Happening now! You can still hop in by registering at us02web.zoom.us/webinar/regist…
https://twitter.com/center4inquiry/status/1374444852507643920
Here's a look at why the legal landscape is so bloody treacherous for the secular movement right now. Look who got to pick all the judges (in just one term). 
The right is appointing judges who are young and with a particularly extremely Christian nationalist bent. Nick says they frankly don't think nonbelievers even have rights.
The secular movement is a victim of its own success, Nick says. The religious folks who are left as America secularizes are the extremists.
The way out? "It's gonna take time," says Nick. Maybe we need a SCOTUS justice who comes from a specifically secular perspective.
What can regular people do? Nick says the religious right has power because "they won that. ... They showed up, and we didn't." We need not to just vote, but RUN for office at every level. "You have so much more influence on a local level than you do on a presidential level."
The worst SCOTUS decisions are yet to come. "It's gonna be bad," says Nick. First up will probably the overturning of Roe v. Wade and outlawing abortion. Even if Roberts votes to keep abortion rights, you still need Gorsuch or Kavanaugh. "That should terrify everyone."
it does.
Roe v Wade was based on Griswold v Connecticut, so contraception could be next, says Nick.
Then there's death with dignity, LGBTQ rights, all fall under notions of privacy that this court doesn't recognize.
Then there's death with dignity, LGBTQ rights, all fall under notions of privacy that this court doesn't recognize.
More: Religious monuments on state property, state funding of religious schools, end of civil rights protections for anyone employed by religious orgs, allowing gov't-subsidized religious orgs to refuse to offer services to LGBTQ folks. Etcetera etcetera.
Switching gears: Nick says CFI is well positioned to pivot to science/pseudoscience, protecting Americans from quackery.
Nick just blew his skeptic street cred by saying he loves lavender oil. (We kid.)
On homeopathy: Even putting aside badly regulated homeopathy that makes kids sick, the real problem is that it's sold to people as "real medicine," and people will rely on that instead of real medical treatments. And of course there's the outright fraud.
Nick wants to work on how we can do things like take on "grief vampire" psychics who victimize people who are grieving or traumatized, how we can help people harmed by fake medicine, etc. Not just pointing out that pseudoscience/paranormal is wrong or silly.
"Pseudoscience leads to global pandemics. Pseudoscience leads us to existential threats on global warming."
Nick assures us he is not getting the Big Pharma/George Soros shill checks. Melissa asks them to get in touch.
Why such an emphasis on litigation? Nick says we work many other angles, but sometimes "you need to hit people in the pocketbook" (meaning, say, the retailers/peddlers of pseudoscientific fake medicine)
This looks like real medicine, doesn't it? It's a homeopathic cold and flu treatment with literally no actual active ingredient in it, despite the diluted duck liver that is no longer in it. Yyyyyyep.
Our research shows that people feel ripped off when they know what homeopathy actually is. centerforinquiry.org/press_releases…
Here's our suit against Walmart over their sale and marketing of homeopathic garbage. centerforinquiry.org/press_releases…
We started by suing CVS! Here's a video about it!
Here's what colloidal silver can do to you. Maybe we can do something about this being sold as a medicine for COVID.
Nick is firm on this: People who buy homeopathy, colloidal silver, etc., are not the problem. They are desperate, or don't know any better. It's the people who DO know better and are profiting off of their suffering. "This is an area where CFI can make a difference."
Nick says, "I'm always ready for questions." Be skeptical.
Q: Do folks in the judiciary think there's no such thing as church-state separation?
A: There is a narrow view of it, ie., the gov't can't "establish" any one religion. We take a broader view, of course.
A: There is a narrow view of it, ie., the gov't can't "establish" any one religion. We take a broader view, of course.
Nick's @SkeptInquirer piece, "Suing for Science." skepticalinquirer.org/2019/09/suing-…
Now talking about Secular Celebrants, which you can BECOME if you WANT by signing up for our training session in April! secure.centerforinquiry.net/secular-celebr…
Nick talking about the great legal collaborations CFI has done with groups like @AmericanAtheist, @ffrf, @americansunited, @ACLU, @americnhumanist, etc
Nick is being pinned on his superhero/costumed vigilantes position by CFI comms director Paul Fidalgo, who may also be running this twitter account.
Paul was somewhat bulldozed.
Paul was somewhat bulldozed.
That was an excellent conversation! Thank you Melissa and Nick! Video of this event will be available tomorrow at centerforinquiry.org/video/
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