Evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins has slammed liberals for turning a "treacherous" blind eye to the misogyny and homophobia promoted by Islam despite the shocking human rights abuses carried out by Muslims around the world.
The famed God Delusion author voiced his thoughts on the issue in a Twitter post shared on Tuesday afternoon.
"Regressive left turns treacherous, blind eye on misogyny & homophobia because they absurdly think Islam must be 'respected' as a 'race,'" he wrote.
When several commenters attempted to debate the issue, mockingly telling Dawkins "There's no shame in being conned," the outspoken atheist reiterated, "Actually I think there is shame. Because the misogyny & homophobia promoted by Islam is no secret & v well known."
This is not the first time Dawkins has refused to mince words when calling out leftist apologists of Islamic extremism.
In October, Dawkins was a guest on HBO host Bill Maher's "Real Time", where Maher said it is "ridiculous" that some make out Muslims to be a "protected species."
Dawkins concurred that those who criticize Muslims were often condemned as racist, referencing the case of Warwick University's students' union declining atheist and critic of extremist Islam Maryam Namazie the opportunity to speak at the school earlier in October, out of fear of offending the religion.
"If you can't speak your mind at a university campus, where can you? I mean that's what universities are about. It's about free speech," Dawkins said.
"So they think that if you criticize Islam you're being racist and you're absolutely right that the regressive [liberals] give a free pass to Islam," the atheist author continued.
"They're kind of right about everything else, I mean, they're right about misogyny and all of the other good things. But in the case of Islam, it just gets a free pass and I think it is because of the terror of being thought racist."
Speaking to CNSNews.com, Phil Zuckerman, another atheist professor known for his blog posts promoting secularism, explained that the media willingly slams Christianity but treats Islam with respect simply because of "straight up fear".
"[The liberal media] seems to find it permissible to critique, mock, [and] deride Christianity," but give Islam a free pass," he said, "Which is so strange, because if you care about women's rights, if you care about human rights, if you care about gay rights, then you really... uh... then Islam is much more problematic."
From a human rights perspective, Zuckerman said Christian nations are among the most successful, while Muslim countries are undeniably oppressive.
"As an atheist, where on planet Earth is the death penalty meted out to atheists? It's only in, I think, 24 Muslim countries. Where have human rights flourished the most? In Christian nations."
While Islam is undeniably "problematic" for those who advocate human rights, Zuckerman said he would show contempt to Christianity before criticizing Islam, as Christians are far more tolerant than Muslims.
"I see Christianity as a great friend to secular culture," he said. "I see Islam as much more of a threat. Much more debilitating."
Zuckerman contended that fear prevents him from critiquing Islam in his writing on blogs and in books.
"I can say anything about Christianity and Mormonism and I'm not living in fear," he said, expressing appreciation that he can criticize many religions without worrying about his life or that of his three children.
"I would never write the same kind of stuff that I do about certain religions," he said. "Judaism, Christianity, LDS-that I would about Islam because of just straight up fear."
