Know Your Neighbor: The Center for Inquiry
The Center for Inquiry (CFI) or its predecessor organizations have been active for forty years, working through both advocacy and education to protect secular government and fundamental human rights, to promote reason and science to the general public, and to end the stigmas attached to being nonreligious.
CFI cherishes the desire of the founders to maintain a proper relationship between religion and government, and the strong protections for freedom of religion, belief, and expression they included in the United States Constitution. These protections allow for a pluralistic, tolerant society in which individuals can believe or not believe, and live out their beliefs free from discrimination or harm.
However, we also recognize that there exist efforts to base American identity or laws on sectarian religion, as well as widespread misconceptions and stereotypes about both religious and nonreligious minorities. And we believe that Americans of all religious affiliations — and those of none — must work together to protect the secular heritage and character of the American government.
To combat efforts to create laws based on sectarian religious beliefs, and to protect freedom for all Americans, CFI’s Office of Public Policy and Legal Department advocate at all levels of government for laws that respect a naturalistic and humanistic understanding of the world which is accessible and intelligible to all people. These efforts include lobbying Congress and the Administration, filing briefs with the Supreme Court, and advocating at the United Nations in New York and Geneva.
To combat misconceptions and stereotypes regarding religious and nonreligious minorities, CFI’s Office of Public of Policy also works with a wide range of religious groups on issues of shared concern. For example, we have worked with Muslim groups in urging the Department of Justice to investigate the NYPD’s surveillance of Muslims; with Christian groups on crimes committed by ISIS; and with Hindu groups on human rights violations in Bangladesh.
In addition, through our Outreach Department, CFI engages in grassroots efforts to build flourishing communities that host regular events and create goodwill among local populations. These efforts include discussion groups, civic days, English-learning classes, secular sobriety groups, interfaith efforts, a wide range of social events, and educational events featuring leading intellectuals, activists, authors, and religious and community leaders.
And, finally, through our magazine Free Inquiry and our podcast Point of Inquiry, CFI seeks to create spaces to get past sound bites and foster a more comprehensive dialogue on, and understanding of, the role of religion in society.
We at CFI believe that we truly are Better Together. The same set of rights that protect the nonreligious individual who wishes to live free of religion, and even criticize theological propositions, also protects the religious believer who seeks to live devoutly and pray in peace. Further, the same respect granted to certain groups that allows them to live free of stereotypes should be extended to all groups. Attacks on any individual’s rights to freedom of religion, belief, and expression, and stereotypes about groups based simply on their religious affiliation — these tear at the fundamental fabric of American democracy, and hurt us all.
