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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.<ref>[http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2010/10/24/richard-dawkins-sues-josh-timonen/ Richard Dawkins sues Josh Timonen], Posted by David Gorski on October 24, 2010</ref>}}
 
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.<ref>[http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2010/10/24/richard-dawkins-sues-josh-timonen/ Richard Dawkins sues Josh Timonen], Posted by David Gorski on October 24, 2010</ref>}}
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== Richard Dawkins' family fortune and the slave trade ==
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[[File:Slave auction.jpg|250px|right|thumbnail|On February 20, 2012, the British newspaper the ''Daily Mail'' reported that [[Richard Dawkins]]' family fortune came from the slave trade".<ref>[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2103319/Campaigner-Richard-Dawkins-faces-awkward-truth-money-came-slave-trade.html Revealed: How atheist Richard Dawkins' family fortune came from the slave trade, Daily Mail, February 20, 2012]</ref>]]
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''See also:'' [[Richard Dawkins' family fortune and the slave trade]]
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On February 20, 2012, the British newspaper the ''Daily Mail'' reported that [[Richard Dawkins]]' "family fortune came from the slave trade".<ref>[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2103319/Campaigner-Richard-Dawkins-faces-awkward-truth-money-came-slave-trade.html Revealed: How atheist Richard Dawkins' family fortune came from the slave trade, Daily Mail, February 20, 2012]</ref> On February 19, 2012, ''The Daily Telegraph'' reported that Dawkins is being called to make reparations for his family's past.<ref>[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/9091007/Slaves-at-the-root-of-the-fortune-that-created-Richard-Dawkins-family-estate.html Slaves at the root of the fortune that created Richard Dawkins' family estate, The Daily Telegragh, February 19, 2012]</ref>
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The ''Daily Mail'' reported:
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{{cquote|Ancestors of secularist campaigner Richard Dawkins made their fortune from the slave trade, it has been revealed.
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The outspoken atheist, who once branded the Catholic Church 'evil', is the direct descendent of Henry Dawkins who owned 1,013 slaves in [[Jamaica]] until he died in 1744.
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His 400-acre family estate, Over Norton Park near Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire, is believed to have been bought with money made through slave ownership hundreds of years ago...
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Richard's son, Henry, married into another of Jamaica's powerful slave trading families and left 1,013 slaves worth £40,736 when he died 1744.
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The links with slavery continue down the family tree and in 1796 another ancestor, James Dawkins, voted against [[William Wilberforce]]'s plans to abolish the slave trade<ref>[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2103319/Campaigner-Richard-Dawkins-faces-awkward-truth-money-came-slave-trade.html Revealed: How atheist Richard Dawkins' family fortune came from the slave trade, Daily Mail, February 20, 2012]</ref>}}
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=== Demand for Richard Dawkins to pay reparations ===
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As far as the demand for Richard Dawkins to pay reparations, ''The Daily Telegraph'' reported:
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{{Cquote|He is now facing calls to apologise and make reparations for his family's past.
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Esther Stanford-Xosei, of Lewisham, south London, the co-vice chairman of the Pan-African Reparations Coalition in Europe, said: "There is no statute of limitations on crimes against humanity.
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"The words of the apology need to be backed by action. The most appropriate course would be for the family to fund an educational initiative telling the history of slavery and how it impacts on communities today, in terms of racism and fractured relationships."<ref>[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/9091007/Slaves-at-the-root-of-the-fortune-that-created-Richard-Dawkins-family-estate.html Slaves at the root of the fortune that created Richard Dawkins' family estate], ''The Telegraph''</ref>}}
    
== See also ==
 
== See also ==
Irenaeus, Siteadmin, Check users, oversight, Administrators
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