'The 2026 Legislative Season Heats Up' Cause & Effect No. 288: March 5, 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’s Office of Public Policy at Work in Statehouses Nationwide As the 2026 legislative season ramps up, CFI’s Office of Public Policy (OPP) has been pushing back against a barrage of troubling bills being introduced throughout the country. Director of Government Affairs and Policy Azhar Majeed has provided testimony opposing harmful pseudoscience in Arizona, Alaska, and Iowa. -
A bill that would have required schools to teach Creationism alongside evolutionary science in Arizona that CFI testified against in late January did not make it out of committee;
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In Alaska, CFI submitted testimony opposing a House bill to allow naturopaths to practice in the state. Majeed called Naturopathy a “discredited form of pseudoscience” and warned the bill’s passage would be a “disservice to patients and consumers.” CFI is also lobbying against the state Senate’s version of the bill, which will be heard in committee this week.
- Earlier this week, Majeed testified against an Iowa measure to eliminate school vaccine requirements for K–12 students, writing, “Iowa’s lawmakers must act to protect their state’s residents, not undermine established science and medicine.”
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CFI Responds to the Fifth Circuit Ruling in Louisiana ‘Ten Commandments’ Case
A recent decision by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals allowed Louisiana’s law requiring the posting of the Ten Commandments in every public school classroom to move forward. CFI has vehemently opposed this unconstitutional bill from the time of its passage in 2024, having most recently filed an amicus brief with the Fifth Circuit arguing the law “runs afoul of history and tradition to promote a distorted, nonsecular history that alienates atheist students.”
- The majority decision largely avoided the constitutional questions posed by the case, instead dismissing the challenge based on a jurisdictional concern over “ripeness”; they wrote it’s too soon to decide whether the law is unconstitutional without first seeing how the posters are displayed and in what context.
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CFI General Counsel Richard Conn responded: “As was noted repeatedly and across multiple dissenting opinions, the Ten Commandments are overtly religious in nature and there’s no surrounding ‘context’ that would make that any less true.”
| Sam Harris (Photo credit: Christopher Patey) |
Register to Watch the 2026 Richard Dawkins Award Presentation to Sam Harris
CFI invites you to be part of the online presentation of the 2026 Richard Dawkins Award 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. Space is limited, so make sure to register today!
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Skeptical Inquirer Salutes Its Outstanding Columnists in Latest Issue
The March/April 2026 issue of Skeptical Inquirer is a celebration of the magazine’s many prolific and insightful columnists, dubbed the “The Chroniclers of Curiosity” by Editor Stephen Hupp, who writes: “One thing is for certain: if the world is to be saved, it will be thanks to the curious minds of people like SI’s columnists—thinkers who examine the world from different viewpoints with their specialized skills.”
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The latest issue features contributions from a number of Skeptical Inquirer regulars, including Mick West (READ/LISTEN), Benjamin Radford (READ/LISTEN), Craig Foster (READ/LISTEN), and CFI President and CEO Robyn E. Blumner (READ/LISTEN).
- You’ll also find part two of Massimo Polidoro’s series on the history of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI) (READ/LISTEN).
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The new issue also includes the debut of new columns from CSI Chief Investigator Kenny Biddle and longtime Skeptical Inquirer contributor Melanie Trecek-King.
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Celebrate Fifty Years of Skepticism at CSICon 2026
CFI is celebrating the landmark fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry, culminating with CSICon 2026 this June 11–14 in Buffalo, New York! Don’t miss your chance to see an all-star group of scientists, skeptics, and critical thinkers, including Bill Nye, Mary Roach, Michael Mann and Peter Hotez, Banachek, the host of the Skeptics’ Guide to the Universe podcast, and many more!
CSICon 2026 will also welcome a number of familiar names from CSI’s illustrious fifty-year history, including CFI President and CEO Robyn Blumner, James Alcock, Alejandro Borgo, Susan Gerbic, Leo Igwe, Barry Karr, Benjamin Radford, James Underdown, and Skeptical Inquirer columnists such as Stuart Vyse, Andrea Love, Nick Tiller, and more!
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TONIGHT: Sam Kean Explores ‘The Wild World of Experimental Archaeology’ on Skeptical Inquirer Presents
Don’t miss tomorrow night’s Skeptical Inquirer Presents livestream with author Sam Kean, who will discuss “The Wild World of Experimental Archaeology.” Kean will describe his global adventures with a new generation of researchers who are resurrecting the hidden details of lost civilizations via a discipline called “experimental archaeology.” The livestream is FREE to watch and can be found on a variety of platforms, including Facebook, X, and CFI’s YouTube channel.
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ICYMI: Joe Schwarcz Explores “The Challenge of Popularizing Science” (WATCH)
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Become a Secular Celebrant through CFI's Spring Training Program
Would you like to serve your community by officiating ceremonies to celebrate marriages, memorials, and other milestones of life without religious overtones? CFI trains individuals across the country to become Secular Celebrants, and training sessions cover important information about how to perform various types of ceremonies, including weddings, funerals, and commitment and naming ceremonies, and how to fulfill legal requirements. CFI’s Spring 2026 Secular Celebrant Online Training Session will take place via Zoom on Saturday, April 11, from 10:00 a.m.–3:00 p.m. ET, so register now!
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As the lengthy Hamit Coskun court case in the United Kingdom reminds us, there are many who would ban and punish those who criticize religion, even in “free” countries. Free Inquiry Editor Ronald Lindsay’s latest column revisits why “We Need to Be Able to Criticize Religion—Including Islam.” READ NOW
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Skeptical Inquirer Deputy Editor Benjamin Radford spoke to the San Antonio Express-News for a recent report on “ear seeding, "an emerging wellness craze that “uses tiny, seedlike pellets applied to [the] ears to treat a litany of conditions.” READ NOW |
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In January, CFI and the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason & Science joined the Thomas Paine Memorial Association to celebrate Paine’s birthday and legacy with an online commemorative program that included appearances by Members of Congress Jamie Raskin and Victoria Spartz and is now available to view online. WATCH NOW |
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Rob Palmer has a new “Anticipating CSICon” interview with Alejandro Borgo, director of the Center for Inquiry Argentina, who will be participating in an international panel at CSICon 2026 to discuss organized skepticism from an international perspective. WATCH NOW |
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Upcoming CFI Events
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 |
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