Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science
The Richard Dawkins Foundation For Reason and Science (RDFRS) is a division of Center for Inquiry (CFI). It was founded by British biologist Richard Dawkins in 2006 to promote atheistic ideology and secularism.
The mission statement of the Richard Dawkins Foundation, as declared on its website, reads:
| “ | The mission of the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science is to support scientific education, critical thinking and evidence-based understanding of the natural world in the quest to overcome religious fundamentalism, superstition, intolerance and human suffering." [1] | ” |
In January 2016, the RDFRS announced that the foundation was merging with the Center for Inquiry, with Robyn Blumner as the CEO of the combined organizations.[2] The merger completed on December 31, 2016. Richard Dawkins and two of his board members joined the CFI Board.[3]
Contents
Atheist Sikivu Hutchinson's criticism of RDF and Center for Inquiry merger
See also: Western atheism and race and Atheism and leadership
Atheist Sikivu Hutchinson wrote:
| “ | The recent merger of the secular organization Center for Inquiry (CFI) and the Richard Dawkins Foundation (RDF) has been dubbed atheism's supergroup moment. Acknowledging the two organizations' outsized presence in the atheist world, Religion News Service acidly declared it a "royal wedding". The partnership, which gives Richard Dawkins a seat on the CFI board, smacks of a vindication of Dawkins' toxic, reactionary brand of damn-all-them-culturally-backward-Western-values-hating- Muslims New Atheism. As one of the most prominent global secular organizations, CFI's all-white board looks right at home with RDF's lily white board and staff.[4] | ” |
The secular humanist document Human Manifesto II, which was written in 1973 by Paul Kurtz and Edwin H. Wilson, decried racism and it declared:
| “ | The beginnings of police states, even in democratic societies, widespread government espionage, and other abuses of power by military, political, and industrial elites, and the continuance of unyielding racism, all present a different and difficult social outlook. In various societies, the demands of women and minority groups for equal rights effectively challenge our generation.[5] | ” |
Embezzlement allegation
See also: Atheist organizations and scandals and Richard Dawkins and morality and Atheism and stealing and Atheist lawsuits
In 2010, The Independent wrote about the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science:
| “ | The Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science, has filed four lawsuits in a Californian court alleging that Mr Timonen, who ran its online operation in America, stole $375,000 (£239,000) over three years. It is claiming $950,000 in damages, while Mr Dawkins is suing him for $14,000 owed to him personally. Mr Timonen strongly denies the allegations.
In the 18-page complaint filed in a Los Angeles court, the foundation claims that Mr Timonen said the website he was running was just "squeaking by," making only $30,000 in three years, when in fact it was grossing 10 times that sum. The charity alleges that Mr Timonen pocketed 92 per cent of the money generated by the store, with his girlfriend spending $100,000 of the charity's money on upgrading her home before putting it on the market. The funds apparently came on top of Mr Timomen's pay – of $278,750 over three-and-a-half years (£50,000 a year) – which legal documents filed by the foundation describe as "exceedingly generous and well above-market for someone of Timomen's age and experience...[6] |
” |
Atheist Hemant Mehta reported in 2011 that Dawkins ended his legal actions against Mr. Timonen.[7]
In 2010, David Gorski at Scienceblogs wrote about this matter:
| “ | Timonen has responded. Although I find his denial self-serving, I do find it odd that there have been no arrests. After all, embezzlement is a criminal offense. If I ran a charitable organization and discovered that an employee had embezzled close to $1 million, I’d have called the police, not the lawyers. Something more than meets the eye appears to be going on here.
In any case, this makes me wonder: What is it about rationalist/skeptic groups that make them seemingly have such a hard time running their organizations well from a financial standpoint? After all, just a couple of months ago the Center for Inquiry (CFI) sent out letters desperately begging for more contributions. The reason was that CFI had one large benefactor whose yearly contribution funded approximately 20-25% of the yearly CFI budget. As clueless as I may be about finances, even I know that you don’t use such donations to run the operating expenses of an organization, because you can’t count on them from year to year and it’s too big a chunk. You use this money for special short-term projects and a rainy day fund. Not surprisingly, when this mysterious donor stopped donating earlier this year, suddently CFI was in deep doo-doo from a financial standpoint, prompting the desperate plea for donations and deep budget cuts. I realize that the down economy has played havoc with many nonprofit and charitable organizations, but these issues with skeptical organizations seem to go beyond just that.[8] |
” |
Andrew Brown's commentary
On August 16, 2014, Andrew Brown wrote an article for The Spectator entitled The bizarre – and costly – cult of Richard Dawkins which declared:
| “ | ...the Richard Dawkins website offers followers the chance to join the ‘Reason Circle’, which, like Dante’s Hell, is arranged in concentric circles. For $85 a month, you get discounts on his merchandise, and the chance to meet ‘Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science personalities’. Obviously that’s not enough to meet the man himself. For that you pay $210 a month — or $5,000 a year — for the chance to attend an event where he will speak...
But the $85 a month just touches the hem of rationality. After the neophyte passes through the successively more expensive ‘Darwin Circle’ and then the ‘Evolution Circle’, he attains the innermost circle, where for $100,000 a year or more he gets to have a private breakfast or lunch with Richard Dawkins, and a reserved table at an invitation-only circle event with ‘Richard’ as well as ‘all the benefits listed above’, so he still gets a discount on his Richard Dawkins T-shirt saying ‘Religion — together we can find a cure.’ The website suggests that donations of up to $500,000 a year will be accepted for the privilege of eating with him once a year: at this level of contribution you become a member of something called ‘The Magic of Reality Circle’. I don’t think any irony is intended. At this point it is obvious to everyone except the participants that what we have here is a religion without the good bits.[9] |
” |
See also
References
- ↑ http://richarddawkinsfoundation.org/
- ↑ "‘Royal wedding’ of atheist group, Richard Dawkins Foundation launches woman to top post". Religion News.
- ↑ Two Great Freethought Organizations Are Now One (December 31, 2016). Retrieved on January 10, 2017.
- ↑ #AtheismSoWhite: Atheists of Color Rock Social Justice by Sikivu Hutchinson
- ↑ Humanist Manifesto II
- ↑ "An ungodly row: Dawkins sues his disciple", The Independent, October 24,2010. Retrieved on January 10, 2017.
- ↑ Richard Dawkins Drops His Lawsuit Against Former Employee
- ↑ Richard Dawkins sues Josh Timonen, Posted by David Gorski on October 24, 2010
- ↑ The bizarre – and costly – cult of Richard Dawkins, The Spectator, Andrew Brown 16 August 2014
