Last week we launched a petition calling on BC’s new Minister of Health to allow Humanists to perform marriages. Since then we’ve spoken with SpiceFM, CBC, Early Edition and CKNW and had nearly 500 people sign the petition.

In those conversations, and over social media, we’ve fielded a number of questions about our petition. While our report The Case for Humanist Marriage in BC answers many of those concerns, it’s worth doing a quick response to the most frequently asked questions.

By Melissa J. Gismondi, University of Virginia

In the aftermath of Charlottesville, it’s worth asking: Are Canadians really less racist than Americans?

A recent issue of Rolling Stone magazine — with a photo of a smiling Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on the cover - asks: “Why can’t he be our president?” It’s just the latest example of the global media’s current fascination with Trudeau and Canada and their supposed stark contrast to Donald Trump and the United States.

As a Canadian scholar at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, I’ve watched with fascination for months as media pundits both abroad and back home have promoted the idea of “Canadian exceptionalism.”

When I first started doing experimental biology, I noticed that we only looked at males.

I was in a fly lab — a very good one — and we could have looked at males or females, or both, but we didn’t. We collected female flies to mate, of course (flies need males and females to reproduce, just like humans), but we ran all of the experiments on males. We weren’t alone.

Many labs I interacted with did the same thing. In fact, most of the labs I talked to only worked with males. Some couldn’t remember when they had last tested a female subject. Maybe coincidentally, maybe not, all of the labs I can remember talking with were run by men.

If pressed for a reason why they only tested males, the usual answer was that biology was biology and what we find in males, we find in females, but females were more variable. I’ve even written a sentence stating this in a paper.

Canada is emerging from a decade in which our government systematically dismantled the research capacity of our nation.

The Liberal government has touted their support for science and evidence-based policies. One of their first actions was to put together an expert panel to review how fundamental research is funded in Canada to take stock of the current ecosystem and see where improvements are needed.

We will not be going to the Supreme Court of Canada this fall.

Last year, we joined an intervention with the Canadian Secular Alliance at the BC Court of Appeal over the proposed law school at evangelical Trinity Western University. The court ultimately ruled with TWU and didn't address the arguments we made.

We had hoped to expand upon those arguments - that there are strict limits to what religious rights an organization can claim - at Canada's highest court but ultimately only a small number of the dozens of groups that had asked to intervene were allowed through.

We'll continue to look to promote secular values in Canadian law and will watch this potentially landmark case when it's heard in November but unfortunately we have to do so from the sidelines this time.

Later today a BC court will decide whether to convict fundamentalist Mormons Winston Blackmore and James Oler with polygamy. They are alleged to have married over 30 women between them.

This trial brings into conflict some of the values at the core of Humanism.

On the one hand, the principles of liberty ask us to support the free association of individuals, including in non-traditional relationships (for example, same sex couples or polyamorous relationships). In fact, we had UBC Philosophy Professor Carrie Jenkins talk to our Vancouver group last month about the evolution of the societal concepts of love. Similarly, our allies at the BC Civil Liberties Association have argued vociferously that the polygamy law is unconstitutional.

On the other hand, Humanists have a deep concern over how religious dogma leads to exploitation and violence against women and girls in this community. We have a duty to fight for the oppressed and to seek to reduce injustice in the world.

Whatever today's verdict, it is not likely to be the final word on this case.

If you are interested in hearing more about the details of this case, follow Vancouver Sun columnist Daphne Bramham, who has been covering this story for years and will be speaking at our Vancouver meeting in August.

Already 40,000 people across this province have been forced to evacuate their homes as wildfires rage across the province. While firefighters are making heroic efforts to hold back the spread, there's still no rain in the forecast.

Last year, when thousands evacuated Fort McMurray, Alberta, you responded with thousands of dollars to support the Red Cross' relief efforts. If you're so moved again, consider volunteering to relief centres across the province or donating to the Red Cross' BC Fires appeal.

If Humanism compels us to do anything, it's to help others in their time of need.

And if you're in one of the affected areas, please let us know that you're okay and if there's anything the Humanist community in BC can do for you. Even if you have a positive story in the midst of this crisis, we'd love to share it.

By Sandra M. Riano, Royal Roads University

Anti-migrant sentiment has been big news in Canada and around the world in recent years, and new research suggests that although media coverage of refugee issues has improved, it still needs work.

Racist, anti-refugee and Islamophobic views have been blamed for the mosque shooting in Quebec City, the travel ban in the United States, Brexit and increasing support for far-right nationalist political parties. Some observers argue that the media encourages fear and hate towards refugees, while others counter that news outlets do their best with the information and resources at hand.

By Nicole Letourneau, University of Calgary

In the Trump era, we have seen dramatic reductions in dialogue on important issues of the day. We have seen attacks on the legitimacy of science. We have seen attacks on trusted news sources, derided as fake. On social media, one person’s opinion, whether expert or not, often seems to outweigh all other forms of evidence. Belief in an opinion is treated as a legitimate form of evidence. For many people today, beliefs about vaccination or breastfeeding or marijuana inform everyday important decisions that affect their health and the public’s health.

This is dangerous.

By Xavier Symons, University of Notre Dame Australia and Udo Schüklenk, Queen's University, Ontario

Euthanasia debates often focus on people experiencing unbearable physiological or psychological suffering. But research suggests “loss of autonomy” is the primary reason for requesting euthanasia, even among patients with terminal cancer. There have also been suggestions existential suffering could be one of the main motivations behind such requests.

Existential suffering refers to an individual experiencing a lack of meaning or sense of purposelessness in life. Such sentiments bring feelings of weariness, numbness, futility, anxiety, hopelessness and loss of control, which may lead a dying patient to express a desire for death.