The College Fix

One of the world’s most renown theoretical physicists, at a recent speaking engagement in England, demanded that his largely Muslim audience not be segregated by gender before he agreed to take part in the event.

Arizona State University Professor Lawrence Krauss was then accused of intolerance by some in the audience, but the professor went on to decry the nation’s tendency to appease its Islamic population.

Via The Telegraph:

Krauss said he had been shocked when taking part at a debate hosted by an Islamic group at a leading British university to find that men and women were segregated.

The professor, a leading physicist and prominent atheist, threatened to walk out unless organisers agreed to let men and women sit together, which was eventually agreed – but was then astonished to find himself being accused of intolerance by angry members of the audience.

… But he suggested in Britain people were often too polite to object to such practices as well as being cowed by those eager to protest whenever they felt “their cultural norms are not being met.”

He said: “People are not only afraid to offend, but afraid to offend a vocal and aggressive group of people. …

The professor said: “I think the notion that these cultural norms should be carried out within a broader society that not only doesn’t share them but that is free and open is a very serious problem.”

Authorities at University College London have launched an investigation into the event last Saturday, at which people who attended were separated into men, women and coupled seating areas – with women at the back.

Professor Krauss said he was later told by one woman who attended that she went into the lecture theatre holding hands with a male friend and pretending he was her boyfriend to be able to sit in the mixed section.

… The event was organised by a group called the Islamic Education and Research Academy, which has now been banned from holding events on the UCL campus.

Professor Krauss, who served on Mr. Obama’s science policy committee during his 2008 election campaign, was taking part in a debate entitled: “Islam or Atheism: Which Makes More Sense?”

Footage posted online showed him saying “quit the segregation or I’m out of here” after security staff tried to throw out three men who had gone to sit in the women’s section of the audience.

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