Darwinian Jerry Coyne as free speech warrior

Retired biologist Darwinian evolutionary biologist Jerry Coyne, author of Why Evolution Is True, has begun to understand what it means to say that university campuses are no longer a home for ideas, but for grievances:

Many universities, including public ones, have created “bias response teams,” in which speech considered hateful or offensive is reported to University authorities and dealt with promptly. The number of these teams is growing.

While universities are perfectly free to recommend standards of civil discourse, public schools must adhere to the First Amendment and thus have no right to police speech unless it falls into the Amendment’s exceptions: speech that’s a clear and present danger, that is libelous, that creates a climate of harassment that impedes education, and so on. …

As if that weren’t enough, UI outlines what it considers “bias-motivated incidents”, all of which, when they involve speech, are perfectly legal under First Amendment. Of course it’s illegal to deny someone their rights based on age, gender, ethnicity, and so on, but it’s not illegal to issue “expressions” of them, odious though they may be. And “religion/spirituality” is also included in the list: no criticizing Judaism, Islam, or Methodism! Jerry Coyne, “The University of Illinois Police stifle free speech by participating in “bias response”“ at Why Evolution Is True (blog)

Yes, Jerry, many progressives consider the First Amendment a problem and try to legislate around it. Their actions are intended to stifle free speech. They was never intended any other way.

If you’re not careful, you’re going to end up with Sam Harris, Jordan Peterson, and Bret Weinstein on the dark internet, where Cool people can say or imply anything they like about you and hordes of the angry aggrieved can feel good about shouting you down. Good for you if it happens but count the cost.

The trouble is, as Rob Sheldon has pointed out, “ Despite the pain they feel, Darwinists don’t seem to realize it is their own hands that have torn down the edifice of knowledge. They still think that discrimination is valid when they are in charge, that courtesy is only for friends, that objectivity is their personal possession.”

If they do not accept a diagnosis that includes the way their own actions contribute to the problem, their efforts at a cure will not amount to much.

See also: Evolutionary biologist tries to gather shards of truth

Maybe The “March For” Fad Will Die Out Before The Anti-Semitism Hits Science

and

Jerry Coyne is learning, but not fast enough (about anti-Semitism among the social justice warriors (SJWs, the marching Woke) (Update based on the story above: He could be starting to learn faster.)

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