Center for Inquiry

Black background with white text that reads: “What if we didn’t have vaccines? Most of us don’t remember why that question matters.”

Black-and-white archival photograph of a hospital ward with multiple patients in beds while nurses provide care, typical of polio treatment wards in the mid-20th century.

Black-and-white archival photograph showing patients lying inside iron lung respirators in a hospital room, a common treatment for severe polio before vaccines.

Black-and-white photograph of a historic newspaper article with the headline “Measles Make Many Mothers Mourn,” describing deaths caused by measles in the early 1900s.

It’s strange how quickly prevention becomes invisible.

@debunk-the-funk.bsky.social asks what happens when we stop remembering why vaccines mattered.

Worth sitting with:
skepticalinquirer.org/exclusive/wh...

The American Revolution hinged on the idea that power comes from the consent of the governed. At 250 years in, we’re walking away from it?

In Free Inquiry Ronald A. Lindsay lays out how America First has slid into something power justifying itself: https://ow.ly/pmu450XXuZV

Welcome! You are invited to join a meeting: The Times That Tried Men’s Souls: Thomas Paine’s Service During the Revolutionary War. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the meeting. Please plan to join us for the yearly celebration of the official birthdate of one of the most important Founder of the United States of America, Thomas Paine. The online event, entitled “The Times That Tried Men’s Souls: Thomas Paine’s Service During the Revolutionary War,” will take place on Thursday, January 29, 2026 at 4:00 PM PST/7:00 PM EST. A memorial to Paine is the event logo. It depicts Paine writing The American Crisis papers during the Revolutionary War. The memorial was sculpted by Georg Lober. It was dedicated on July 4, 1950 in Morristown, New Jersey.  The January event is...

Thomas Paine’s most famous writing came out of his service in the Revolutionary War.

Jan 29: live online event on Thomas Paine’s wartime service + The American Crisis.
7pm ET.

Save your spot: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/ga-dvEPuR0iLzT5LA45BOw#/registration

The CDC quietly changed the childhood vaccine schedule. Over 200 health organizations are objecting.

This week's Consumer Health Digest lays out what was removed and why medical groups are alarmed: https://quackwatch.org/ncahf/digest26/26-02/

Texas S.B. 10 would require the Ten Commandments in every public school classroom.

CFI filed an amicus brief. That’s clear state intrusion on parents’ rights, especially nonreligious families.

Press release: https://centerforinquiry.org/news/cfi-amicus-brief-sb-10-parental-rights/

Quote from Thomas Paine’s 1776 pamphlet Common Sense reading: “A long habit of not thinking a thing wrong gives it a superficial appearance of being right.” White text on a dark background.

On this day in 1776, Common Sense was published.

Paine didn’t ask people to agree with him. Rather, to think for themselves.

The full pamphlet is public domain. Read it here: https://oll.libertyfund.org/pages/1776-paine-common-sense-pamphlet

Nonprofit files amicus brief in appeal over 10 Commandments NEW ORLEANS – A nonprofit organization dedicated to “secular values” is urging the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit to find a Louisiana statute requiring public schools to

Louisiana’s Ten Commandments law is back in the Fifth Circuit, now en banc.

CFI filed an amicus brief supporting the original ruling that the law violates the First Amendment.

Oral arguments are set for January 20: https://ow.ly/zzFO50XTe91

Quote from Bill London, editor of Quackwatch: “The scandal is that Kennedy continues to spread his flaky opinions about vaccines by dressing them up as CDC’s scientific conclusions.” Attribution appears beneath the quote.

Bill London responding to the NYT on RFK Jr. and vaccines:

“We should keep in mind that during a House Appropriations Committee meeting in May, Kennedy said: ‘My opinions about vaccines are irrelevant… I don’t think people should be taking medical advice from me.’"

Will Narrative Defeat Reason? | Skeptical Inquirer A few years ago, I noticed something new in American politics. Throughout all of my adult life, at election time people would put out yard signs for their c ...

Humans crave meaning.

Narratives give it to us fast. Democracy asks us to work for it.

Stuart Vyse explores how heroic stories can overpower reason and reshape what we’re willing to accept as truth.

From Skeptical Inquirer. Worth the time: https://ow.ly/TGmJ50XSfty

The paleo diet says it’s ancient. Anthropology says prove it.

What early humans actually ate, based on real evidence.

Dr. Briana Pobiner | Jan 14 | 6pm ET

Save your spot: https://ow.ly/MgE050XQM0Q

If the death penalty requires secrecy, “experimental” methods, and people holding their breath to avoid suffocating… maybe the problem isn’t the protocol.

Maybe.. it's the whole idea.

From Free Inquiry: https://ow.ly/iObg50XQM0p

Text slide asking: “True or false? Cracking your knuckles causes arthritis.”

Text slide asking: “True or false? You swallow eight spiders in your sleep.”

One of the most underrated skills going into a new year: being able to say "I was wrong," without spiraling.

From Generation Skeptics: https://generationskeptics.org/2025/10/30/wow-i-was-wrong/

Another year of arguing for evidence in a world that prefers auras.
Another year of pushing back when church and state get a little too cozy.
Another year of science, skepticism, and asking uncomfortable questions.

Thanks for sticking with us. We’ll keep doing the work.

When courts block Ten Commandments mandates, lawmakers try new paths. When legislation stalls, states double down in court. Louisiana. Ohio. Same idea.

The Ten Commandments push isn’t over..

In Louisiana, CFI urges the Fifth Circuit to block a classroom mandate already ruled unconstitutional. In Ohio, lawmakers try to smuggle the Commandments into schools via a “founding documents” bill.

Public schools ≠ religious billboards.

Bangladesh saw 71 blasphemy-linked attacks on Hindus in 6 months: Report A rights group has reported at least 71 incidents linked to blasphemy allegations against Hindu minorities across Bangladesh between June and December 2025, raising fresh concerns over the safety of religious minorities in the country.

71 blasphemy-linked attacks on Hindus in Bangladesh in just 6 months.

When religious accusations turn into mob violence and collective punishment, this is what systemic intolerance looks like.

Ignoring it doesn’t make it disappear: https://ow.ly/JWoZ50XQusV

Revolutionizing Science: Jane Goodall and the Challenge to Conventional Wisdom | Skeptical Inquirer For more than twenty years, I kept a signed postcard of Jane Goodall affixed to the bulletin board behind my classroom desk as a daily reminder to me and my ...

Jane Goodall broke consensus with evidence.

That’s how science works: https://skepticalinquirer.org/2025/12/revolutionizing-science-jane-goodall-and-the-challenge-to-conventional-wisdom/

Collage of Skeptical Inquirer magazine covers arranged in a grid, showing one cover from each of the magazine’s previous 49 years. To the right, text reads: “Did You Notice? The cover of this issue of Skeptical Inquirer includes one cover taken from each of the previous 49 years,” with a red arrow pointing toward the collage.

Skeptical Inquirer turns 50 this year.

The new issue opens that anniversary by reflecting honestly on the movement’s past and its unfinished work.

Hear from the voices that helped shape skepticism and are still thinking critically about its future: https://ow.ly/eOyZ50XO51e

The late and great Tom Flynn looks at where Christmas came from, how the myths formed, and why the so-called War on Christmas doesn't hold up to scrutiny.

Featuring a snowball duel with Santa.

Old Point of Inquiry. Still relevant: https://ow.ly/ih1a50XO4zH

Text explaining that federal courts have already ruled Louisiana’s Ten Commandments law unconstitutional and that the state is asking the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals to reconsider.

Text stating that forcing religious doctrine into public schools violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.

Text stating that public schools are government institutions and should remain religiously neutral for all students, including believers and nonbelievers.

Text stating that religious freedom does not mean state-mandated religion and that Louisiana’s law crosses that constitutional line.

Public schools aren’t churches.

Louisiana’s Ten Commandments law is unconstitutional, and courts have already said so.

CFI is urging the Fifth Circuit to strike it down: https://ow.ly/bOl850XO4if

Text-only graphic stating that out of 2,099 psychic predictions for 2025, none accurately predicted the year’s major events, according to the GWUP Forecast Check.

Psychics made 2,099 predictions for 2025.
Most were wrong.
Many were untestable.
The big events were missed entirely.

King Kong was predicted again, though.

gwup | die skeptiker ran the numbers. Reality won: https://ow.ly/IymW50XO3xW

A brutal reminder from this week’s Quackwatch Digest that medical misinformation kills.

Freebirth propaganda. Extremist diets. Toxic “natural” products. All thriving in an ecosystem that rewards confidence over evidence.

Worth your time: https://ow.ly/nlEU50XNsXv

Lynching of a Hindu in Bangladesh Fans Fears of Rising Intolerance Muslim co-workers accused the garment factory worker of blasphemy and dragged him into the street, where an angry mob murdered him.

The New York Times reporting on the lynching of Dipu Chandra Das in Bangladesh after unverified blasphemy accusations.

No evidence. No due process. Deadly consequences: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/22/world/asia/bangladesh-hindu-muslim-lynching.html

Match met. Match extended. More resources for reason. CenterForInquiry.org/Match25

Match met. Match extended. More resources for reason. CenterForInquiry.org/Match25

Match met. Match extended. More resources for reason. CenterForInquiry.org/Match25

We hit the original match. Now, it's been extended.

That's $25,000 more to defend science, secular government, and evidence over ideology.

Your gift is doubled through Dec 31: https://ow.ly/6GtE50XMFco

Christmas A La Carte | Free Inquiry It’s that time of year when some committed secularists spend time pondering whether or how to observe the upcoming holiday season, especially December 25. F ...

You don’t need religion to enjoy December 25.

Ronald A. Lindsay on why secular people can take what they want from Christmas and ignore the rest: secularhumanism.org/exclusive/ch...

History included. Piety not so much.

Spinosaurus has been hyped for a century. The reality is messier and more interesting. Tonight, paleontologist David Hone breaks down what we actually know about this bizarre, sail-backed predator.

Spinosaurus: famous, weird, still misunderstood.

Tonight, paleontologist Dr Dave Hone walks through what the fossils really tell us and what they don’t.

Live Skeptical Inquirer Presents at 7pm ET: https://ow.ly/aNxe50XLCcH

Retribution or revenge in a suit?

In Free Inquiry, Christo Roberts makes the case that accountability, not sentimentality, is what keeps justice from collapsing into either cruelty or chaos.

A sober, uncomfortable read: https://ow.ly/jrqm50XLAcM

Response to Richard Dawkins, “Scientific Truth Stands Above Human Feelings and Politics.” | Free Inquiry Editorial Note: Free Inquiry’s October/November issue featured an article by Richard Dawkins in which he argued that science should not be distorted by ideo ...

Dawkins says science should stand above politics and feelings. Bart Laws says Dawkins is answering the wrong question.

Read his pointed response in Free Inquiry: https://ow.ly/Thhu50XLbyM

Social media graphic featuring the statement: “Political pressure reshaped the CDC’s autism and vaccines page,” referencing a Skeptical Inquirer article.

The CDC didn’t update its autism–vaccines page because the science changed, but because the politics did.

What happens when public health messaging starts hedging against evidence?

Skeptical Inquirer lays it out: https://ow.ly/cRIp50XLauf

Ten years of study led to a familiar outcome: no women deacons, no real reform, lots of theological gymnastics.

Free Inquiry dissects the Catholic Church’s latest decision + why institutions built on immutable truth struggle to change without cracking: https://ow.ly/Kqqc50XKACf

Arizona lawmaker wants schools to teach form of creationism Lawmaker wants to force public schools that teach evolution to also teach "intelligent design,'' another word for "creationism," he says.

An Arizona lawmaker wants evolution taught with Intelligent Design (read: creationism). He says the separation of church and state is a “fallacy.”

Public schools shouldn’t be drafted into anyone’s theology.

Full story: https://ow.ly/X47p50XKz5Z