Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on radio station KPFA’s decision to cancel an interview with English atheist Richard Dawkins:
Whenever I write about Richard Dawkins, it is to criticize some anti-Catholic remark he has made. I have written a fair amount about him.
Today, I am on his side. He is being denied the opportunity to express his views on KPFA: the radio station has reneged on its invitation to interview him.
Here is how the radio station explained its ruling. “KPFA does not endorse hateful speech. While KPFA emphatically supports serious free speech, we do not support abusive speech.” It objected to Dawkins calling Islam the “most evil” of world religions.
KPFA is a public radio station that features left-wing hosts and left-wing guests, and is owned by the left-wing Pacifica Foundation, based in the left-wing city of Berkeley, California.
To prove its left-wing status, it supports censorship. To be fair, it does not censor hate speech against Catholics—it is quite tolerant of anti-Catholic bigotry. That is why it hosted the late Christopher Hitchens, a proud Catholic basher.
Dawkins is different. He is critical of Islam, and that is not something KPFA will tolerate. That’s because it only supports “serious” free speech, not speech of a less-than-serious kind. So when Dawkins mocks the Eucharist, KPFA applauds, noting the seriousness of his speech.
Dawkins has been burned by the Left. It’s what they do. He spoke the truth when he said of the decision to muzzle his free speech that “I am known as a frequent critic of Christianity and have never been de-platformed for that.” He never will be.
Dawkins also asks the right questions. “Why do you give Islam a free pass? Why is it fine to criticize Christianity but not Islam?” He deserves an answer.
Islam is given a free pass by the Left because the activists supports every effort to sabotage the West, beginning with the disabling of America. It’s just that simple and just that pernicious.
Contact William Crosier, executive director of Pacifica Radio Network: ed@pacifica.org
