Title	Excerpt	Author	Date	Total Comments	Recent Comment
CFI’s UN Representative Condemns ‘Honor Killings’ and Human Rights Abuses	Just as the Center for Inquiry (CFI) fights crucial policy battles in the United States for science, reason, and secularism, CFI also brings its efforts and advocacy to the international stage, with representation at the United Nations in both New York City and Geneva.   CFI’s main Geneva representative…	rokeefe	06/04/13	0
Advocacy Update—May 2013: CFI Office of Public Policy Accomplishments	Welcome to the Office of Public Policy’s monthly Advocacy Update. The Office of Public Policy (OPP) is the Washington, D.C. political arm of the Center for Inquiry (CFI). Our mandate is to advocate for public policy based on reason, science, and secular values. This includes lobbying at all levels of government — Congress, the Administration,…	rokeefe	06/03/13	0
Thank You, Alton Lemon (1928-2013)	Thank You, Alton Lemon (1928-2013)     In 1968, the state of Pennsylvania enacted a law that subsidized private religious schools with taxpayer dollars. The following year, a civil rights activist with degrees in mathematics and social work, Alton Lemon, joined a lawsuit challenging that statute for violating the Constitution’s…	rokeefe	05/28/13	0
The Argument from Death and Meaninglessness—Again	The Argument from Death and Meaninglessness—Again Ronald A. Lindsay Without God, our lives have no meaning. The faithful can take comfort in eternal life, in knowing that they and their loved ones will survive death. The   atheist can have no hope, no solace, because for the atheist only the…	rokeefe	05/19/13	0
Lawrence Krauss & CFI—Protect Scientific Inquiry	May 16, 2013 The Honorable Lamar Smith, Chairman Committee on Science, Space, and Technology U.S. House of Representatives 2321 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515 Dear Mr. Chairman,      We are writing on behalf of the Center for Inquiry (CFI), a nonprofit organization that advocates for public policy based…	rokeefe	05/16/13	0
An Open Letter to the Secular Community	An Open Letter to the Secular Community April 2, 2013 The leaders of major secular organizations have issued a united call for more civility in online discussions, pledging to use their best efforts to improve the tone and substance of such discussions. The entire letter can be found on our…	rokeefe	04/05/13	0
CFI Scores a Victory in Michigan against Atheist Discrimination	You may recall that in October of 2011, our staff and members of CFI–Michigan were stunned to find that an event they were holding with Richard Dawkins was suddenly canceled because the owner of the venue “[did] not wish to associate” with atheists. In April of 2012, CFI brought legal…	rokeefe	02/26/13	0
Prometheus Books enters major growth spurt	FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE   January 14, 2013       contact:    Jill Maxick   jmaxick@prometheusbooks.com   800-853-7545                       PROMETHEUS BOOKS ENTERS SALES AND DISTRIBUTION   AGREEMENT WITH RANDOM HOUSE PUBLISHER SERVICES        …	rokeefe	01/16/13	0
APOLLO BEACH-Humanist Families of Greater Tampa Bay	Annual Manatee viewing and museum tour.	rokeefe	01/06/13	0
CFI Contributes to Major New Report on the Global Persecution of Atheists	The Center for Inquiry (CFI), along with allied secular organizations, has partnered with the International Humanist and Ethical Union (IHEU) for its groundbreaking new report on a growing and troubling global phenomenon that directly affects our constituencies.    Restrictions on freedom of belief and expression around the world are…	rokeefe	12/12/12	0
Secular Groups Push IRS to Tax Partisan Political Churches	The Center for Inquiry (CFI) and American Humanist Association (AHA) on Tuesday sent a letter to the Internal Revenue Service voicing shared concerns and disappointment regarding the agency’s lack of action against churches which are blatantly violating laws that prohibit 501(c)(3) organizations from endorsing political candidates and parties.…	rokeefe	12/04/12	0
Court Denies Atheists Right to Choose How to Get Married	Court finds marriage has “roots” in religion   A federal court in Indiana has dismissed a claim that an Indiana law prohibiting secular celebrants from solemnizing marriages, while allowing religious representatives to do so, violates the First Amendment and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S.…	rokeefe	12/03/12	0
The School Voucher Crisis	The question of whether government(s) should compel taxpayers to support religion-based and other private schools has vexed the United States for over two centuries. Controversies over this question extend back to the beginning of the American republic, but have been intensifying over the past half century, reaching crisis proportions since…	rokeefe	10/21/12	0
“Nones” to Argue for Equality in Solemnizing Marriages in Indiana Court	“Arguments in a court case that will decide the equality of Indiana’s nonreligious in the solemnizing of marriages will be heard Monday at 10 am ET in Indianapolis. In May of this year, the Center for Inquiry (CFI) filed a complaint in US District Court challenging a state law that…	rokeefe	10/19/12	0
Center for Inquiry Opens Executive Office in Washington, DC	CFI works on a wide variety of fronts to promote science, reason, and secular values in all areas of public life. More and more, that work happens within the realms of politics and policy: promoting scientifically sound legislation and regulations; working on behalf of fundamental freedoms or social…	rokeefe	10/18/12	0
CFI Community Outreach	CFI branches and campus affiliates are groups of freethinkers, rationalists, skeptics, secular humanists, atheists, and agnostics who come together for many reasons. First and foremost, CFI groups offer support, educational programming, and social activities for nonreligious and skeptical people.  (Religious people are welcome, too, of course.) Second, CFI groups are…	rokeefe	09/11/12	0
CFI Seeks New Outreach Director as Lauren Becker Moves to Marketing	Lauren Becker, the Center for Inquiry’s current director of outreach, will shift roles within the organization, becoming the new director of marketing. Becker has been with CFI for seven years, also having served as communications assistant and an outreach. CFI is now accepting applications to fill the outreach director position…	rokeefe	08/30/12	0
CFI Institute Welcomes David Koepsell as Newest Course Instructor	The Center for Inquiry (CFI) is pleased to announce that beginning this fall David Koepsell will join John Shook as an instructor for the CFI Institute’s online courses. David Koepsell, who has both a law degree and a PhD in philosophy, previously served as the executive director of the Council…	rokeefe	08/27/12	0
Missouri Votes to Reap the Whirlwind	Missouri Votes to Reap the Whirlwind Opinion by Tom Flynn August 9, 2012 Missouri voters this week approved a benighted and mischievous “right to pray” amendment to the state’s Constitution. Amendment Two passed by 779,628 votes to 162,404, a thundering 5-to-1 margin! Amendment Two provides, among other things, “that the…	rokeefe	08/13/12	0
Skeptical Inquirer Investigates High School Mass Hysteria	Also: Why We Believe in Myths, from the Political to the Paranormal In 2011, fifteen students at Le Roy Central School in Western New York simultaneously began experiencing bizarre physical symptoms of an unknown origin, including twitching, facial tics, and garbled speech. The incidents quickly induced media and medical hysteria…	rokeefe	06/24/12	0
Join CFI in Telling the Obama Administration to Stand Its Ground and Finalize Birth Control Rule	The Center for Inquiry (CFI) on Tuesday, June 12, submitted formal comments that urge the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to make final a rule requiring health insurance providers and organizations providing health care plans to cover preventive health services, such as birth control and contraception, without charging…	rokeefe	06/12/12	0
CFI Charges Country Club with Religious Discrimination After Cancelled Dawkins Event	On April 30, 2012, the Center for Inquiry (CFI) filed suit against a Michigan country club for religious discrimination and breach of contract after the club cancelled an event because of the attendees’ lack of religious beliefs. CFI is charging the Wyndgate Country Club in Rochester Hills, Michigan, and…	rokeefe	05/14/12	0
CFI Challenges Indiana’s Religious Privilege in Solemnizing Marriages	The Center for Inquiry (CFI) filed a complaint in the United States District Court challenging an Indiana law that privileges religious institutions in the solemnizing of marriages. Indiana code 31-11-6-1 specifies that marriages in Indiana may be solemnized only by a small number of secular elected officials and a large…	rokeefe	05/09/12	0
Brainpower in Action: CFI’s Scholars at Work	One of the things that truly distinguishes the Center for Inquiry is its commitment to genuine scholarship and research. Associated with CFI, or on the CFI staff, are brilliant scholars who produce important original works in areas such as philosophy, scientific investigation, and public policy. Here is a sampling of…	rokeefe	05/01/12	0
National Day of Reason - May 3, 2012	Get ready for the National Day of Reason on May 3! Here’s how you can prepare for this day of good works and clear thinking in this Secular Spring! From lobbying days and conferences to a gathering of thousands on the National Mall, this season has seen a blossoming…	rokeefe	04/12/12	0
CFI’s “Living without Religion” Ad Wins About.com Readers’ Choice Award	The Center for Inquiry (CFI) is proud to share with you that CFI’s advertisement for the Living without Religion campaign was voted Favorite Atheist/Agnostic Ad by the readers of the About.com Agnosticism and Atheism website. Nominated along with three other ads, CFI’s Living without Religion won with an overwhelming majority,…	rokeefe	04/03/12	0
Black Nonbelievers Speak Out - 2012 Feb	FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE               Contact: Michelle Blackley                                                                                          Phone: (716) 636-4869, ext. 218                                                                                          E-mail: mblackley@centerforinquiry.net Black Nonbelievers Speak Out Ad Campaign Highlights Rise in Religious Skepticism among African Americans Amherst, New York – January 31, 2012 – African Americans for Humanism (AAH), a program of the Council for Secular Humanism that supports nonreligious African Americans,…	rokeefe	01/31/12	0
New! The CFI Network	The CFI Network ANNOUNCING A NEW OPPORTUNITY FOR YOUR ATHEIST, FREETHOUGHT, HUMANIST, SECULAR, OR SKEPTIC GROUP BECOME PART OF THE CFI NETWORK The Center for Inquiry has a broad mandate to promote and defend science, reason, and secular values. The CFI tent is big, so the CFI Network links together…	rokeefe	01/21/12	0
CFI Applauds UN Resolution Supporting Freedom of Religion but Remains Cautious	December 27, 2011 The Center for Inquiry (CFI) is pleased to recognize that for the first time in more than a decade, the United Nations General Assembly has approved a resolution aimed to combat religious intolerance that does not include language referring to the harmful “defamation of religions” concept. The…	rokeefe	01/08/12	0
Report Calls for End to Federal Funding for Study of Alternative Medicine	Report Calls for End to Federal Funding for Study of Alternative Medicine November 22, 2011 In 1992, Congress allocated $2 million for a National Institutes of Health (NIH) Office of Alternative Medicine. Seven years later, in 1999, the Office of Alternative Medicine evolved into a fully independent NIH center called…	rokeefe	11/23/11	0
Medium Allison DuBois Is Tested—and Fails—in the Real World	Allison DuBois, the best-selling author who inspired the recently cancelled television show Medium, claims to have amazing psychic abilities. But when her skills are tested in the real world—first with a missing-child case and then at a dinner party on reality-TV—they prove less than stellar. Details are here:  http://www.csicop.org/si/show/medium_allison_dubois_is_testedand_failsin_the_real_world	rokeefe	11/16/11	0
American Society of Naturalists adds its voice for evolution	American Society of Naturalists adds its voice for evolution1   The chorus of support for the teaching of evolution continues, with a statement from the American Society of Naturalists, the oldest scientific society dedicated to the study of ecology, evolution, and behavior. The ASN’s statement is now reproduced, by permission,…	rokeefe	11/06/11	0
CFI Educational Opportunities	The educational programs of CFI are concentrated in the CFI Institute, founded in 1987. The Institute is the oldest continuously operating academic program of its kind in North America, the only one supported by a research organization or “think tank,” and the only program staffed with resident fellows (faculty) and…	rokeefe	11/05/11	0
Cults, Religion, and the Presidency	Cults, Religion, and the Presidency by Ronald A. Lindsay October 12, 2011         Reverend Robert Jeffress notoriously claimed the other day that Mormonism is a cult. From the context of his remarks I don’t think he was using the term “cult” as a term of approbation. So…	rokeefe	10/13/11	0
What is Secularism?	What is Secularism? Secularism is for everyone. October 4, 2011       Secularism has been the target of religion for a long time, and efforts to demonize secularism have gained ground lately. Here’s a handy guide to why we fight for secularism, and why everyone should join us.  Feel…	rokeefe	10/10/11	0
Padre Pio: Scandals of a Saint	Padre Pio: Scandals of a Saint Book Review by Joe Nickell From Skeptical Inquirer, Volume 35.2, March/April 2011     Padre Pio: Miracles and Politics in a Secular Age By Sergio Luzzatto. Metropolitan Books, Henry Holt and Company, New York, 2010. ISBN: 978-0-8050-8905-9. 384 pp. Hardcover, $30. From humble beginnings…	rokeefe	09/11/11	0
CFI and CSI Petition FDA to Take Action on Homeopathic Drugs	CFI and CSI Petition FDA to Take Action on Homeopathic Drugs       CFI and CSI have filed three separate petitions with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) asking the agency to address various aspects of the marketing of homeopathic drugs. In its industry-wide petition, CFI and CSI request…	rokeefe	08/31/11	0
Randi Challenges Top “Psychics” After Nightline Episode	Randi Challenges Top “Psychics” After Nightline Episode     Swift   Written by JREF    Thursday, 18 August 2011 18:45 LOS ANGELES—The James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF) has just directed its Million Dollar Challenge toward the celebrity “psychic mediums” featured on last night’s episode of ABC’s Primetime Nightline: Beyond Belief.1…	rokeefe	08/19/11	0
Publications and Libraries of Center for Inquiry	Publications and Libraries of Center for Inquiry Publications The results of research and activities supported by the Center     are distributed to the public in a variety of national and     international magazines and newsletters. The flagship magazines for the educated public published     at the Center…	rokeefe	08/17/11	0
Fort Bragg Officials Reverse Course on Secular Festival	Fort Bragg Officials Reverse Course, Approve Secular Festival “Rock Beyond Belief”   The secular festival Rock Beyond Belief will now come to fruition at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, March 31, 2012, after military authorities there reversed course and approved the event that will feature an array of music and speakers…	rokeefe	08/03/11	0
Skeptics and Humanists Aid and Relief Efforts (SHARE)	About SHARE SHARE began as a project of the Council for Secular Humanism to provide an alternative for those who wish to contribute to disaster relief efforts without the intermediary of a religious organization. At that time SHARE was called the Secular Humanist Aid and Relief Effort and was a…	rokeefe	07/06/11	0
New York public schools may bar after hours religion: court	In New York State, a split appeals court decision rules that allowing any church to hold worship services in a public school, contrary to school board policy, constitutes an endorsement of a specific religion - a no no. Click here for details: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/06/02/us-newyork-schools-religion-idUSTRE7516ZP20110602	rokeefe	06/08/11	0
Ex-Muslim Outreach—ISIS	The Institute for the Secularisation of Islamic Society (ISIS) exists to promote the ideas of rationalism, secularism, democracy, and human rights within Islamic society. We believe that Islamic society has been held back by an unwillingness to subject its beliefs, laws, and practices to critical examination, by a lack of…	rokeefe	05/30/11	0
A pluralist approach to ethics	Michael De Dora, May 11, 2011 The history of Western moral philosophy includes numerous attempts to ground ethics in one rational principle, standard, or rule. This narrative stretches back 2,500 years to the Greeks, who were interested mainly in virtue ethics and the moral character of the person. The modern…	rokeefe	05/30/11	0
Lawmakers allow repeal of religious aid ban to go to 2012 ballot	Lawmakers allow repeal of religious aid ban to go to 2012 ballot By Patricia Mazzei, Times/Herald Tallahassee Bureau. In Print: Saturday, May 7, 2011       TALLAHASSEE — Florida lawmakers sent the emotional debate over the separation of church and state to the ballot on the last day of the legislative…	rokeefe	05/07/11	0
Living Without God Campaign	This Center for Inquiry ad and billboard campaign is designed to let people know that not only do freethinkers lead good, happy, productive lives, there is community for them. To hope, to care, to love. We have all experienced these powerful, fundamental feelings. They help define what it is to…	rokeefe	03/26/11	0
CFI opposes In God We Trust motto	CFI Opposes ‘In God We Trust’ Resolution The motto violates the constitutional separation of church and state Amherst, NY-March 22, 2011-At a time when the United States is facing serious mounting economic issues and global tensions, House leaders are focusing on a resolution promoting display of “In God We Trust”…	rokeefe	03/22/11	0
New Address 12-12-2010	As of 12-12-2010, our new mailing/shipping address is:        CFI-Tampa Bay c/o O’Keefe        4011 S. Manhattan Ave. #139        Tampa, FL 33611-1277 Same phone, eddress, etc.	rokeefe	12/13/10	0
Tampa Bay Coalition of Reason	Tampa Bay Coalition of Reason       You can be good without God. Millions are.     Thousands of your friends and neighbors in the Tampa Bay area feel the same as you. The Tampa Bay Coalition of Reason is a group of local organizations joined together to increase…	rokeefe	11/29/10	0
Secular Humanist Charity Web site	Many people who are skeptics and humanists are frustrated that so many charitable organizations, especially those that help people afflicted by natural or human disasters, have efforts coordinated by religious organizations. These organizations sometimes proselytize to the people in need of their services. This is entirely unacceptable to skeptics and…	rokeefe	08/26/10	0