 | |
| Founded | 1991 |
|---|---|
| Type | Nonprofit, science education |
| Focus | Public understanding of science, secular ethics, skepticism |
| Location |
|
| Method | Research, education, outreach, and advocacy |
Key people
| Robyn Blumner Paul Kurtz Ronald A. Lindsay Barry Karr |
| Website | centerforinquiry |
Front entrance of Center For Inquiry Transnational
The Center for Inquiry (CFI) is a nonprofit educational organization. Its primary mission is to foster a secular society based on science, reason, freedom of inquiry, and humanist values. CFI has headquarters in the United States and a number of international branches.
Center for Inquiry focuses on two primary subject areas:
- Investigation of Paranormal and Fringe Science Claims through the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry
- Religion, Ethics, and Society through the Council for Secular Humanism
CFI is also active in promoting a scientific approach to medicine and health. The organization has been described as a think tank and as a non-governmental organization.
In January 2016, the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science announced that it was merging with the Center for Inquiry, with Robyn Blumner as the CEO of the combined organizations.
History
Philosopher Paul Kurtz (left) and author Martin Gardner at a CSICOP executive council meeting in 1979
The Center for Inquiry was established in 1991 by philosopher and author Paul Kurtz. It brought together two organizations: the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP) and the Council for Secular Humanism (CSH). CSICOP and CSH had previously operated in tandem but were now formally affiliated under one umbrella.
Expansion
CFI Lecture Hall with windows open
By 1995 CFI had expanded into a new headquarters in Amherst, New York, and in 1996 opened its first branch office in Los Angeles, CFI West currently named CFI Los Angeles. In the same year, CFI founded the Campus Freethought Alliance, organizing college students around its areas of interest.
By 1997 CFI had begun expanding its efforts internationally through an association with Moscow State University.
Between 2002 and 2003 CFI opened two new branches in New York City and Tampa, Florida
in addition to expanding its west coast branch into a new building in
Hollywood, California. Located on Hollywood Boulevard, CFI Los Angeles
also became home to the Steve Allen Theater, named after the former Tonight Show host
and CFI supporter. This property was sold in 2017 and CFI Los Angeles
is now located at 2535 W, Temple St. Los Angeles, CA 90026.
In 2004, CFI continued to expand into cities across the United States with the creation of a network of community organizations called CFI Communities.
In 2005 CFI once again expanded its Amherst headquarters with a
new research wing. Additionally, CFI was granted special consultative
status with the United Nations the same year.
Since 2006 CFI has been expanding rapidly with a series of new
branches in cities across North America and around the world. These
include new Centers for Inquiry in Toronto, London, Washington, D.C., Indianapolis, Grand Rapids, Michigan, and Austin, Texas. The branch in Washington is headquarters to CFI's Office of Public Policy, which represents CFI's interests on Capitol Hill.
Their former affiliated organizations, the Council for Secular
Humanism and the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry, ceased to exist as
independent organizations, and have become programs of Center for
Inquiry, since January 2015.
Logo before its merger with the Richard Dawkins Foundation.
In January 2016, CFI announced that it was merging with the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science, with Robyn Blumner as the CEO of the combined organizations.
Departure of founder
According
to Paul Kurtz, in June 2009, being at odds with new CEO Ronald Lindsay,
Kurtz was voted out as chairman. Kurtz has described the direction of
CFI under Lindsay as "angry atheism" in contrast to his affirmative
humanist philosophical approach.
According to Ronald Lindsay,"Paul Kurtz voluntarily resigned from his
positions with CFI and all its affiliates, including his position as
editor-in-chief of Free Inquiry."
The Center for Inquiry Board Statement from 2010, thanks Kurtz for his
"decades of service" and claims that "Much of CFI’s success is due to
Paul Kurtz’s inspiration and leadership." The release states that with
Kurtz's encouragement, new leadership was sought out, with the goal of
transitioning Kurtz away from the CEO position. The Board according to
CFI prior to 2010 had become concerned with Kurtz's "day-to-day
management of the organization. In June 2008, the board appointed Dr.
Ronald A. Lindsay president & CEO; in June 2009, the board elected
Richard Schroeder chairman, with Dr. Kurtz moving to chairman emeritus."
In May 2010, the Board accepted Kurtz's resignation from CFI.
Paranormal and fringe science claims
Joe Nickell, Research Fellow at the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry, in office. Amherst, NY 2013
Through the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI), and its journal, Skeptical Inquirer magazine, published by the Center for Inquiry, CSI evaluates claims of the paranormal (phenomena allegedly beyond the range of normal scientific explanations), such as psychic phenomena, ghosts, communication with the dead, and alleged extraterrestrial
visitations. It also explores the fringes and borderlands of the
sciences, attempting to separate strictly evidence-based research from
pseudosciences.
CSICOP was, alongside magician and prominent skeptic James Randi, sued by TV celebrity Uri Geller in the 1990s over claims made in the International Herald Tribune. The case ran for several years with Geller ordered to pay costs and other charges, and was ultimately settled in 1995.
The Independent Investigations Group
IIG "Power Balance" testing exercise
The Independent Investigations Group, a volunteer group based at CFI Los Angeles, undertakes experimental testing of fringe claims. It offers a cash prize (as of 2014 this has a value of USD 100,000) for successful demonstration of supernatural effects.
The IIG Awards (known as "Iggies") are presented for "scientific and
critical thinking in mainstream entertainment". IIG has investigated,
amongst other things, power bracelets, psychic detectives and a 'telepathic wonder dog'.
Religion, ethics, and society
Logo of the Council for Secular Humanism.
The Center promotes critical inquiry into the foundations and social
effects of the world religions. Since 1983, initially through its
connection with Committee for the Scientific Examination of Religion,
it has focused on such issues as fundamentalism in Christianity and
Islam, humanistic alternatives to religious ethics, and religious
sources of political violence. It has taken part in protests against
religious persecution around the world and opposes religious privilege, for example benefits for clergy in the US Tax Code.
CFI actively supports secular interests, such as secular state education. It organizes conferences, such as Women In Secularism and a conference focused on freethought advocate Robert Ingersoll.
CFI has provided meeting and conference facilities to other skeptical
organisations, for example an atheist of color conference on social
justice.
CFI also undertakes atheist education and support activities, for example sending freethought books to prisoners as part of its Freethought Books Project.
CFI is active in advocating free speech, and in promoting secular government. It speaks against institutional religion in the armed forces.
Free Inquiry is published by the Center for Inquiry, in association with the Council for Secular Humanism.
Publications
Tom Flynn, editor of Free Inquiry, gives a presentation on the Freethought Trail
The results of research and activities supported by the Center and
its affiliates are published and distributed to the public in seventeen
separate national and international magazines, journals, and
newsletters. Among them are CSH's Free Inquiry and Secular Humanist Bulletin, and CSI's Skeptical Inquirer, CFI's American Rationalist. The Scientific Review of Alternative Medicine, The Scientific Review of Mental Health Practice and Philo, a journal covering philosophical issues, are no longer being published.
CFI has produced the weekly radio show and podcast, Point of Inquiry since 2005. Episodes are available free for download from iTunes. Current host, as of June 2017, is Paul Fidalgo. Notable guests have included Steven Pinker, Neil deGrasse Tyson, and Richard Dawkins.
Projects and programs
Center for Inquiry On Campus
Opening remarks at the CFI Student Conference 2013 - Amherst, NY. Center, Eddie Tabash, a director of CFI
CFI On Campus (originally the Campus Freethought Alliance) is a program launched by the Council for Secular Humanism
in 1996 by Derek Araujo and others in order to reach out to university
and high school students. The Center for Inquiry On Campus provides
funding, speakers or debaters, literature, and other promotional and
educational resources to student groups that affiliate, and supports
over 200 campus groups around the world.
Center for Inquiry On Campus is directed by Debbie Goddard, who is also the director of African Americans for Humanism. CFI on Campus employs a staff of organizers who help CFI student groups to advance their aims at their respective schools.
Skeptic's Toolbox
A lecture given by Ray Hyman at Skeptic's Toolbox 2012
The Skeptic's Toolbox was an annual four-day workshop at the University of Oregon, Eugene sponsored by CFI devoted to scientific skepticism. It was formed by psychologist and now-retired University of Oregon professor Ray Hyman, has been held every August since 1992. The workshop focuses on educating people to be better critical thinkers,
and involves a central theme. The attendees are broken up into groups
and given tasks that they must work on together and whose results they
must present in front of the entire group on the last day.
Center for Inquiry Libraries
The Center for Inquiry Libraries
began as a small collection of books located in the offices of CSICOP
in the late 1970s. When the first expansion of the Center for Inquiry
building was completed in 1995, the library was prominently featured.
The building opened on June 9, 1995, with such luminaries as Leon Jaroff, Herbert Hauptman, Stan Lundine, and Kendrick Frazier attending, and Steve Allen, prominent supporter of CFI, spoke at the opening ceremony.
Gordon Stein was the Libraries’ first director and acquired a
large number of rare materials. Timothy Binga has been the Director of
Libraries since 1996, and has been instrumental in the cataloging and
organization of the large amount of materials acquired.
CFI Library
CFI’s Libraries were created along the same lines as the
organization; CSICOP and the Council for Secular Humanism had their own
libraries, and there were a number of shared libraries and collections
as well. Highlights of the various collections include materials from Martin Gardner
(some papers and books), Steve Allen (bound notebooks of clippings,
notes, letters, and tipped-in pamphlets organized by subject), Martin T. Orne collection of books, papers, and case notes, and books and papers of noted philosophers Abraham Edel, Paul Edwards, Patrick Romanell, and Joseph Blau.
It total, the books number around 70,000 volumes; this includes the world’s foremost collections on skepticism, humanism, and freethought. Also, there are world-class collections on science, philosophy, American Philosophical Naturalism, the occult and paranormal, atheism,
and other items related to the mission of the Center for Inquiry. In
addition, there are archives, a reference section, periodicals,
microfilm, and AV materials.
The Rare Book Room contains a signed Elizabeth Cady Stanton autobiography, first editions of such works as The Age of Reason by Thomas Paine, Reason: The Only Oracle of Man by Ethan Allen, many signed works by Robert Green Ingersoll, hard copies of The Truth Seeker (the newspaper of record for the Golden Age of Freethought), and a collection of Little Blue Books.
CFI Libraries are a member of OCLC, the Western New York Library Resources Council (WNYLRC), New York Heritage and the Digital Public Library of America.
Secular Rescue
The Center for Inquiry has an emergency fund called Secular Rescue, formerly known as the Freethought Emergency Fund. The fund is used to help freethought activists whose lives are under threat by Islamic radicals linked to Al Qaeda. Between 2015 and 2018, Secular Rescue, helped thirty individuals fleeing anti-secular regimes gain asylum.
Office of Public Policy
The Office of Public Policy (OPP) is the Washington D.C. political arm of the Center for Inquiry. The OPP’s mandate is to lobby
Congress and the Administration on issues related to science and
secularism. This includes defending the separation of church and state,
promoting science and reason as the basis of public policy, and
advancing secular values.
The OPP publishes position statements on its subjects of interest. Examples have included acupuncture, climate change, contraception and intelligent design. The Office is an active participant in legal matters, providing experts for Congress testimony and amicus briefs in Supreme Court cases. It publishes a list of bills it considers of interest as they pass through the U.S. legislative process.
"Science and the Public" Master of Education program
In partnership with the Graduate School of Education at the State University of New York at Buffalo, CFI offers an accredited Master of Education program in Science and the Public, available entirely online.
Aimed at students preparing for careers in research, science education,
public policy, science journalism, or further study in sociology,
history and philosophy of science, science communication, education, or
public administration, the program explores the methods and outlook of
science as they intersect with public culture, scientific literacy, and
public policy.
Skeptics and Humanist Aid and Relief Effort
The
Skeptics and Humanist Aid and Relief Effort (previously the name began
with the phrase "Secular Humanist") provides "an alternative for those
who wish to contribute to charitable efforts without the intermediary of
a religious organization in times of great need." As of January 2010, all funds are being directed to the group Doctors Without Borders to aid the survivors of the 2010 Haiti earthquake. Previous relief efforts have included aid for survivors of the 2008 Sichuan earthquake and the October 2007 California wildfires.
Past projects and programs
The following projects and programs are no longer active.
Camp Inquiry
The Center for Inquiry organized an annual summer camp for children called Camp Inquiry, focusing on scientific literacy, critical thinking, naturalism, the arts, humanities, and humanist ethical development. Camp Inquiry has been described as "a summer camp for kids with questions"
where spooky stories were followed by "reverse engineering sessions" as
the participants were encouraged to determine the cause of an
apparently supernatural experience. Camp Inquiry has been criticised as
"Jesus Camp
in reverse"; its organisers countered that the camp is not exclusive to
atheist children and that campers are encouraged to draw their own
conclusions based on empirical and critical thinking.
CFI Institute
The Center for Inquiry Institute
offered undergraduate level online courses, seminars, and workshops in
critical thinking and the scientific outlook and its implications for
religion, human values, and the borderlands of science. In addition to
transferable undergraduate credit through the University at Buffalo
system, CFI offered a thirty credit-hour Certificate of Proficiency in
Critical Inquiry. The three-year curriculum plan offered summer sessions
at the main campus at the University at Buffalo in Amherst.
Medicine and health
The Commission for Scientific Medicine and Mental Health (CSMMH) stimulated critical scientific scrutiny of New Age medicine and the schools of psychotherapy. It supported naturalistic addiction recovery practices through Secular Organizations for Sobriety. CFI challenges the claims of alternative medicine and advocates a scientific basis for healthcare. CSMMH papers have covered topics such as pseudoscience in autism treatments and in psychiatry.
Naturalism Research Project
CFI also ran the Naturalism Research Project, a major effort to develop the theoretical and practical applications of philosophical naturalism.
As part of this project, CFI’s libraries, research facilities, and
conference areas were available to scientists and scholars to advance
the understanding of science’s methodologies and conclusions about
naturalism.
Activities of the Naturalism Research Project included lectures
and seminars by visiting fellows and scholars; academic conferences; and
support CFI publications of important research. Among the central
issues of naturalism include the exploration of varieties of naturalism;
problems in philosophy of science; the methodologies of scientific
inquiry; naturalism and humanism; naturalistic ethics; planetary ethics;
and naturalism and the biosciences.
CFI organization and locations
CFI's Rare Book Room, located at their Amherst, NY Headquarters
CFI is a nonprofit body registered as a charity in the United States. It has 17 locations in the U.S., and has 16 international branches or affiliated organizations. The organization has Centers For Inquiry in Amherst, New York (its headquarters), Los Angeles, New York City, Tampa Bay, Washington, D.C., Indiana, Austin, Chicago, San Francisco and Michigan.
International activities
CFI has branches, representation or affiliated organizations in countries around the world. It organizes its international activities under the banner Center For Inquiry Transnational. In addition, CFI holds consultative status to the United Nations as an NGO under the UN Economic and Social Council. The Center participates in UN Human Rights Council debates, for example a debate on the subject of female genital mutilation during 2014.
University exchange programs
CFI
Moscow operates an exchange program where Russian students and scholars
are able to visit CFI headquarters in Amherst and participate in a
summer institute each year. Additional international programs exist in
Germany (Rossdorf), France (Nice), Spain (Bilbao), Poland (Warsaw),
Nigeria (Ibadan), Uganda (Kampala), Kenya (Nairobi), Nepal (Kathmandu),
India (Pune) (Hyderabad), Egypt (Cairo), China (Beijing), New Zealand
(Auckland), Peru (Lima), Argentina (Buenos Aires), Senegal (Dakar),
Zambia (Lusaka), and Bangladesh (Dacca).
Centre for Inquiry Canada
CFI Canada (CFIC) is the Canadian branch of CFI Transnational, headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Justin Trottier
served as National Executive Director from 2007-2011. Originally
established and supported in part by CFI Transnational, CFI Canada has
become an independent Canadian national organization with several
provincial branches. CFI Canada has branches in Halifax, Montreal,
Ottawa, Toronto, Saskatoon, Calgary, Okanagan (Kelowna) and Vancouver.
Affiliate organizations
- Centre for Inquiry Canada
- Centre for Inquiry UK
- Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI)
- Committee for the Scientific Examination of Religion (CSER)
- Commission for Scientific Medicine and Mental Health Practice (CSMMH)
- Institute for the Secularisation of Islamic Society
- International Academy of Humanism
- Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science
In the media
CFI participates in media debates on science, health,
religion and its other areas of interest. Its "Keep Healthcare Safe
and Secular" campaign promotes scientifically sound healthcare.
It has been an outspoken critic of dubious and unscientific healthcare
practices, and engages in public debate on the merit and legality of
controversial medical techniques. In 2014, CEO Ron Lindsay publicly
criticized Stanislaw Burzynski's controversial Texas cancer clinic.
CFI campaigns for a secular society, for example in opposing the addition of prayer text on public property. The Center supports secular and free speech initiatives.
On November 14, 2006 the CFI opened its Office of Public Policy in Washington, DC
and issued a declaration "In Defense of Science and Secularism", which
calls for public policy to be based on science rather than faith. The next day the Washington Post ran an article about it entitled "Think Tank Will Promote Thinking".
In 2011, video expert James Underdown of IIG and CFI Los Angeles did an experiment for "Miracle Detective" Oprah Winfrey Network
which replicated exactly the angelic apparition that people claim cured
a 14-year-old severely disabled child at Presbyterian Hemby Children's
Hospital in Charlotte, North Carolina. The "angel" was sunlight from a hidden window, and the girl remained handicapped.
Consumer fraud lawsuit against CVS
In July 2018 CFI filed suit against CVS
in the District of Columbia for consumer fraud over its sale and
marketing of ineffective homeopathic medicine. The lawsuit in part
accuses the country’s largest drug retailer of deceiving consumers
through its misrepresentation of homeopathy’s safety and effectiveness,
wasting customers’ money and putting their health at risk. Nicholas
Little, CFI’s Vice President and General Counsel said, “CVS is taking
cynical advantage of their customers’ confusion and trust in the CVS
brand, and putting their health at risk to make a profit and they can’t
claim ignorance. If the people in charge of the country’s largest
pharmacy don’t know that homeopathy is bunk, they should be kept as far
away from the American healthcare system as possible.”
Wyndgate Country Club and Richard Dawkins, 2011
During Richard Dawkins'
October 2011 book tour, Center for Inquiry - the tour's sponsor -
signed a contract with Wyndgate Country Club in Rochester Hills,
Michigan, as the venue site. After seeing an interview with Dawkins on The O'Reilly Factor, an official at the club cancelled Dawkins' appearance. Dawkins said that the country club official accepted Bill O'Reilly's "twisted" interpretation of his book The Magic of Reality without having read it personally. Sean Faircloth
said that cancelling the reading "really violates the basic principles
of America ... The Civil Rights Act ... prohibits discrimination based
on race or religious viewpoint. ... [Dawkins has] published numerous
books ... to explain science to the public, so it's rather an affront,
to reason in general, to shun him as they did."
CFI Michigan executive director Jeff Seaver stated that "This action by
The Wyndgate illustrates the kind of bias and bigotry that nonbelievers
encounter all the time." Following the cancellation, protests and legal action by CFI against the Wyndgate Country Club were pursued. In 2013 this case was settled in favor of the Center For Inquiry.
CSH actions against faith-based initiatives
In
2007, CSH sued the Florida Department of Corrections (DOC) to block the
use of state funds in contracts to faith-based programs for released
inmates, claiming that this use is prohibited under the "No Aid"
provision or Blaine amendment
of the Florida constitution. The initial decision found in favor of the
DOC but, on appeal, the case was remanded in 2010 on just the issue of
the unconstitutionality of appropriating state funds for this purpose.
While this case was in progress, after the appellate finding,
Republican legislators began an effort to amend the Florida constitution
to remove the language of the Blaine amendment, succeeding in 2011 to
place the measure on the 2012 ballot as amendment 8.
The ballot measure failed.
In 2015, CHS (now CFI) and the state (along with its
co-defendants) both filed for summary judgement. The court granted the
state's motion in January, 2016, allowing the contested contracting
practice to continue. After consideration, CFI announced in February, 2016, that it would not appeal.
Heckled at the UN
CFI representative Josephine Macintosh was repeatedly interrupted and heckled whilst presenting the Center's position on censorship at the UN Human Rights Council. CFI advocated free speech, and opposed the punishment by Saudi authorities of Raif Badawi
for running an Internet forum, whom they accused of atheism and
liberalism. The Saudi delegation objected repeatedly to CFI's
statement. CFI drew support from American, Canadian, Irish and French
delegates.
Blasphemy Day
Blasphemy Rights Day International encourages individuals and groups to openly express their criticism of or outright contempt for religion. It was founded in 2009 by the Center for Inquiry. A student contacted the Center for Inquiry in Amherst, New York
to present the idea, which CFI then supported. Ronald Lindsay,
president and CEO of the Center for Inquiry said regarding Blasphemy
Day, "We think religious beliefs should be subject to examination and
criticism just as political beliefs are, but we have a taboo on
religion", in an interview with CNN. It takes place every September 30 to coincide with the anniversary of the publications of the controversial Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons.
Blasphemy Day and CFI's related Blasphemy Contests started (in CFI's own words) "a firestorm of controversy". The use of confrontational free speech has been a topic of debate within the Humanist movement
and cited as an example of a wider move towards New Atheism and away from the more conciliatory approach historically associated with Humanism.
