The Morning Heresy
The Morning Heresy is your daily digest of news and links relevant to the secular and skeptic communities.
“Modern Day Snake Oil” – Secular Ethics of Love, Tainted Nasal Spray, and the Doomsday Glacier
September 20, 2024Happy Friday! Welcome to the Morning Heresy, CFI’s thrice-weekly roundup of news and headlines for the reality-based community. Free Inquiry editor Ronald Lindsay debuts a new, web-exclusive column he’s calling “Unprayerful Reflections.” The first edition takes on the mistaken idea that Christianity is the foundation of democracy. To the contrary, Christianity has been considered perfectly …
“A Nugget of Truth” – Tiresome Haloes, Christian Nationalism, and Preventable Deaths
September 18, 2024Ahoy-hoy! Welcome to the Morning Heresy, CFI’s regular roundup of news and headlines for the reality-based community. In a new essay for Free Inquiry titled “Tiresome Haloes,” Peter Jeppsen reflects on the propagandistic origins of classic devotional art (and music). Adrian Goldsworthy observed a universal truism about the implications these commissioned paintings contained in his …
“Ensuring Children Can Read, Write and Do Math” – TIES Webinars, Medical Misinformation, and Afghan Despair
September 16, 2024Welcome to the Morning Heresy, CFI’s thrice-weekly roundup of news and headlines for the reality-based community. CFI’s Teacher Institute for Evolutionary Science (TIES) is best known for providing science educators with free resources and materials to help them teach evolution in elementary and middle school classes. But TIES also hosts a series of free online …
“The Most Confusing Objects in the Universe” – Reproductive Rights in North Dakota, Police Killing in Pakistan, and Chatbot Debunkers
September 13, 2024Welcome to the Morning Heresy, CFI’s thrice-weekly roundup of news and headlines for the reality-based community. We have an update on a story Stuart Vyse wrote about in the latest issue of Skeptical Inquirer: Ars Technica reports a federal court in Massachusetts has dismissed a defamation complaint against Data Colada researchers Uri Simonsohn, Leif Nelson, …
“Cover for the Creep of Christian Nationalist Philosophy” – Analyzing Authoritarianism, Bible-Inspired School Curriculum, and Nuclear Timekeeping
September 11, 2024Ahoy-hoy! Welcome to the Morning Heresy, CFI’s thrice-weekly roundup of news and headlines for the reality-based community. In a new feature for Free Inquiry, Jeffrey S. Victor examines “Trump’s Authoritarian Social Movement: A Social Psychological Analysis.” The focus is upon understanding his followers, not upon Trump’s personality. I suggest that there are social psychological processes …
“Treating Science Outreach as a Side Gig” – Critical Thinking and Conspiracy Theory, Science Communication, and Blasphemy
September 9, 2024Welcome back to the Morning Heresy, CFI’s roundup of news and headlines for the reality-based community. You’ll find two brand-new features to start the week on the Skeptical Inquirer website. Cognitive psychologist D. Alan Bensley takes a deep dive into the question of whether conspiracy theory believers think critically. These examples of people believing and …
“More Dramatic Language” – New Skeptical Inquirer, Scientific Theory, and Invisible Gorillas
August 23, 2024Welcome to a super-sized Friday edition of the Morning Heresy, CFI’s roundup of news and headlines for the reality-based community. Our final Skeptical Inquirer Presents of the season will look at the religious right’s ongoing efforts to capture America’s judicial system. On Thursday, September 5, constitutional lawyer and chair of the CFI Board of Directors …
“Bombarding Opponents With Falsehoods” – Anticipating CSICon, Life-Shattering Pseudoscience, and the Oklahoma Example
August 21, 2024Welcome to the Morning Heresy, CFI’s roundup of news and headlines for the reality-based community. Rob Palmer (aka “The Well-Known Skeptic”) interviews Timothy Caulfield for the latest video in his “Anticipating CSICon” series. In the interview, Caulfield and I discussed a wide range of topics in addition to his upcoming presentation, including his latest book …
“An Insidious Influence” – Paranormal Challenges, Straitjacketing Speech, and Fighting Drug-Resistant Infections
August 19, 2024Ahoy-hoy! Welcome to the Morning Heresy, CFI’s thrice-weekly roundup of news and headlines for the reality-based community. CFI Investigations Group (CFIIG) shares the story of a Paranormal Challenge test from this past July in which the challenger, EJ, “claimed that he was receiving messages from a spirit, which he hypothesized to be the Holy Spirit.” …
“Indistinguishable From Random Guessing” – New SkeptiLab, an Astrological Faceplant, and the Secrets of Project 2025
August 16, 2024Happy Friday! Welcome to the Morning Heresy, CFI’s thrice-weekly roundup of news and headlines for the reality-based community. Make sure to check out the new episode of CFIIG’s SkeptiLab: The Bunk Stops Here! Host Jim Underdown is joined by famed actor and voice artist Phil LaMarr for a look at the mysterious world of fortune …