Latest Updates

Small victory in Chilliwack Gideon Bible distribution kerfuffle

“We actually aren’t distributing the Gideon Bible,” she said. “It is not being distributed to Grade 5 students or in our schools.” Novak said she wouldn’t authorize permission slips to get either the Gideon book or the Dawkins book at public district schools.

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Obituary – Gerard Bloem, PhD 1914 – 2015

The following obituary was written by Glenn Hardie, a long-time friend of Gerard and Trudy.

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Doctors cry persecution at losing “right” to abandon patients

Yet another instance of Christian doctors claiming to be persecuted because they are being denied their self-arrogated “right” to impose their superstitions on their patients. If you can’t put your duties as a doctor above your imagined “duties” to your religion, you need to stop pretending to be a doctor. The last thing a desperate patient needs is to run into a decoy doctor who is really a religious zealot refusing to provide or refer for a needed, legal, medical service.

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Letter to the Vancouver Sun: Secular groups are also part of the Whole Society

BCHA President Sue Hughson's letter to the editor in the Vancouver Sun on Wednesday, March 25: Secularism aids dialogue; Only one in three British Columbians say they practise a faith

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Slightly good news on the fight against anti-blasphemy laws

Mumtaz Qadri’s appeal of his murder conviction for assassinating the governor of the Punjab has been rejected over the massive objections of Islamist fundamentalists in Pakistan.  Islamists claim that the murder was justified because the governor was trying to eliminate anti-blasphemy laws.

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Dying With Dignity: A victory for compassion

CBC has the details of today’s Canadian Supreme Court victory for Dying with Dignity. This historic ruling represents a victory for compassion over blind adherence to outmoded “suffering is good for the soul” ideology. While it has been clear to an overwhelming majority of the Canadian population for a long time now, this decision makes it clear in law that it is NOT a criminal act to help a friend or loved one end pointless suffering in the manner of the patient’s clearly expressed choice.  The spurious slippery slope arguments put up against this concept have now failed in law as they have failed in the public debate. This is a Good Day for human progress.


Historic Victory - BCCLA wins Dying With Dignity case at Supreme Court of Canada

It was an honour and privilege for me to be present with representatives from BCCLA and supporters to hear the Supreme Court ruling early on Friday morning. We initially received a short message stating that the appeal had been won. An overwhelmed silence ensued, not applause or joy. We needed to hear more. Josh Paterson called in shortly afterward to verify the ruling, and to let us know it was unanimous! 9-0!

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Are Humanist charities next?

This past week, Dying With Dignity (DWD) announced that the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has annulled its charitable status. The CRA had been auditing DWD’s political activities and ruled it was wrong to grant the organization charitable status when it was first registered. This news follows a string of recent audits of charities, which started in 2012 when the Harper Government sought to crackdown on charities they worried were getting too political. Under Canadian law, a registered charity cannot devote more than 10% of its resources (money and time) to political campaigning and cannot support or oppose a particular politician or political party.

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The deadly terrorist attack on the staff of Charlie Hebdo in France

Yesterday’s events are one in the long and horrific history of atrocities committed by dogmatic religious extremists who live in fear of open criticism and free expression. Yet even in this darkness, the spirit of humanity can still be seen in the tens of thousands of people who poured into the streets of Paris and cities across Europe to stand in solidarity with the fallen journalists and officers. We must capture this resilience and respond with the same spirit as Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg following the 2011 shootings in Norway: “Our response is more democracy, more openness, and more humanity. We will answer hatred with love.”

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