The Morning Heresy
The Morning Heresy is your daily digest of news and links relevant to the secular and skeptic communities.
“A Fireball in the Sky” – Forkosch Awards Announced, Arizona’s Voucher Meltdown, and the Manhattan Meteor
July 17, 2024Ahoy-hoy! Welcome to the Morning Heresy, CFI’s thrice-weekly roundup of news and headlines for the reality-based community. Yesterday, the Council for Secular Humanism and the Center for Inquiry proudly announced the writers who’ve been selected to receive the Forkosch Awards for calendar years 2021, 2022, and 2023. The Morris D. Forkosch Award recognizes the best …
“Don’t Do This In Our Name” – Ten Commandments Pushback, an Ohio Action Alert, and a Baffling Silence on the Cass Review
July 15, 2024Welcome to the Morning Heresy, CFI’s roundup of news and headlines for the reality-based community. Saturday was a very bad day for anyone who believes in American democracy. There is only the faintest relief in recognizing it might have been much, much worse. Predictably, fact-free conspiracy theories started flying almost immediately from both the right …
“It Is Pretty Easy To Be A Criminal” – CFI on Ohio’s Release Time Bill, Sport Superstition, and Scammers Run Rampant
July 12, 2024Happy Friday! Time again for the Morning Heresy, CFI’s thrice-weekly roundup of news and headlines for the reality-based community. The Ohio legislature is considering HB 445, a “release time” measure that would allow public school students to take time out of the school day for off-campus religious instruction. CFI Director of Government Affairs Azhar Majeed …
“And So I Do” – Hawley Stops Hiding It, Anticipating CSICon, and Supercharging Disinformation with AI
July 10, 2024Welcome to the Morning Heresy, CFI’s thrice-weekly roundup of news and headlines for the reality-based community. “The Well-Known Skeptic” Rob Palmer kicks off this year’s Anticipating CSICon interview series in a conversation with journalist Rina Raphael. They discuss her years reporting on the health and wellness beat, as well as her scheduled CSICon 2024 presentation …
“Absolutely Ridiculous and Abysmal” – Online Satanic Panic, the Multivitamin Mirage, and Playing Dumb on Project 2025
July 8, 2024Ahoy-hoy! Welcome back to the Morning Heresy, CFI’s roundup of news and headlines for the reality-based community. In his latest Skeptical Inquirer column, JD Sword looks at “Satanic Ritual Abuse in the Age of Social Media.” Today, activists and self-professed survivors of Satanic ritual abuse continue to be active through Facebook groups such as Supporting …
“A Sharp Divide” – The Demarcation Problem, More from the Latest Skeptical Inquirer, and Walters Goes All-In
June 28, 2024Happy Friday, friends! Welcome to the Morning Heresy, CFI’s thrice-weekly roundup of news and headlines for the reality-based community. On Wednesday, we took a brief look at the July/August 2024 issue of Skeptical Inquirer, but only scratched the surface of the new issue’s must-read material. CFI President and CEO Robyn E. Blumner looks at the …
“Go Find Me Those Words” – Olympic Pseudoscience, Folkloric Faith Healing, and a Badly Needed History Lesson
June 26, 2024Ahoy-hoy! Welcome to the Morning Heresy, CFI’s thrice-weekly roundup of news and headlines for the reality-based community. The July/August 2024 issue of Skeptical Inquirer is available now on better newsstands or to read online. The cover feature by Skeptical Inquirer columnist (and CSICon 2024 speaker) Nick Tiller is titled “From Gods to Gurus: The Evolution …
“It Will Be What It Will Be” – Bellringers for Better Thinking, Pardoning D.M. Bennett, and Pig Butchering at Scale
June 24, 2024Welcome to the Morning Heresy, CFI’s roundup of news and headlines for the reality-based community. “The Well-Known Skeptic” Rob Palmer has a new video interview with Coleman Watts, the creator of the popular Think This Through YouTube channel. The two met at the recent Triangle Skeptics’ SkeptiCamp event, where Palmer says Watts was the breakout …
“Dishonorable Distinction” – The Ten Commandments, Taxpayer-Funded Christian Nationalism, and The More You Know
June 21, 2024Welcome to the Morning Heresy, CFI’s roundup of news and headlines for the reality-based community. On Tuesday afternoon, NOLA.com reported that Louisiana Governor Jeff Landy had boasted at a fundraiser he was planning to sign HB 71 (aka the Ten Commandments bill), defiantly adding “And I can’t wait to be sued.” On Wednesday, Landry made …
“I Don’t Think It’s Defensible” – SkeptiCamping in New Mexico, a Letter to Louisiana, and Keystone Cop PsyOps
June 17, 2024Hello there! Welcome to the Morning Heresy, CFI’s (usually*) thrice-weekly roundup of news and headlines for the reality-based community. On Friday, CFI Director of Government Affairs Azhar Majeed wrote to Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry, calling on him to veto HB 71, which “would unlawfully require public schools in Louisiana to display the Ten Commandments in …