslim extremist singing a duet together, in which they impy that their "ideologies are essentially the same."
The video ends with the Islamic extremist asking the feminist: "So do you mind if I rape you now?"
"Don't be silly; it's not rape when a Muslim does it!" the woman replies.
Dozens of social media users had strong reactions to the cartoon, accusing Dawkins of comparing feminism to Islamic extremism.
The video proved so offensive to some that the Northeast Conference on Science and Skepticism [NECSS] announced it would be dropping Dawkins as their keynote speaker for an upcoming event.
"We have taken this action in response to Dr Dawkins' approving retweet of a highly offensive video," the conference said in a statement. "We believe strongly in freedom of speech and freedom to express unpopular, and even offensive, views. However, unnecessarily divisive, counterproductive, and even hateful speech runs contrary to our mission and the environment we wish to foster at NECSS."
Despite widespread backlash, Dawkins sought to defend himself, tweeting: "Criticising SOME feminists is not the same thing as criticising ALL feminists. Please tell me that's obvious. Some is not all. Or even many."
