#hayton

[wally-b-feed]

Anthony Fineran (B 1981), Z Hayton Il, 2023

[lindseymcdonaldseyelashes]

Leverage 3x11 - "The Rashomon Job"

[forever70s]

Mr. Egbert Nosh by Paul Groves; illustrated by Hilary Hayton & Graham McCallum (1970)

[korshrimpski]

[bloodiedflora]

Pawladin :3

[dougiejack]

[kell9r]

when u spend too much time with ur boyfriend and start to look like him

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

By: Debbie Hayton

Published: Dec 31, 2024

The Freedom from Religion Foundation (FFRF) is probably not on the radar of most people in the UK. It’s a US-based non-profit organisation that campaigns for the separation of church and state. Some years ago, the Telegraph reported on its campaign to remove Christianity from Christmas celebrations in American state schools.

But it seems that this association of ‘atheists, agnostics and skeptics of any pedigree’ has fallen hook line and sinker for gender identity ideology. Yesterday, it was reported that Richard Dawkins had quit the FFRF Board over its ‘imposition’ of a new religion

His departure followed two other scientists – Jerry Coyne and Steven Pinker – after the FFRF retracted a paper Coyne had written to counter an earlier piece that concluded, ‘a woman is whoever she says she is’. Those were the words of Kat Grant (pronouns: they/them) who has argued that ‘a gender diverse model allows womanhood to be defined on internal, personal terms, not outwardly visible characteristics’.

Personally I think that is nonsense, but it is an opinion that Grant is entitled to hold. However, ‘skeptics of any pedigree’ are likely to include those who take a different line. That’s where Coyne came in. He argued that Grant’s conclusion was a tautology, and went on to state that, ‘In biology… a woman can be simply defined in four words: “An adult human female.” ’

Coyne then questioned the FFRF’s incursion into gender activism, pointing out that tendentious arguments about the definition of sex are not part of the association’s mission to educate the public about atheism, and keeping religion out of government and social policies.

That could have been the end of it – a philosophical disagreement and mild criticism of the approach taken within a niche organisation – and Spectator readers would have been none the wiser. Dawkins described the decision to publish Grant’s ‘silly and unscientific’ article as a ‘minor error of judgment’. That’s hardly something for anyone to resign over.

The issue that is of wider concern is the censorious approach taken by those who hold to transgender ideology. The FFRF removed Coyne’s paper and posted a grovelling apology in its place:

‘Publishing this post was an error of judgment, and we have decided to remove it as it does not reflect our values or principles. We regret any distress caused by this post and are committed to ensuring it doesn’t happen again.’

It seems that those values and principles are no longer to keep the old religions out of schools and public institutions but to impose a new quasi-religious philosophy upon them. The idea that men and women are defined simply by who they say they are flies in the face not only of biological science but common sense. We all know what a man or a woman is when we see one. And, whatever Kat Grant might like to believe, those who claim to be non-binary still have a sex and that sex matters.

As a Christian, I take issue with the FFRF’s claim that ‘The history of Western civilization shows us that most social and moral progress has been brought about by persons free from religion.’ The scientific enlightenment took place in a society rooted in Christian traditions. Those who are truly confident in their faith do not fear challenge, and certainly do not censor mere differences of opinion.

Gender identity ideology might well share the hallmarks of religion – ‘complete with dogma, blasphemy, and heretics’ according to Pinker – but it appears to offer neither confidence nor certainty to its adherents, if they cannot abide those who might think differently to them.

An atheistic organisation worth its salt would oppose these movements in the same way that it opposes established religion, so Coyne, Pinker and Dawkins are right to walk away. But maybe the key lesson from this sorry debacle is that it is not so easy to expunge the need for religion from human beings than atheists might like to think. If there is a god-shaped hole in us then without established religion, something else is likely to take its place.

==

FFRF has become a proponent of blasphemy laws.

[annieqattheperipheral]

awwww!! they made them feel so special after playing in a storage cabinet the last couple of years!! 🥹

[pensfan4lfe2]

Utah Hockey Club || 2024-25 NHL Season

(Opening Night Roster vs CHI)

[twixnmix]

Lena Horne and her husband Lennie Hayton, actor Ricardo Montalban, and director Robert Lewis during the cast recording of the Broadway musical "Jamaica," 1957. 

Photos by Friedman-Abeles

[korshrimpski]

Made these and thought I would share them with the world (1/4)

[bloodiedflora]

I don’t remember posting these so here u go!!