I was informed last week of a panel tomorrow night, hosted by newly elected Chilliwack NDP MLA Gwen O’Mahony. The title is Beyond Secularism and will see three Christian scholars discuss the role they believe that faith should play in government.

In our campaign for Secular Schools in BC most of our public relations has been focused on Chilliwack and Abbotsford, but our research found a couple other anomalies across the province that are being corrected thanks to quick responses from local trustees.

Tonight I had the pleasure to speak to the Board of Directors of the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association about our campaign to end the distribution of Gideon Bibles in BC schools.

Below is the speech that I presented. I am pleased to report that the Board of the BCCLA has asked their legal staff to help us in our work on the Chilliwack case, the outcome of which will help them decide what further support they can offer.

It was unclear last night what the deletion of Regulation 518 meant for the practice of distributing Gideon Bibles in Chilliwack public schools. A number of stories came out today, however, that start to paint a clearer picture.

Unfortunately I wasn’t able to attend this evening’s school board meeting in Chilliwack, so I only have second hand reports from Twitter to go on. Nevertheless, the news is out that the Board voted to repeal their policy supporting the distribution of Gideon Bibles.

James Croft at the Temple of the Future tipped me off to the new group Houston Oasis. The group looks to be reinventing the Humanist community.

The BC Humanist Association is calling on the BC Minister of Education to investigate the state of secularism in the province's public schools.

Controversy has erupted in Chilliwack after Richard Ajabu protested his school board’s policy that explicitly permits the distribution of Gideon Bibles to Grade 5 children (with permission slips produced by the Gideons).

The Board recently reviewed the policy in a closed-door meeting and decided to uphold it.

The British Columbia Humanists Association is calling on the Chilliwack School Board to reverse its policy of distributing Gideon Bibles in local public schools.

A few weeks ago I was invited to contribute an essay on the Humanist position on animal rights for the Vancouver Humane Society quarterly newsletter. The edition is out and available online in PDF form. I’ve also reproduced my essay below.