Free Inquiry

11/06/2025

Ron Lindsay's latest "Unprayerful Reflections" column considers the value of checks and balances.

Everyone presumably has some dim memory of civics class wherein the genius of the American separation of powers was discussed. Through the U.S. Constitution ...

10/30/2025

"Religious revival meetings would just be the next step in President Donald Trump’s efforts to harness religion in service of his agenda.

"But you say government sponsorship of revival meetings would be unconstitutional? Oh, yeah, this is an administration that really worries about respecting the Constitution."

Sean Feucht, a far-right Christian songwriter/singer and preacher, has claimed during a podcast that he has been working with officials in the Trump adminis ...

10/23/2025

"What bothered me most about this review was this comment by the reviewer: “atheism is too boring to hold the attention of literate people for more than a few years at a time.” Atheism boring? Au contraire. ... I can’t think of anything more boring than sitting through a church service, with its mind-numbing routines, reiteration of the same tired, gospel fables, accompanied by a sermon full of trite advice lifted from refrigerator magnets."

Yesterday, I read a review in the Wall Street Journal of Charles Murray’s new book, Taking Religion Seriously—a singularly inapt title if taking religion se ...

10/23/2025

Many suspect that this collapse was orchestrated by opportunistic forces long seeking to delegitimize the secular narrative of Bangladesh.

Prelude: The Revolt of ‘Gen Z’ and Fall of Sheikh Hasina In July 2024, a nationwide revolt erupted in Bangladesh over a civil service job-quota policy. That ...

10/02/2025

"A more significant threat is from the informal alliance among several authoritarian countries—Russia, China, North Korea, and Iran—which clearly are coordinating their efforts and assisting each other, not only with Russia’s efforts to destroy democracy in Ukraine, but with respect to long-range plans to weaken Western democracies."

My wife and I are off to Spain in a few days, so this will be my last column for a couple weeks. I mention Spain not that you’re especially interested in my ...

09/25/2025

CFI's UN advocate Kacem El Ghazzali addressed the Council during Item 4 General Debate...presenting examples of how both North African nations weaponize legislation to suppress freedom of expression and target nonreligious and atheist voices.

At the sixtieth session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, the Center for Inquiry (CFI) delivered a forceful condemnation of Morocco and Algeria for ...

09/25/2025

"Can our secular democracy survive? Maybe—but it’s facing a severe test."

Fundamentalist Christians have always been an important part of the MAGA movement. Although perhaps not a majority of Donald Trump voters, they have been hi ...

09/24/2025

Editor Ronald Lindsay details the contents of the new issue of Free Inquiry, which is now available to read onine (or look for a physical copy on better newsstands nationwide).
https://secularhumanism.org/2025/09/in-this-issue-october-november-2025/

09/24/2025

The Washington Post explores the latest bit of End Times nonsense that's been all over social media.

“RaptureTok” has taken over the internet as influencers prepare for the world to end Tuesday, or Wednesday at the latest.

09/19/2025

The digital edition of the October/November 2025 issue of Free Inquiry is online and ready to read! Remember...subscribers get full access to all articles, including this month's cover feature by Richard Dawkins. Check it out and subscribe today (if you haven't already)...
https://secularhumanism.org/volume/no-6-vol-45/

09/18/2025

"Trump clearly plans to take advantage of Kirk’s murder to crack down on his political opponents. How far will he take it? I doubt we’re going to be faced with an outright dictatorship—but then again how many people predicted we would see the military patrolling our streets."

As should be obvious coming from the editor of a magazine with the name of “Free Inquiry,” I condemn Charlie Kirk’s murder, which appears to have been polit ...

09/11/2025

The interesting question is not why someone like Hashem would peddle this nonsense but why there are always people willing to slavishly follow “prophets” no matter how ridiculous and transparently self-serving their claims.

The Messiah—or, if you prefer, the Mahdi—has arrived. Mooresville, Indiana, native Abdullah Hashem is a founder of the Ahmadi Religion of Peace and Light. A ...