By Drew Margolin, Cornell University

The Bastille Day terror attack in Nice, France, brought the usual outpouring of emotion and expressions of support through social media. Front and center is the use of the #PrayForNice hashtag.

While this hashtag began years ago, it is becoming increasingly scrutinized as a social and political act. For example, after the Nice attacks, a number of tweets expressed frustration with the relative outpouring of sympathy for Nice compared with other cities that had been targeted by violent attacks, notably those in the Middle East and Africa.

medina was attacked a couple days ago and there was no #prayformedina no one even talked about it. https://t.co/cy3vOyCHfH

— ikram (@Ikramnorr) 15 July 2016

What could lead to this accusation of indifference, and what should we conclude from it?

I think there's a fair amount of evidence which says that such things as prayer would be helpful to people. -Darryl Plecas, MLA

When I presented to the BC Legislature's Health Committee last week, I didn't expect to get into an argument over whether there's any scientific evidence for the legitimacy of intercessory prayers.

Yet after discussing the limitations of spirituality-based treatment programs for many atheists, Abbotsford South MLA Darryl Plecas began arguing that prayer can help "people with all kinds of disorders."

You can read more coverage of the exchange on the Friendly Atheist blog or read the transcript of my presentation.

The entire event was quite an insight into the continued strength of religion in BC politics.

~Ian

At a public hearing for the BC Legislature's Standing Committee on Health today, the BC Humanist Association called for an end to the government's tacit endorsement of religious based addictions recovery programs.

Many of the treatment centres in the province still rely on the 12-step recovery model of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA). And some addictions specialists include attendance at AA meetings as part of their treatment plan. AA is based on a religious view that treats addictions as a sin in need of moral salvation by God or a higher power.

Courts in the USA have repeatedly found that AA is religious and mandating attendance at AA to be an infringement of the establishment clause.

The 12-steps of Alcoholics Anonymous are steeped with religious and theistic language.

So it's quite surprising when we heard about an AA group for agnostics in Vancouver that was delisted by its parent organization or when we heard from an atheist who lost his job when he refused to follow a treatment plan required attendance at AA.

Tomorrow our executive director, Ian Bushfield, will be bringing these cases to the BC legislature's health committee and arguing for making secular and evidence-based recovery options the norm in BC.

You'll be able to read our full submission on our website tomorrow.

By Benjamin Huskinson, Queen's University Belfast

In the early 1980s, the US’s religious right seemed an unstoppable behemoth in terms of political clout. The Moral Majority, Focus on the Family, and other groups came to dominate public policy discussions by mobilising large groups of conservative Christians into a formidable force. Over time, however, fundamentalist voting blocs simply lost ground to larger, more diverse coalitions, and the heft of big evangelical organisations has slowly waned, making room for other voices in public policy.

So at a glance, it might appear that politically influential conservative Christians have had their day. But look more closely, and the movement looks to be in rude health.

Over the past year, our Sunday meetings in Vancouver have attracted an increasing number of interesting and insightful speakers on topics ranging from free will to creationist museums to the Syrian refugee crisis.

While most of these meetings have been recorded and posted to our new podcast, being there in person allows you to connect with fellow members and take part in the enlightening discussions that always follow.

So if you've never been to one of our meetings, and live in Metro Vancouver, I'd encourage you to come and check one out.

By Charles Hankla, Georgia State University

Back in 1991, the eminent political scientist Samuel Huntington pointed out that democratic transitions around the world often come in waves.

He pointed to a “third wave” of democratization that began in the 1970s with Spain and Portugal and continued into the 1980s, particularly in Eastern Europe and Latin America. After he wrote his book, this liberal wave seemed only to pick up speed, with transitions in the 1990s in parts of Africa and Asia.

Sadly, today we seem to be experiencing an “illiberal wave.” This wave, which has left no part of the world untouched, is not necessarily about a return to authoritarian government. Nor is it about liberalism as commonly understood in American politics.

The petition, launched last week, is only the latest effort to repeal Canada's blasphemy law.

Over the past few years, numerous columnists, civil liberties groups and legal experts have called for the law to be repealed. If you're not convinced that the law needs to go, read some of these links.

And make sure to sign and share the petition.

The BC Civil Liberties Association has today launched a challenge to the assisted dying bill that became law earlier this month. Under the restrictions passed by the government, 25-year old Julia Lamb is not able to choose to end her intolerable suffering.

Yesterday a Vancouver woman came forward who had been approved to have an assisted death under the Carter decision but has lost that option as she does not qualify under the new law.

Meanwhile, Christian doctors in Ontario are threatening access with a legal challenge to that government's requirement that doctors provide an effective referral. One of the Christian doctors told The Globe and Mail, “I think the patient is of greater value than their preference.”

It is abundantly clear that the law has failed to protect Canadian's right to personal autonomy and those who value suffering more than human dignity are going to continue to fight against choice.

The secular community must step forward to make the arguments in favour of compassion and choice. Help make sure that we're able to keep up this fight by donating to the BC Humanist Association today.

Evolution is a fact.

Evolution is so established as a scientific fact that I’m not actually going to spend time proving that here. Instead you can go read entire databases debunking anti-evolution myths.

So it should be fair and uncontroversial to say that something like Biblical creationism, which offers an alternate and incompatible hypothesis for the diversity of life, is a religious myth, a story or even a superstition.

But apparently doing just that crosses the line for some people.