CFI Honors the History of Freethought and Skepticism
Cause & Effect No. 289: March 18, 2026
Cause & Effect is the biweekly newsletter of the Center for Inquiry community, covering a wide range of work that you help make possible. Become a member today!
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CFI Gallery Tracing ‘The History of Freethought and Skepticism’ to Open This Summer
The Center for Inquiry (CFI) is excited to announce the upcoming debut of “The History of Freethought and Skepticism Gallery,” a new, 3,000-square-foot permanent exhibit at CFI’s headquarters in Amherst, New York. The gallery, set to open later this Summer, is a walkthrough exhibit showcasing the historical origins and modern manifestations of freethought, skepticism, and secular values. -
CFI President and CEO Robyn Blumner says: “The gallery will be a testament to the remarkable, transformative power of freethought and skepticism and how the work of CFI over its fifty years of existence has proven itself essential to that project.”
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The gallery was designed in collaboration with the award-winning Tessellate Studio, and construction is currently underway. More information about what visitors will find in the Gallery can be found at centerforinquiry.org/gallery.
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CFI’s Office of Public Policy Mobilizes Florida Residents Against Pro-Naturopathy Bill
CFI’s Office of Public Policy (OPP) issued an urgent Action Alert for Florida residents, asking them to contact Governor Ron DeSantis to urge him to veto a bill to allow the practice of naturopathy in the state. CFI Director of Government Affairs and Policy Azhar Majeed called naturopathy “a discredited and dangerous form of quackery,” warning it “fails to meet the rigors of science-based medicine, and it is rejected by nearly every medical expert.” -
CFI’s objections were highlighted by the Tampa Free Press in its coverage of the bill, with Majeed quoted about the potential risk to patient safety: “The bill ignores that naturopaths lack the rigorous medical education and training that real medical doctors receive, including medical school, clinical requirements, and residency programs.”
- CFI continues to lobby against the House and Senate versions of a similar bill in Alaska that will allow naturopaths to practice there.
| Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. (Photo: Gage Skidmore from Surprise, AZ, via Wikimedia) |
CFI Praises Federal Court’s ‘Long-Overdue’ Check on Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Anti-Vaccine Agenda
CFI President and CEO Robyn Blumner hailed a federal court order earlier this week that blasted the scientifically meritless attacks on U.S. vaccine policy by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Department of Health & Human Services. -
The court issued a temporary injunction in a lawsuit filed by the American Academy of Pediatrics, which argued Kennedy’s replacement of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) and its decision to scale back federal vaccine recommendations violate the law and established administrative procedure.
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Robyn Blumner called it a “a welcome and important decision,” adding that “A majority of the American public rejects [Kennedy’s] anti-vaccine, anti-science agenda. It’s very encouraging that the courts are beginning to follow suit.”
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LISTEN: CFI Argues on Behalf of Secular Celebrants in the Fifth Circuit
On March 3, the Fifth Circuit heard CFI’s appeal of a lower court’s decision to dismiss without prejudice our Secular Celebrants lawsuit in Texas. CFI, represented by counsel from the firm Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP, argued that the technical bases for the dismissal were not properly decided and the fundamental inequality Texas law currently creates for nonbelievers and their chosen celebrants should be set aside.
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| Register to Watch the 2026 Richard Dawkins Award Presentation to Sam Harris |
Don’t miss your chance to join us as the 2026 Richard Dawkins Award is presented to best-selling author, philosopher, and neuroscientist Sam Harris on Saturday, April 18, at 1:30 p.m. ET. The award presentation will be followed by a lively dialogue between Dawkins and Harris, with viewers invited to submit questions for a special Q&A session at the end of the program. Proceeds will benefit the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason & Science.
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| TOMORROW: ‘The Rise of Bad Science in the Twenty-First Century’’ with David Robert Grimes |
CSI Fellow David Robert Grimes will discuss “The Rise of Bad Science in the Twenty-First Century” on Skeptical Inquirer Presents tomorrow night (March 19). Join us for the FREE livestream, as Grimes describes how cultural forces such as the “MAHA movement” have elevated pseudoscience, conspiracy theory, and fringe beliefs into actual policy—and what science advocates can do to fight back. |
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ICYMI: Sam Kean on “The Wild World of Experimental Archaeology” (WATCH) | |
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| New Point of Inquiry Takes on The Telepathy Tapes |
A popular podcast series titled The Telepathy Tapes has generated nationwide interest in the idea that severely autistic kids may also possess the ability to read minds and revived the discredited pseudoscience of “facilitated communication.” In a new episode of CFI’s Point of Inquiry, Jim Underdown speaks to Stuart Vyse and Janyce Boynton about the scientific realities of this oft-debunked practice, what’s driving interest in The Telepathy Tapes, and the likelihood of telepathy existing in the autistic community.
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| March 26 Is National Science Appreciation Day |
Join CFI’s ScienceSaves program as we celebrate National Science Appreciation Day next Thursday (March 26)! More than a dozen states and cities have already issued proclamations in honor of National Science Appreciation Day, with many more to come! You can help spread the word by sharing your stories about how science has saved you or someone you know and by checking out the many stories that ScienceSaves is already sharing on social media.
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| CFI Condemns Attacks on Free Expression at 61st UNHRC |
The Center for Inquiry delivered a sharp rebuke of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) at the 61st Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva this week. In a statement delivered in Arabic, CFI representative Kacem El Ghazzali challenged the world’s largest intergovernmental Islamic body over its systematic campaign to shield member states from human rights accountability; he also condemned the OIC’s ongoing efforts to suppress freedom of expression and export blasphemy and apostasy norms to the international community.
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CFI Investigations Group (CFIIG) founder Jim Underdown appeared on the Splintered Spirits podcast to talk about the $500,000 Paranormal Challenge and why no one has successfully claimed the prize in more than twenty-five years. LISTEN |
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Skeptical Inquirer Deputy Editor Benjamin Radford has details on a new documentary that premiered at this year’s SXSW festival that fully debunks the infamous 1967 Patterson/Gimlin “Bigfoot” footage. READ |
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CFI Ambassador Susan Gerbic reports on “Operation Banana Cream Pie,” her recently completed “psychic sting” operation in which she investigated a medium named Susanne Wilson. READ |
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Skeptical Inquirer contributor Johnathan Simmons takes readers on a deep dive into “epistemic laundering” and how some universities sell pseudoscience. READ |
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Want to connect with fellow skeptics, freethinkers, and nonbelievers? Check out our Find a Group Map to find CFI-affiliated groups in your area! CFI Transnational CFI West (Los Angeles) CFI Austin CFI Indiana CFI New York City CFI Portland CFI Western New York |
Thank you! Everything we do at CFI is made possible by you and your support. Let’s keep working together for science, reason, and secular values! |
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