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The Center for Inquiry is the only organization working to advance reason, science, secularism, and humanist values in public policy, and oppose the influence of religion, dogma, pseudoscience, and superstition. As a leading advocate in these areas, we have assembled a wide network of experts who can address the public policy issues related to our agenda. We bring that network and expertise, and the energy and passion of our grassroots supporters, to have an impact on policy at the state, national, and international levels.
Evidence, facts, and the scientific method are being challenged in the United States today as never before, and the secular foundations of government are being uprooted in favor of religious privilege. While a number of organizations lobby and work to defend science politically, only one organization works to defend reason in all important areas of human endeavor: the Center for Inquiry.
Homeopathy
The ultimate medical con, where billions of dollars each year is fleeced from an unsuspecting public; CFI is battling the countries biggest retailers to protect consumers from this scam.
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Vaccines
Vaccination is among the greatest medical advances in history; CFI campaigns for broader uptake, and against the lies and pseudoscience that lead to vaccine hesitancy.
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Naturopathy
Naturopaths aren’t real doctors, they deal out pseudoscientific nonsense; CFI works to make sure states don’t give them undue credibility and support.
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Secular Celebrants
Few states allow celebrants to perform weddings unless they claim to be religious; CFI has won the right for truly secular celebrants in Indiana, Illinois, and Michigan, and is looking to expand that nationwide.
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School Vouchers
Every dollar given to religious schools is a dollar for indoctrination, and a dollar taken from where it is needed, the secular public school system; CFI is fighting to prevent your tax dollars going to church schools.
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Equality for Nonbelievers
People shouldn’t be deprived of their rights because they don’t believe in a god; CFI is working across the world and in the United Nations to defend equal legal protections for the nonreligious.
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Office of Consumer Protection from Pseudoscience
The Office of Consumer Protection from Pseudoscience seeks to fight back against the harms caused by quacks, crooks, and charlatans, big and small. Through this new part of CFI, we will be bringing legal action and issuing warning letters, seeking to educate and inform the public and legislators and pressuring regulators, both state and federal, to properly protect the public from the harms of scam products and “treatments.”
Legal Department
The Legal Department furthers the Center for Inquiry’s mission through investigation, litigation, by filing amicus briefs in cases involving First Amendment rights, reproductive freedom, assistance in dying, consumer protection, and other issues of importance to the Center and its supporters. Where appropriate, the Center or its affiliates will file their own lawsuit.
CFI is putting a particular focus on consumer protection lawsuits. Billions of dollars every year are fraudulently extracted from unwitting consumers across the country to line the pockets of those who peddle snake oil and pseudoscientific nonsense. CFI legal department stands ready to file suit against sellers of homeopathy, psychics, naturopaths, and faith healers where their claims run contrary to the basic laws of science, and their flimflammery fleeces the general public.
CFI seeks to use the legal system to establish precedent that can then create fundamental change in society. Winning secular celebrant cases creates momentum to pressure other states to permit secular celebrants. Winning consumer protection lawsuits against retail behemoths like Walmart and CVS not only forces those companies to change their policies across the nation, or face multiple suits from the plaintiffs’ bar, it also sends a message to every other retailer that they must change too. Winning the right for mature minors to be vaccinated in one state will quickly lead to all mature minors in the United States having that option.
Staff
Richard Conn
General Counsel
Aaron Green
Staff Counsel
Contact Us
E-mail: [email protected]
Telephone: (202) 734-6494 ext. 203
Fax: (202) 733-5292
Refer a Case
If you have experienced discrimination because you are nonreligious or you believe that your constitutional rights are in jeopardy, or if you have suffered harm or been deceived by pseudoscience at any level, please contact us here. Be aware that submission of this information to the Legal Department does not guarantee that we can assist you. Contact a private attorney promptly as well as asking us. CFI does not undertake representation of individuals involved in employment disputes.
Lawsuits
Updates
Center for Inquiry Files Suit in Texas Seeking Legal Recognition for Secular Celebrants
October 28, 2024The Center for Inquiry (CFI) is going back to court to challenge the privileged status granted religious organizations and individuals under Texas marriage law. In a new lawsuit filed Friday in United States District Court, CFI is demanding legal recognition of marriage officiants who are trained and certified through its groundbreaking Secular Celebrant program. Currently, …
Center for Inquiry Hails Supreme Court Ruling Protecting Access to Mifepristone
June 14, 2024Yesterday morning, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously rejected a challenge to the Food and Drug Administration’s initial approval of and ongoing ability to regulate the abortion drug mifepristone. The Court ruled that the plaintiffs, an organization of anti-abortion doctors called the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, “lack Article III standing to challenge FDA’s actions.” CFI General …
Mike Johnson Isn’t Just the Avatar for Christian Nationalism—He’s Actually Much Worse Than That
January 10, 2024As the new Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson has received plenty of attention for his Christianity-first approach to politics, his extreme views, and his frankly bizarre claims about conversing with God and being a modern-day “Moses.” In many ways, Johnson is the embodiment of Christian nationalism, the idea that America should become a theocracy …
Amicus Briefs
“Unworkable, Unfair, and Unconstitutional”: CFI Urges SCOTUS to Reject Plaintiff’s Argument in Groff v. DeJoy
March 30, 2023Today the Center for Inquiry, joined by counsel from American Atheists, submitted an amicus brief to the U.S. Supreme Court in the case of Groff v. DeJoy. The brief can be found here. The plaintiff, Gerald Groff, was an employee of the U.S. Postal Service who refused to work Sunday shifts, arguing it violated his …
303 Creative Case a “Cynical Ploy” for Discrimination, CFI Tells SCOTUS
August 19, 2022The Center for Inquiry joined with our friends and allies to submit an amicus brief to the Supreme Court Thursday in the case of 303 Creative LLC vs. Elenis. The brief can be found here. 303 Creative is a case out of Colorado that seeks to subordinate LGBTQ rights to the concept of “religious liberty.” …
Two Wrongs Don’t Make a Right, Secular Groups Tell SCOTUS in Case of Muslim American Persecution
January 13, 2020Muslim Americans persecuted by law enforcement deserve justice, the Center for Inquiry told the Supreme Court in a joint amicus brief, but warned that providing financial restitution through the Religious Freedom Restoration Act is misguided, dangerous, and unconstitutional. Today the Center for Inquiry (CFI) and American Atheists (AA) filed a jointly written amicus brief with …
CFI Tells Supreme Court: Church Facilities Must Not Be Funded By Taxpayer Dollars
July 6, 2016The Center for Inquiry yesterday joined with our friends and allies to submit an amicus brief to the Supreme Court yesterday in the case of Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia, Inc. v. Pauley.
Office of Public Policy
The Center for Inquiry’s Office of Public Policy serves as liaison to our nation’s government, to see that every available means is used to defend and promote science, reason, and secular values. We work with lawmakers to effect legislative responses to attacks on science and reason. We submit white papers, solicited from our network of fellows and scientists. We provide rapid response via public statements and action alerts directed at public policy. We bring experts to testify in legislative hearings. We also delve into upcoming legislation, undertake appropriate research on bills that relate to our agenda, and coordinate press, legal, and scholarly responses to legislation.
The Office of Public Policy also regularly submits written testimony to state legislatures and Congress, in order to weigh in on bills involving science, religion, and other CFI issues.
Take Action
Get updated via email whenever there’s important legislation or news related to our community.
Michigan: Tell Your State Representative to Support Pending Secular Celebrant Bill
December 13, 2024
Tell Your Senators to Oppose Nomination of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. for Secretary of HHS
November 21, 2024
Urge Your Members of Congress to Oppose the ‘Educational Choice for Children Act of 2024’
November 7, 2024
Massachusetts: Help to Pass Bill Regulating ‘Crisis Pregnancy Centers’
September 5, 2024
Updates
Missing the Point: CFI Calls Congressional Takeover of National Prayer Breakfast ‘A Backward Step’
February 1, 2023In a January 17 letter, the Center for Inquiry (CFI) joined twenty-nine other secular, religious, and activist organizations to urge the president, vice president, and members of Congress not to attend the National Prayer Breakfast on February 2. The letter warned that “history has proven that this event is an attempt to bait members of …
Common Sense: CFI Hails Inclusion of Thomas Paine Memorial in Omnibus Government Spending Bill
December 30, 2022Thomas Paine is regarded as America’s “forgotten founder.” Paine’s 1776 pamphlet Common Sense made the case for American self-governance, independent of the British crown. Common Sense helped spark support for the American Revolution and the creation of a new nation, built on the ideals of the Enlightenment. Despite his crucial role in American Revolutionary history, …
Center for Inquiry, Allies Call on Senate to ‘Take Rapid and Effective Action’ Toward Supreme Court Reform
December 15, 2022America’s trust and confidence in the U.S. Supreme Court is at a fifty-year low. In 2022, the Supreme Court has been rocked by leaks, allegations of inappropriate contact between justices and political actors, an undeniable disregard for precedent, and an undisguised rightward trajectory. This has created a crisis that, if allowed to stand, could undermine …
United Nations
The Center for Inquiry is an active non-governmental organization (NGO) at the United Nations, and has held special consultative status under the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) since 2005. CFI has a presence at both the UN headquarters in New York City, and the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland.
CFI’s mission to the UN works to protect and advance universal human rights from a secular, science-based perspective, focusing mainly on three interrelated areas of human rights: freedom of religion, belief, and expression; women’s rights; and LGBT equality.
Updates
Center for Inquiry Calls for Renewed International Support of Iranian Protesters
December 19, 2022
Threats to the Nonreligious in Libya: CFI at the U.N. Human Rights Council
March 18, 2021
The Rights of Nonbelievers and Iran’s Abuses: CFI at the UN Human Rights Council
March 9, 2020
Blasphemy and Apostasy Laws in Qatar and Brunei: CFI at the UN Human Rights Council
September 24, 2019
CFI’s UN Advocate Takes on Saudi Arabia’s Human Rights Record
July 9, 2019
CFI at the 40th Session of the UN Human Rights Council
April 2, 2019
CFI Welcomes New UN Advocate: Andreas Kyriacou
February 20, 2019
Joint Statement on Mauritania: Death Penalty for Blasphemy and Journalist’s Imprisonment
June 29, 2018
CFI Hosts Visit of UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief to Washington, D.C.
April 6, 2017
Center for Inquiry Spotlights Freedom of Conscience at 34th Session of UN Human Rights Council
March 27, 2017