A proposal to reduce tax exemptions for religious organizations and charities in Langley City failed on Monday evening following concerted protest from local churches. Councillor Rudy Storteboom presented, for discussion, a motion that would have reduced property tax exemptions for 29 church and non-profit properties. No one seconded the motion.

Currently, the Government of BC provides automatic tax breaks on houses of worship while municipalities can create exemptions for other properties, such as parking lots. The proposal before Langley City would only have affected this latter category.

By Katie Edwards, University of Sheffield

Star Wars: The Force Awakens has been trending on Twitter and become staple media fodder – so far, so predictable. Less predictable perhaps, is that the Lord’s Prayer and the Church of England has too, after three of the UK’s major cinema chains refused to show the Church of England’s advert for JustPray.uk before the new Star Wars film.

The press has attributed the refusal to concerns about causing offence to audiences, prompting religious media commentators (Giles Fraser), celebrity academics (Richard Dawkins) and that bastion of gaffedom, Boris Johnson, to gnash their collective teeth.

Through our weekly newsletter, we like to let you know about our upcoming events as well as a number of issues and campaigns that we think might be of interest to you. Let me know if you have any suggestions to include in future roundups. Email: [email protected]

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DISCLAIMER: The opinions which appear in this roundup are not necessarily shared by all or even most of the members and board of the BC Humanist Association.

By Sarah Lyons-Padilla, Stanford University and Michele Gelfand, University of Maryland

The discovery that several of the Paris attackers were European nationals has fueled concern about Muslim immigrants becoming radicalized in the West.

Some politicians have expressed views that the best way to avoid homegrown terrorists is to shut the door.

The refugee migration debate turned even more contentious after authorities found a Syrian passport at the scene of the attack. Poland is now turning back refugees, more than half of American governors have vowed to refuse Middle Easterners seeking a new beginning, and US House Speaker Ryan has asked for a “pause” on the federal Syrian refugee program.

The B.C. government continues to pass on opportunity after opportunity to show country-wide leadership on physician assisted dying.

E-mail your MLA today. Tell your representatives to speak out for patients' rights

Ex-military Humanists wrote to the Grandview Legion today asking for future Remembrance Day ceremonies to represent all who have served.

In a letter to the Vancouver Sun on Monday, November 16, Suzanne Salter wrote that this year's ceremony at Grandview Cenotaph included "long prayers and Christian references to the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ" but "there wasn't an attempt to include other religions into the ceremony." The ceremony was organized by the Royal Canadian Legion, Grandview Branch #179.

Editor's note: Today is Transgender Day of Remembrance, which memorializes those who have been killed due to their gender identity. In honour, we are sharing two articles on our blog. The second, below, was originally posted on TheHumanist.com by Callie Wright.

Remembering Our Dead: Transgender Day of Remembrance Sadly Still Needed

Since 1999, on November 20 people around the world (today in more than 185 cities and twenty countries) observe Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR). On this day communities come together to remember those lost to anti-transgender violence in the past year. The event began as a memorial to an African-American transgender woman from Allston, Massachusetts, named Rita Hester, who was murdered in her own apartment in 1998. The community held a vigil in her honor, and since then, the date has become the annual Transgender Day of Remembrance.

Editor's note: Today is Transgender Day of Remembrance, which memorializes those who have been killed due to their gender identity. In honour, we are sharing two articles on our blog. The first, below, was originally posted on The Conversation US yesterday for International Toilet Day. It highlights the importance of ensuring transgender students have access to the bathroom they choose. Much of the opposition to laws and policies that will protect transgender rights comes from evangelical faith groups.

Robert McMann gave us permission to share this story about challenging an attempt to insert prayers into schools by the Lloydminister Public School Board in Saskatchewan.

My story has to do with the prayer in public schools conversations, debates, rage, et al that was being discussed here around a month ago. Some of us are still dealing with it, others have managed to make some positive changes. This is an example of the latter.

Through our weekly newsletter, we like to let you know about our upcoming events as well as a number of issues and campaigns that we think might be of interest to you. Let me know if you have any suggestions to include in future roundups. Email: [email protected]

And for the latest news items, be sure to like the BC Humanists on Facebook and follow @BCHumanist on Twitter.

DISCLAIMER: The opinions which appear in the newsletter and in this roundup of all the news which didn't fit within the newsletter are not necessarily shared by all or even most of the members and board of the BC Humanist Association.