Center for Inquiry New York City

 
 
 

Who are we?

We are Muslims of varying degrees of religiousness:
Some of us are practicing Muslims who simply want to take a more objective look at out teachings.
Some of us want to discuss certain tenets of our faith that don’t sit well with us.
Some of us have come to the realization that organized religion isn’t for us and want to discuss why.

What do we want?

We want to find the truth, no matter what it is, and fight for our right to follow it.
We want to create a safe place for people to exchange thoughts and ideas that we were taught not to talk about.We want to support each other and help each other deal with family questions and formulate answers.
We want to give others the chance to choose what they want for themselves, without fear of death, imprisonment, or persecution.

Is it safe to attend?

We will invite people to our meetings publicly but the meeting location will only be known to people who have attended a meeting in the past. So there are only two ways for a new member, or observer, to attend the meeting.
1- By coming with an existing member.
2- By replying to one of the ads and the volunteer group leader, Ibrahim, will personally talk to them to make sure they are either Muslim-ish or moderate enough Muslims that they would not harm members or reveal their identity. Please send inquiries to [masked]

And as this group is still in its infancy, we would like to keep it limited to people from Muslim backgrounds, as this will help us talk freely and comfortably knowing that we all come from the same place.

We will be meeting every two weeks, on Wednesdays, at 7PM, somewhere in Manhattan.

 
 
 

You MUST sign up at the link below (signing up on meetup is not enough.)
Webinar Registration - Zoom

They will send you the zoom link for the talk.

Kermit Pattison - Fossil Men: The Quest for the Oldest Skeleton and the Origins of Humankind
Why do major paradigm shifts so regularly disrupt our understanding of human origins? In the century and a half since Darwin, our knowledge of our own evolution has advanced far beyond the most optimistic aspirations of the founders of evolutionary biology. But this scientific history also can be viewed as a long series of debunkings. Why are we humans compelled to so regularly rewrite the story of our origins?

Author Kermit Pattison will discuss what our history of studying ourselves reveals about scientific progress in general—and the pursuit of human origins in particular. Pattison is the author of Fossil Men: The Quest for the Oldest Skeleton and the Origins of Humankind (William Morrow/HarperCollins Publishers, 2020). This talk will examine some of the major chapters in the study of human evolution, the rise and fall of popular theories, and how skeptics can become more informed, intelligent consumers of scientific information.

Pattison has written for the New York Times, GQ, and the BBC. The New York Times Book Review praised Pattison as “every bit as good as the best science writers.” His first book earned praise from The New York Times Book Review (“riveting account”), The Spectator (“a dazzling journey into deep geological time…meticulously researched…visceral and penetrating”), and more.

 
 
 

Food For Thought (F4T) is a friendly weekend brunch for people who enjoy discussing serious and "serious" topics with other smart, engaging people. We welcome everyone, whether you are a card-carrying philosopher or are maybe not quite sure who Plato was. The only qualification you need is that you enjoy thinking and eating and can do both at the same time!

The F4T Brunch will meet on the second and fourth Sundays of each month. We will have a new suggested topic each month, though wandering off topic is also allowed! (Good luck trying to stop that from happening.) These will span Science, Philosophy, Politics, History, Economics, and more. Attendees will be invited to propose the topic for the next brunch.

We are a friendly group, but we must restrict the attendance to 12 members , so we can all participate in a common conversation. And if you sign up, we expect you to show up! Two no-shows and you will be blocked from attending. (If you can't make it at the last minute, just change your RSVP.)

To keep up to date on CFI-NYC events, you should sign up for our new, improved monthly newsletter! Just go to https://cfi-nyc.org/ and click Receive E-mails, at the bottom right.

 
 
 

Hello Friends of CFI! We are happy to introduce this new monthly Sunday night Zoom event for people who crave serious conversations! Now that our Sunday brunch, Food for Thought, has returned to the 'real world,' we wanted to create another event to keep our many new 'zoom-able' friends in the loop with CFI. Hence-- (tah-dah!), we are introducing the "CFI Third-Sunday Roundtable" (C3SR for those in the know).

Since it's a monthly series we will have a little more time to choose topics and for everyone to do the readings. As a change of format, in each meeting we will pose three questions about the reading, and ask for volunteers to give their answers. (Questions: 1- What are the main ideas in the reading? 2- What is most surprising idea? 3- Do you see any weaknesses in the thesis?) Then, anyone can ask the speaker why they think that, or where they get their facts, or just say, 'That was Brilliant' (in case it was Laurence or Harry speaking!)

So, on with the show. Topic to be announced in the chat.