CFI Blogs | Center for Inquiry

The Morning Heresy 7/17/12: Gesundheit!

July 17, 2012

Your daily digest of news and links relevant to the secular and skeptic communities.

This is important: Today the Center for Inquiry submitted a petition to the White House to ask the president and the administration to publicly address the plight of jailed Indonesian atheist Alexander Aan, as well as that of religious dissidents and nonbelievers in Indonesia.

The Morning Heresy 7/16/12: Funny Things about Socrates

July 16, 2012

Your daily digest of news and links relevant to the secular and skeptic communities.

The exciting news over the weekend for us was that Alexander Aan, persecuted and jailed for his atheism in Indonesia, has written a letter to his supporters from prison, thanking them for their efforts and reasserting his commitment to "humanity and science." Atheist Ireland's Michael Nugent was first with the news.

CFI's Michael De Dora has two posts on this development: The first catches us up with the story so far and posts the letter in full. The second gives a comprehensive list of things that you can do right now to lend Alexander a hand (like write back to him!).

The Morning Heresy 7/13/12: A Lot of Them are Goth and Hot

July 13, 2012

Your daily digest of news and links relevant to the secular and skeptic communities.

Happy Friday the Thirteenth! Look out for ladders and mirrors and cats and...oh, never mind.

The heated debate in the atheo-skeptosphere on harassment at events hits the mainstream: Kimberly Winston of RNS chronicles the fracas (here in WaPo), and talks to CFI chief Ron Lindsay and several others within the movement.

The Morning Heresy 7/12/12: You’d Better Manifest Grandma

July 12, 2012

Your daily digest of news and links relevant to the secular and skeptic communities.

What did a twenty-year-old Carl Sagan think were the important books he should digest? Thanks to those papers now kept at the Library of Congress, now we know. (My favorite bit: he scribbles the author of the Bible as "anonymous.")

CFI chief Ron Lindsay looks to refocus our community's attention on how humanist principles apply to wealth and its influence.

The way I interpret humanism, it has no problem with wealth per se, or with significant disparities in income and wealth. Humanism does commit one to support democracy and equal rights for all, however.

The Morning Heresy 7/11/12: His Name is My Name, Too!

July 11, 2012

Your daily digest of news and links relevant to the secular and skeptic communities.

With what I presume was a straight face, the chief of Indonesia's supreme court tells Angela Merkel that it's totally okay to be an atheist in Indonesia, which I think would be welcome news to Alexander Aan.

Philip Appelman's piece from Free Inquiry on "God, Darwin and the Meaning of Life" is posted at Bill Moyers' website along with his interview on the program.

The Morning Heresy 7/10/12: The Skull of a Newborn Pup

July 10, 2012

Your daily digest of news and links relevant to the secular and skeptic communities

Via our public policy guy Michael De Dora, CFI and IHEU deliver a joint statement on freedom of expression to the UN Human Rights Council, emphasizing the crackdown on speech rights in Islamic states.

He's been here a few days now, but yesterday we finally got around to an official welcome to our new development director, he of the unrealistically diverse and intimidating resume, Alan Kinniburgh! Please give him all your money.

The Morning Heresy 7/9/12: Berlin Wall and Kitten Chlamydia

July 09, 2012

Your daily digest of news and links relevant to the secular and skeptic communities

Here's an awesome way to start the week: A British humanist celebrant gives up her kidney for a man she's never met. Her name is Kate Clarkson, and she's my new hero.

“I had been reading about becoming a living donor and I was so moved that day that I decided if I could help, I would. I just thought ‘I’ve got a spare kidney that I don’t even need and people are dying every single day waiting for one.’ So if it was possible, I was going to do it.”

The Morning Heresy 7/6/12: Aan the Verge

July 06, 2012

Your daily digest of news and links relevant to the secular and skeptic communities

Today is the big protest in New York City on behalf of Alexander Aan. We have no idea how many folks are showing up, but if you're in the NYC metro area, take your lunch break and show the world that atheism, and freedom of belief generally, should never be a crime. Help me do my job, and tell your local news outlet to cover it. Follow the action on Twitter under the hashtag #FreeAan.

To get a quick catch-up on what it's all about, the latest video edition of Point of Inquiry features a discussion between Chris Mooney and Michael De Dora about Aan's case.

Announcing WiS2, and a Few Words about WiS1

July 05, 2012

By now it’s clear, I’d say, that the Women in Secularism conference put on by CFI this past May was a milestone event in the secular movement’s history, as it raised consciousness for all in attendance -- men and women -- about all manner of issues affecting women both in and outside the secular and skeptic communities.