As we usher in 2026, we find ourselves at the end of a year that felt like a fever dream. If 2025 taught us anything, it is that when humanity abandons reason, the consequences are not just academic, they are existential.
The Cost of Dogma: 2025’s “Cascade of Lies”
We entered 2025 witnessing what historians are already calling a “cascade of lies” in the highest halls of power. From the White House to the digital squares of Europe, we saw a resurgence of “post-truth” politics—where the economy, immigration, and even the basic operation of the Panama Canal were subjected to mass delusion rather than data.
This wasn’t just limited to politics. We saw the tangible danger of Science Denial when Florida proposed removing all vaccine mandates, threatening a resurgence of preventable diseases for a generation. We watched the “New Denial” of climate change shift from “it’s not happening” to “solutions are a totalitarian plot,” delaying critical action while our planet continued to warm. For many, getting “stuck in an idea” became more important than the lives of their neighbors.
Sparks of Hope: The Rationalist Rebellion
But where there is dogma, there is also defiance. 2025 was also the year the “Rationalist Rebellion” proved its worth.
- Human Rights Victories: We celebrated the High Court of Saint Lucia for overturning archaic laws criminalizing same-sex relationships—a massive win for the Eastern Caribbean. In Europe, the EU’s top court stood firm, ruling that all member states must recognize same-sex marriages, ensuring that love and law are no longer bounded by borders.
- Scientific Triumphs: While some denied science, others used it to save us. We saw AI-driven drug discovery (the CRT model) accelerate at a pace that felt like magic, and the ITER project reached a historic milestone in nuclear fusion, bringing us one step closer to a future of infinite, clean energy.
- Pure Bravery: We saw it in the 1,500 marchers at KyivPride, who took to the streets despite the threats of war and air raids, proving that the fight for human dignity does not pause for a crisis.
A Resolution for 2026: RISE Together
To the human rights activists, the skeptics debunking the latest “hoax,” and the LGBTQ+ community standing tall in the face of Kazakh “anti-propaganda” laws – you are the reason we exist.
At Freethinkers International, we enter 2026 with a renewed commitment to our RISE values: Reasoning, Integrity, Support, and Empathy. We don’t just want to “hope” for a better year; we want to engineer one.
In 2026, let us choose the lab over the legend, the data over the dogma, and respect over the “cancel culture” of the closed-minded.
Happy New Year. Let’s keep fighting for the truth.
