CFI Denounces Decision in Texas ‘Ten Commandments’ Case Cause & Effect No. 291: April 23, 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 Blasts Fifth Circuit’s Decision in Texas ‘Ten Commandments’ Case
In a closely divided 9-8 ruling, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday that Texas can legally require public schools to display the Ten Commandments in classrooms. “This ruling is a major blow to freedom of, or freedom from, religion in America,” said Center for Inquiry (CFI) General Counsel Richard Conn. “By applying it only to historical circumstances that no longer exist, this ruling virtually nullifies the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. And, in doing so, it ignores the fundamental rights of children and their parents to be free of state-imposed religion.”
- CFI President and CEO Robyn Blumner said, “Requiring a visible posting of the Ten Commandments—a religious set of directives—in every elementary school classroom is clearly a form of state-sponsored religion designed to influence the state’s youngest minds … Apparently, parents have a right to direct the religious upbringing of their children—except in Texas.”
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CSICon 2026: Michael E. Mann and Peter Hotez to Receive Balles Prize for Critical Thinking
The Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI) will present the Robert P. Balles Prize in Critical Thinking to Michael E. Mann and Peter J. Hotez, coauthors of the critically acclaimed Science Under Siege: How to Fight the Five Most Powerful Forces That Threaten Our World, at CSICon 2026 (June 11–14 in Buffalo, New York).
The Balles Prize is awarded to the author of the published work that best exemplifies healthy skepticism, logical analysis, or empirical science and has the greatest potential to create positive reader awareness of important scientific issues. CSI Executive Director Stephen Hupp said, “We are honored to present the Balles Prize to these world-changing scientists during the Awards Dinner and Mystifying Variety Show on the last evening of CSICon.” Speaking of CSICon 2026: |
Arizona: Take Action Against Bills Allowing for Vaccine Exemptions and Prayer at Public School Meetings CFI’s Office of Public Policy is calling on Arizona residents to help defeat two pieces of legislation that are awaiting votes in the State Senate. CFI has created Action Alert forms allowing Arizonans to contact their state senators and oppose either or both of the bills. -
HCR 2056 would amend the Arizona Constitution to ban public schools and all other governmental entities from requiring vaccinations. If the Arizona Senate joins the House in approving the measure, it will go directly to the ballot in November and would not be subject to a veto by the governor if passed.
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HB 2110 would allow any member of a public school board or public university board to lead a prayer during a meeting. HB 2110 provides that an invocation to open a meeting must be allowed if requested by a board member.
With Arizona’s 2026 legislative session scheduled to end on April 25, now is the time to act. | SkeptiLab: The Bunk Stops Here! New Episode + Bonus Interview
The CFI Investigations Group (CFIIG) has released a new episode of SkeptiLab: The Bunk Stops Here! “Investigating Expertise” features comedian and Daily Show correspondent Al Madrigal as the guest host, and it dives into why so many people readily dismiss experts … and what makes doing so dangerous. -
The episode also features portions of an interview with Atlantic Monthly writer Tom Nichols, whose book The Death of Expertise attempts to make sense of this unfortunate trend. The full interview is available as a separate “bonus feature.”
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In “An Open Letter to Gregg Phillips at FEMA,” Underdown invites the purported “frequent teleporter” to apply for CFIIG’s $500,000 Paranormal Challenge.
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ScienceSaves Extends Deadline for $10,000 Video Scholarship
If you know a high school senior who’s headed to college this fall, let them know that the deadline to enter ScienceSaves’s 2026 Video Scholarship Contest has been extended to May 11, 2026. The top prize is $10,000, and there are other cash awards for multiple top finishers. - No long essays or complicated applications necessary; students just need to create a twenty- to thirty-second video that answers: How has science helped you or someone you love?
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Entries are judged based on the student’s ability to tell their story in a succinct, creative way using original photos, video clips, and text. CFI Director of Education Bertha Vazquez created a video outlining some helpful do’s and don’ts.
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Sam Harris Receives 2026 Richard Dawkins Award |
Last Saturday, Sam Harris was presented with the 2026 Richard Dawkins Award in a live online ceremony. CFI Outreach Director Eric Shaver shared his recap of the event on the CFI blog, writing, “The exchange served as a compelling illustration of the range of ideas that have defined Harris’s work and exemplified the intellectual competence and humanistic sensibility that have defined the Richard Dawkins Award for two decades.”
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Nick Tiller on the Midseason Finale of Skeptical Inquirer Presents |
Join us NEXT THURSDAY (April 30) as Skeptical Inquirer Presents explores “The Health and Wellness Lie” with Skeptical Inquirer columnist and CSICon 2026 presenter Nick Tiller. He’ll discuss how wellness marketing exploits our biases, why social media amplifies the loudest voices rather than the most credible, and how bad science drives health misinformation. |
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| Paranormal Challengers: The “Indian Telepath" and the “Lottery Wiz” |
The Center for Inquiry Investigations Group filed reports on a pair of recent applicants for its $500,000 Paranormal Challenge. One test involved an alleged Indian “telepath” who claimed the ability to remotely cause a person to receive one or two digit numbers telepathically; the second test involved an applicant who claimed that he could predict certain lottery numbers by “collapsing the wave function.” |
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Free Inquiry Editor Ronald Lindsay notes that we live in a peculiar time, when America is simultaneously “Reaching for the Stars, but Mired in Oppressive Fantasies.” READ/LISTEN |
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CSI Chief Investigator Kenny Biddle offers an inside look at the workings of the CFIIG $500,000 Paranormal Challenge, as he documents the test of an applicant who claimed “he could send messages—telepathically—to other people (among other things).” WATCH NOW
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Quackwatch’s William Matthew London was a featured guest on a recent episode of Brian Kerby’s 502 Conversations. An audio-only version is now available to listen to as a podcast on Spotify. LISTEN NOW
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ICYMI: CSI Fellow and CSICon 2026 presenter Melanie Trecek-King discussed her upcoming book, A Field Guide to Spotting Misinformation, recently on Skeptical Inquirer Presents. WATCH NOW |
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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) - May 17: Gaslighting for God with religious satirist and storyteller Becky Garrison, author of the upcoming book Gaslighting for God: A Satirical Guide to Save Yourself from Spiritual Narcissists
- May 20: Skeptics Book Club: Some Mistakes of Moses by Robert G. Ingersoll. Virtual attendees, join us on Google Meet. Use this link: https://meet.google.com/sqd-ujpn-nhf.
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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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