Blogs
“A Faith in Human Intelligence” – Religion in Congress, the Latest from Skeptical Inquirer, and RFK Jr. on the Hill
January 8, 2025Welcome to the Morning Heresy, CFI’s thrice-weekly roundup of news and headlines for the reality-based community. Richard Dawkins wrote an essay for The Spectator, which has since been republished at Free Inquiry, taking on “The Myth of the God-Shaped Hole.” How patronising, how insulting to imply that, if deprived of a religion, humanity must ignominiously …
“This Is Not a Gig We Auditioned For” – Bill Nye, Clear Thinking About Climate Change, and Charlie Hebdo
January 6, 2025Happy new year! Welcome back to the Morning Heresy, CFI’s thrice-weekly roundup of news and headlines for the reality-based community. Let’s kick off our first column of 2025 with big congratulations to 2023 Richard Dawkins Award winner, CSI Fellow, and new Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient Bill Nye. He was one of nineteen luminaries presented …
“In For Very Difficult Times” – RFK Jr. Watch, Religious Oppression, and ‘the Final Experiment’
December 20, 2024Welcome to the Morning Heresy, CFI’s thrice-weekly roundup of news and headlines for the reality-based community. This will be our last column in 2024, so let me wish all of you a safe and happy new year! Skeptical Inquirer columnist Nick Tiller unveils his picks for “The Mount Rushmore of Wellness Bullsh*t.” Who are the …
“Droning On” – Mysterious Lights, Divine Mandates, and Skeptical Inquirer Must-Reads
December 18, 2024Welcome to the Morning Heresy, CFI’s thrice-weekly roundup of news and headlines for the reality-based community. Benjamin Radford took to the CFI blog on Monday for a look at the “Return of the ‘Mysterious’ Drones and the Twilight of Ambiguity,” reminding readers that the current breathless hype cycle is very much like ones we’ve seen …
Return of the ‘Mysterious’ Drones and the Twilight of Ambiguity
December 16, 2024The drones are back! A recent rash of mysterious lights in the sky have been seen for the past month or so, first in northern New Jersey, then Philadelphia, and on to parts of New York City and elsewhere. It’s all the viral news rage, spawning social media posts, conspiracy theories, irritation, and mystery-mongering. …
“Efforts to Undermine Public Confidence” – Telepathic Transmission, Catholic Charities, and Garden State Drones
December 16, 2024Welcome to the Morning Heresy, CFI’s thrice-weekly roundup of news and headlines for the reality-based community. A reminder for Michigan residents, CFI’s Office of Public Policy (OPP) is urging you to contact your state representatives and tell them to support SB 1044, a Secular Celebrants bill currently pending before the House. SB 1044 passed in …
“He Appeals to Lessened Trust” – Secular Celebrants in Michigan, Unprayerful Reflections, and RFK Jr. Watch
December 13, 2024Ahoy-hoy! Welcome to your Friday Morning Heresy, CFI’s roundup of news and headlines for the reality-based community. CFI’s Office of Public Policy (OPP) is calling on Michigan residents to take action and urge their state representatives to support a Secular Celebrants bill currently pending before the state House. The Michigan bill, SB 1044, would amend …
“A Discredited Belief System” – Introducing RFK, Jr. Watch, Mandating Indigenous Knowledge, and Rapid Expansion
December 11, 2024Welcome to the midweek edition of the Morning Heresy, CFI’s roundup of news and headlines for the reality-based community. With Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. set to visit Washington next week in an effort to shore up support for his (objectively terrible) nomination to head the Department of Health and Human Services, it seems like a …
“Everything Has The Potential To Offend” – Nonexistent Links, Protecting Blasphemers, and Gold Bar Scams
December 9, 2024Welcome to the Morning Heresy, CFI’s thrice-weekly roundup of news and headlines for the reality-based community. The New York Times reported over the weekend: “Trump Suggests Kennedy Will Examine Debunked Link Between Vaccines and Autism.” This, of course, despite the fact (like it says right there in the headline), the question has been thoroughly and …
Misleading Meme Monday: Mercator Myths
December 9, 2024Welcome to Misleading Meme Monday, an occasional series of short columns each focusing on a single, specific popular-yet-misleading meme. Memes can be wrong for any number of reasons including containing errors of fact or interpretation. By far the most common errors I find are failing to consider alternative explanations and failing to question assumptions. This …