Welcome to Our Website

CENTER FOR INQUIRY OF SOUTHERN ARIZONA LAUNCHES BILLBOARD CAMPAIGN

Location and Directions

  • Location : The billboard is located in the 5700 Block of East Speedway Boulevarde on the northeast corner of Van Buren and East Speedway.
  • Directions : The billboard faces east. To see the billboard, turn west onto Speedway from North Wilmot Road.

Coverage in Local Press

Read the story and colorful commentary at the Arizona Daily Star online .

Press Release

TUCSON, A.Z. (February 10, 2010)— The Center for Inquiry of Southern Arizona (CFI-SAZ) is launching a billboard campaign Feb. 15 proclaiming that people do not have to believe in God to be good.  A similar billboard was displayed near Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix last year.

According to the 2008 ARIS survey*, non-believers comprise up to 17 percent of Arizona’s adult population.  “That means there are more than 200,000 non-believers in southern Arizona,” explained Jim Gressinger, spokesperson for CFI-SAZ.  “Many people think you can’t behave ethically unless you believe in God, but thousands of non-believing Arizonans are living proof that this claim is untrue.”

The Center for Inquiry is an international, non-profit organization whose mission is to promote a secular society based on science, reason, freedom of inquiry, and humanist values.  CFI-SAZ presents public educational programs, sponsors university-level lectures, and has contributed to local charities for several years.  Now, in order to better fulfill its mission, CFI-SAZ organizers are raising the profile of Arizona’s non-believers and becoming more politically active.

“In general, we work to uphold the Jeffersonian principle of Separation of Church and State,” said Gressinger.  “We advocate for laws based on our intentionally secular Constitution and policies based on empirical evidence and scientific merit. 

“Religious dogma should not be used to justify public policy.”

Working toward this end, CFI-SAZ will lobby to keep Creationism/Intelligent Design out of science classes, prayer out of public schools, and religious displays off public property.  They will also advocate for the right of women to access all reproductive health services, including abortion, and for the right of gay and lesbian couples to marry.

“We are a determined group of skeptics, secular humanists, atheists, agnostics, freethinkers, and other non-believers,” said Gressinger.  “We put up the billboard because we want people to know about CFI, to discover what we have to offer, and to work with us to promote science, reason, and secular values.”

*ARIS 2008 (American Religious Identification Survey): http://www.americanreligionsurvey-aris.org/ .

For more information, please contact saz@centerforinquiry.net . 

Featured News

CFI of Southern Arizona Challenges Excessive Religiosity in State Government

In a recent Arizona Daily Star article, we are told that Republicans are pushing for a bill to allow a privately funded display of the Ten Commandments on government property.

Spearheading the move is Sen. Russell Pearce, R-Mesa who, in possibly a moment of sheer delusion, said “[I]t’s wrong to think of the Ten Commandments as religious ... they are just '10 little rules.'"… Full Entry »

Featured Events

Monthly Program (AM)

Jun 20

God on Trial

God on Trial is a book about critical thinking. I challenge readers to ask: What do I know and how do I know it? I do not blame a person for falling for a con game or fraud: I blame the victimizers, not the victims. Con men are excellent at their trade. I… Full Entry »