Monthly Archives: July 2012

Support the World Cerebral Palsy Challenge

BC, Charity, Personal

One of the projects that I’m working on right now is to raise awareness and recruit teams for the upcoming World Cerebral Palsy Challenge in support of the Cerebral Palsy Association of British Columbia.

The Challenge started two years ago among a network of CP associations in Australia. It was so successful that they’ve now essentially franchised the fundraiser to associations in Canada and across the United States.

The premise is very simple and is explained best by their promotional video:

Basically, just get active and promote a healthy lifestyle while raising awareness and money for children and adults living with cerebral palsy. Participants register as teams of 4 for $25/adult or $10/child and track their daily steps through the interactive website. We send everyone a pedometer and have a conversion chart in case you do other activities (running, weights, bocce ball, etc.). The Challenge runs from World CP Day, September 4th, until October 2nd.

For those teams that register here in BC, I’ve scored a few prizes for you:

  1. Every team that enters by August 5th will be entered to win a pack of four tickets to either the August 13th or August 25th Vancovuer Canadians baseball games.
  2. The top individual fundraiser at the start of the Challenge, Sept. 4th, will receive 2 tickets to any 2012 BC Lions (the 2011 Grey Cup Champions) home game.
  3. The person who takes the most steps during the Challenge will win a BC Lions hat, autographed by running back #33 Andrew Harris.

Cerebral palsy is a physical disability that limits movement. It varies from very minor cases (a slight difficulty walking), to severe cases where even eating and breathing are difficult. My brother’s case falls somewhere in the middle. He is unable to walk, but he can talk and play video games just fine.

CP is caused by damage to the brain that occurs during pregnancy, birth, or in the first three years. It’s not degenerative or contagious, but it is a lifelong condition.

The Cerebral Palsy Association of BC describes itself as follows:

The Cerebral Palsy Association of British Columbia  was started in 1954 by a group of parents who wanted to assist their children living with CP to reach their maximum potential within society. Today we are an independent charitable organization governed by a volunteer Board of Directors. We provide support, education, and information throughour BC. Our Mission is:

  • to raise awareness of Cerebral Palsy in the community;
  • to assit those living with Cerebral Palsy to reach their maximum potential; and
  • to work to see those living with Cerebral Palsy realize their place as equals in a diverse society.

I hope you’ll register a team today or, at very least, sponsor my individual campaign.

Announcing Bad Science Watch

Canada, Scepticism, Science

The promoters of science-based policy in Canada have a new defender.

bswatchsignal

Bad Science Watch, a new Canadian science advocacy group, has issued a challenge to the Canadian government: stick to the science in the development and implementation of important policy decisions. This group will work diligently to ensure Canadians are protected from exploitation by unscrupulous organizations peddling useless and potentially harmful products and services.

The group is being led by former CFI Vancouver executive director Jamie Williams and former CFI Committee for the Advancement of Scientific Skepticism co-chair Michael Kruse. Their advisory panel and board of directors includes a number of scientists and doctors from across Canada. I was involved early as a part of the steering committee (those responsible for vetting projects for BS Watch) but stepped out due to my other commitments (there’s just not enough hours in the day).

Noting the need for a professional advocacy organization in Canada, dedicated to finding bad science in our policies, this group hopes to only take on projects where they can make a measurable difference in Canadian’s lives. This means no tilting at windmills as they actively strive to make substantive policy changes when it comes to health, consumer advertising, and public policy.

Their first campaigns include “targeting bogus food-intolerance testing in Canadian drugstores and an intensive investigation into the state of the Canadian anti-WiFi lobby.”

Edmonton skeptic and host of Skeptically Speaking Desiree Schell did the voiceover for their fantastic kickoff video:

Please consider signing up for their Action Alerts Newsletter and making a contribution to their Peerbackers Project.

It will be exciting to watch this project grow and gain momentum as it affects real change on important issues.

Arguing with 15 year old me–The Young Offender’s Act

Personal, Politics, School

On my last trip to my parent’s house, I grabbed a couple of my old Social Studies 10 essays that I had written. I did quite well in Social Studies and was quite proud of my essays, a belief justified by the marks I tended to get.

This first essay, on the Young Offender’s Act, received a perfect 10/10, but on re-reading it, I am quite disappointed in my fallacious 15-year old mind. First the essay, then my comments.

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Humanist Rituals

BCHA, Humanism

A few weeks ago, I was invited to give a talk in Kelowna on Humanist Rituals. The attendance was unfortunately rather low, so rather than give a formal speech, I worked it as more of a discussion about humanism, ceremonies, and interfaith involvement.

The speech I intended to give is below though, adapted from a couple earlier speeches on the same topic that I gave.

First, the abstract:

Humanist Rituals
CFI Okanagan
23 June 2012

Atheists discount religious institutions for the obvious harm that dogmatic obedience has caused humanity, but do we lose something when we abandon all rituals that don’t pass the atheist purity test? Should we incorporate some rituals into our lives?

What might be called the New Humanist movement, led by Harvard Humanist Chaplain Greg Epstein, argues that there is value in rationally considered rituals and ceremonies. Alain de Botton called for Atheism 2.0 which would encourage atheists to take pilgrimages and to build atheist temples.

But by co-opting the language and actions of the religious, are we not granting them legitimacy? If a Humanist sits on an interfaith panel are we saying our view are only as legitimate as the theists? Furthermore, there is a legitimate concern that hierarchies like chaplaincies are antithetical to free inquiry. We should be tearing down unquestionable structures, not replacing them with our own.

In this discussion, I will attempt to weave through the arguments and concerns raised by both camps. What does a humanist community look like? Are humanists trying to create church for the unchurched? Is there a need for humanist chaplains and officiants? Is humanism a faith? Can, or should, atheists participate in interfaith events? Finally, I will discuss the work being done by the BC Humanists to build a strong, secular society in this province.

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