Trump is pushing a cultural counter-revolution by ordering institutions like the Smithsonian and national parks to purge “divisive” language, effectively whitewashing history to fit Christian nationalist ideology. While this reacts to past excesses of left-wing identity politics, Ronald A. Lindsay argues the real need is an honest, unbiased account of America’s history—warts and all.

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https://secularhumanism.org/exclusive/comments-on-the-continuing-cultural-counter-revolution/

About the Author: Ronald A. Lindsay is the former president and CEO of the Center for Inquiry, recent interim general counsel for CFI, and editor of Free Inquiry magazine.

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Free Inquiry Audio Edition is a production of The Council for Secular Humanism and the Center for Inquiry.

Ronald A. Lindsay critiques what he calls “Hallmark Catholicism,” exemplified by Jesuit astronomer Guy Consolmagno, whose vague, feel-good notion of God avoids conflict with science by reducing faith to metaphors and personal feelings. Lindsay argues that such nebulous theology, while comforting, is intellectually vacuous and ultimately shields traditional dogmas—like eternal damnation for nonbelievers—that remain central to the Catholic Church, even as atheists are dismissed as “intemperate” for pointing out the contradictions.

Read this article and find accompanying references at:

https://secularhumanism.org/exclusive/hallmark-catholicism/

About the Author: Ronald A. Lindsay is the former president and CEO of the Center for Inquiry, recent interim general counsel for CFI, and editor of Free Inquiry magazine.

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Free Inquiry Audio Edition is a production of The Council for Secular Humanism and the Center for Inquiry.

Russell Blackford critiques the term “woke right,” arguing that while it draws a superficial analogy between progressive “wokeness” and certain right-wing behaviors, it obscures the Right’s long-standing history of intolerance, censorship, and identity-based politics.

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https://secularhumanism.org/2025/07/why-its-wrong-to-write-of-a-woke-right/

About the Author: Russell Blackford is a conjoint senior lecturer in philosophy at the University of Newcastle (Australia) and a regular columnist for Free Inquiry. His latest book, The Tyranny of Opinion: Conformity and the Future of Liberalism (2019), is published by Bloomsbury Academic.

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Free Inquiry Audio Edition is a production of The Council for Secular Humanism and the Center for Inquiry.

Jonathan Simmons argues that secular humanism offers unique tools for resisting authoritarianism—prioritizing evidence over dogma, individual agency over collective obedience, and free inquiry over prescribed truths. By cultivating rational discourse, moral courage, and a commitment to universal human dignity, humanists can confront the creeping normalization of authoritarianism without reliance on divine authority.

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https://secularhumanism.org/2025/07/the-humanist-response-to-authoritarianism/

About the Author:

Jonathan Simmons, PhD, is an independent scholar and higher education professional whose research examines nonreligion and social movements in North America. His doctoral work analyzed moral identity and activism in Canadian atheist communities, and his current research focuses on Indigenous religious change and nonreligion. His scholarly articles have appeared in Secular Studies, Religion and Gender, and Social Movement Studies, examining topics ranging from feminist atheist activism to the intersections of nonreligion with social justice movements.

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Free Inquiry Audio Edition is a production of The Council for Secular Humanism and the Center for Inquiry.

Joe McAvoy’s reflective essay recounts his devout Catholic upbringing on Long Island in the 1960s and how personal and institutional betrayals—especially within the Church—shattered his faith and awakened a lifelong skepticism. Through vivid memories of rigid doctrine, family turmoil, and abusive clergy, McAvoy traces the painful unraveling of once-unquestioned beliefs.

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https://secularhumanism.org/2025/07/catholic/

About the Author: Joe McAvoy’s short fiction, essays, sport and music pieces, satire, and poetry have appeared in magazines and literary journals worldwide (thanks to the internet) including in Catamaran, The Sport Digest, Speculative Grammarian, Points in Case, The Timberline Review, and many others. He lives in Portland, Oregon, with his wife, Kyle, and their English Lab, Rosie.

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Free Inquiry Audio Edition is a production of The Council for Secular Humanism and the Center for Inquiry.

D.A. Wood reexamines the Eden myth through an atheist and existential lens, arguing that Adam and Eve’s “fall” was not a moral failure but the birth of moral awareness—an awakening to shame, choice, and consequence. Through satire, theology, and philosophy, Wood portrays the Garden story not as divine justice but as a tragicomic origin of freedom under authoritarian rule.

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https://secularhumanism.org/2025/07/condemned-to-freedom-an-atheist-strolls-through-eden/

About the Author: D. A. Wood teaches philosophy at Xavier and Dillard Universities in New Orleans. He is the author of La Minga, Canaäd, and Epistemic Decolonization and the editor/translator of Amílcar Cabral’s Resistance and Decolonization.

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Free Inquiry Audio Edition is a production of The Council for Secular Humanism and the Center for Inquiry.

Henry Grynnsten explores the Genesis story of Adam and Eve through a psychological and symbolic lens, arguing that its deeper meaning reflects the universal human experience of childhood awakening—specifically, the moment of becoming self-conscious about nudity and mortality.

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https://secularhumanism.org/2025/07/in-a-state-of-nature/

About the Author: Henry Grynnsten is a writer living in Sweden. Recently, he has become interested in topics such as consciousness, the existence of God, the simulation hypothesis, the likely improbability of super-intelligence (in humans, aliens, and machines), and other contested questions.

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Free Inquiry Audio Edition is a production of The Council for Secular Humanism and the Center for Inquiry.

Ronald A. Lindsay examines how religious fundamentalism—Islamic, Jewish, and Christian—fuels violence and political intransigence in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He argues that sectarian zealotry on all sides perpetuates brutality and impedes peace, making religion a destructive force in the region.

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https://secularhumanism.org/exclusive/the-bane-of-religion-in-the-mideast/

About the Author: Ronald A. Lindsay is the former president and CEO of the Center for Inquiry, recent interim general counsel for CFI, and editor of Free Inquiry magazine.

Subscribe to Free Inquiry: https://secularhumanism.org/subscribe/

Free Inquiry Audio Edition is a production of The Council for Secular Humanism and the Center for Inquiry.