The Checkup is a long-time Canadian radio talk show, designed to spark dialogue across the country.

To arrange my thoughts for the discussion, I sat down for a Google+ Hangout with Mavaddat and discussed some of the issues that might come up. You can watch the discussion below the fold.

In the video, I referenced Murphy’s article about Hitchens and Dawkins, “Bluster masquerading as reason.”

I also discussed briefly Professor Edward Slingerland’s Vancouver Institute talk from this evening, “Do we really live in a secular age?” I ended up not making it to this lecture, so I don’t have the answer for you. I will try to make next week’s lecture from Marci McDonald, author of The Armageddon Factor.

I hope to do more of these discussions, since they’re fascinating and a good, quick way to flesh out ideas. Let me know if you’re interested and we can schedule a time.

I look forward to your feedback.

TO: Ian Bushfield—B.C. Humanist Association

DATE: November 17–2012

FROM: Leonard R.,
Abbotsford, B.C.

SUBJECT: Article in Abbotsford Times — Nov. 8–2012

The article states you have protested to the Minister of Education of B.C. about the free distribution of Bibles to Grade 5 students at various schools in B.C. Your inaccuracy and intentional mischaracterization clearly reveals your intent at mischief, deceit and treachery.

1. You accuse; religion is creeping into the schools. How, in your puny mind, do you arrive at that? The Bibles are given to the students outside of the school, after class time, only to those students whose parents have given written permission for them to receive one. You are being devious and accusatory without substance. Quite a stretch of a wicked imagination.
2. Then you say “abstinence” is being taught in schools and somehow you link that to religion. Only a warped mind would concoct such a bridge. No science can refute the fact that there is no better way to avoid teenage pregnancy than abstinence. Disprove that, my uninformed friend. It causes me to question if you endorse the lecherous designs of those who would victimize impressionable young girls, lest they start to believe in abstinence and therefore would be less likely to permit themselves being impregnated. Just asking. .ca
You claim the “motivation” is religious.
Your letter to the Minister of Education of B.C. is serious communistic “motivation” to rob Canadians of faith of the freedom of free speech and replace it with your idea of mind-control, right?

Your interference in freedom of religion is vile, reprehensible, dangerous and a serious threat to traditional values. Traditional values are beneficial to everyone, yet you seek to destroy them. Shame on your destructive activities in this direction.
Obviously you prefer the society of the former Soviet Union or perhaps that of Saudi Arabia. If so, go and live there and that would be to the benefit of the rest of Canadians.

Leonard R.

It’s a common trope that atheists and Humanists don’t give as much (or frequently) as the religious. Lacking formal structures and congregations, there’s less of a culture of philanthropy, both in terms of regular tithes or even to secular charities.

However, these trends are changing.

The Foundation Beyond Belief is working with freethought groups across North America to raise money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Light the Night Walk. As of this morning they have raised nearly $305,000 toward their goal of $500,000 – which will be matched by the Stiefel Foundation for a total gift of $1 million to fight blood cancer.

Here in Vancouver, the BC Humanist Association’s team has raised over $3,500 between our 15 team members (comprised of BCHA, Vancouver Skeptics, and UBC Freethinkers members).

Our walk is this Saturday, so if you can spare a few dollars, why not chip into my campaign. Remember that every dollar you donate is being matched and Canadian donations over $25 are eligible for a tax-receipt.

Every gift, big and small, is appreciated and helps highlight the compassion and charity we all have.

On Tuesday afternoon, I’ll be on CITR’s Radio Freethinker show talking about all the latest news from the BC Humanists.

The show runs for a full hour, so if you have ideas for what I should talk about, drop them below (obviously soon so that I can be somewhat prepared).

The show will be available as a podcast afterwards and I’ll link to it here when it’s online.

Ironically enough, the interview was on Clark’s old radio station, CKNW, with host Simi Sara.

1:30-1:40
CHRISTY CLARK’S RELIGION COMMENTS SPRARK CRITICISM FROM B.C. ATHEISTS

Last week, Premier Christy Clark appeared on the religious program ‘100 Huntley Street’ and suggested that her faith and the Bible help her when making tough decisions. Now, a prominent atheist group, the BC Humanist Association, is attacking the BC Premier regarding those remarks stating that he comments have made them concerned that the “separation of church and state may be eroded in Canada’s least religious province.” The BC Humanist League stated that just under 55% of British Columbians identified themselves as belonging to some sect of Christianity in the 2001 census and director Ian Bushfield believes that the Premier’s decisions and policies should be formed in best interest of all the people of the province based on available interest. Does he think that Premier Clark’s comments are really something to be concerned about or just her latest attempt to win voters on the right?

Phone: Ian Bushfield
Executive Director of the BC Humanists

Here’s the relevant bit:

Simi Sara – 2012 Aug 6 – Clark Bible

I also like that they called the BCHA a “League” in that quote (right after the group was correctly identified). If we’re a league, does that mean we get a secret hideout?

If so, I dibs the Indian Arm Power Station.

This story prompted me to quickly throw together a press release with some input from the BCHA members. That release can be read here: Bible No Basis For Public Policy, Declare BC Humanists.

The piece was quoted by iPolitics.ca.

Most of our members were quite happy with the release, although some would have preferred much stronger language, but I chose to walk a soft line (we can always harden language later). A few people complained that this was unnecessary based on the language she used and that it may paint Humanists in a poor light. My response was as follows (copied from one specific letter I received):

I completely share your vision of a community beyond belief and am working hard toward that end. We have an increasing number of events in Metro Vancouver that are reaching out to many different audiences. For example, I am hoping to build more programming for secular parenting, grief beyond belief, and secular addiction treatment. Outside of Vancouver, I am working to bring humanist communities to the eastern shore of Vancouver Island and to ensure the continued success of communities along the Sunshine Coast and in the interior.

However, building a community is not our sole purpose. Among our other goals is to advocate for secular values in the public sphere. One of these values is a commitment to secularism. As you point out, Ms. Clark may have intended her statement to be more about the generic courage to take controversial decisions, it can also be seen as using the Bible to defend traditional morality. For example, for the second year as premier, Ms. Clark will not be attending the Vancouver Pride Parade (while it will be the third year that the BCHA will be in attendance). Similarly, while she has pledged to work to fight bullying in schools, her plan is noticeably silent on LGBTQ-bullying – a leading cause of suicides among LGBTQ teenagers. Finally, her commitment to the Bible as a tool for decision making and her emphasis on raising “moral” children will undoubtedly leave her supporting BC’s discriminatory independent school system, where Catholic schools that have fired lesbian teachers receive 50% per-student funding from the government.

The fear that I, and many of our members, have is that if Ms. Clark bases some of her decisions on the Bible (the ability to undertake long term policy despite short term controversy), she may base other decisions on the Bible too. My point with the statement is that there are much better principles to derive public policy from than a book that many consider to be inerrant.

Regardless of the above arguments, it is further questionable for the premier of a province as diverse as BC to appear on a Christian talk show in the first place, unless she makes a habit of appearing on all faith and cultural talk shows.

My goal with the release was not to demonize Christianity or her right to read the Bible, but to draw attention to the dangers of an elected official basing their decisions on religion and ideology.

Finally, the BCHA is a democratically governed organization, and all members are entitled to their opinions, including dissenting ones. I believe that this statement falls within the majority view within our organization (as I have received a number of supportive emails since the release) but I am open to changes in the group. You are welcome to make your case among our members – either through the email list-serv, a post on our blog or in person at one of our meetings (just let me know in advance, so I can schedule time).

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.

And the speech:

One of my dad’s friends, an atheist, died recently and his funeral is being held today, in a southern Alberta church.

To get married in British Columbia, using only words written by you and your partner, you will have to seek out a very liberal religious representative. The civil marriage commissioners have mandatory and unromantic lines.
?Meanwhile, in North America we suffer a true lack of secular alternatives to recognize the birth of a child, or their transition to adulthood.

In today’s talk, I’m not going to try to convince you of the need for humanist ceremonies or rituals, the unsolicited demand we receive at the BC Humanists is evidence enough, but I’m going to go through what humanism is and what these rituals involve. If they’re not for you, that’s completely fine, humanists are all for individual freedoms.

Humanists do not believe in any supernatural higher power, however there is a difference between atheism and humanism. Atheism describes what I don’t believe in, humanism describes what I do. At the very core of its definition, being an atheist simply means that I do not believe in God. While most Humanists are atheists, not all atheists are Humanists.

There are no universal tenets for Humanists. Humanism is an evolving tradition and we constantly re-evaluate our principles in light of new ideas. The basic tenants of humanist thought have remained relatively consistent and I feel that most people would share these values. These ideas include using reason, evidence, and the scientific method as a means of learning about our world. In our lives we seek fulfillment, growth, and creativity. Finally, we value the search for truth, a concern for this life over an afterlife, secular ethics, and building a better world. Humanism isn’t a radical or dangerous set of ideas, it is simply about being good without god. Humanism is a progressive worldview that is informed by science, inspired by art, and motivated by compassion.

Starting with the idea that humanists are informed by science, I want to convey to you that humanists believe that the world is knowable and that the best tool that we have come up with to discover truths about the world is science. Science generates reliable knowledge because it uses evidence to test hypotheses about the universe. Science is very critical of extraordinary claims, and Humanists are therefore skeptics. We apportion our beliefs according to the evidence. We care deeply about promoting scientific literacy and are passionate defenders of naturalistic explanations of the origins of life and the universe, because the available evidence points to the Big Bang and evolution being facts.

Looking at how our understanding of the world has evolved over generations, we no longer believe that God controls the rising and setting of the sun or the weather. We no longer believe that God creates earthquakes or was even necessary to create the diversity of life. We have naturalistic explanations for the history of the universe, and it is all consistent. Science has a good track record of correcting its mistakes. This is why Humanists do not feel the need to appeal to the supernatural. Even though there may be gaps in our knowledge that we cannot yet explain, that doesn’t mean that certain things won’t be understood in the future.

Turning now to the idea that Humanists are inspired by art, Humanists take our inspiration from the beauty in the natural world and from the art that we create. I further believe that good science can elevate beauty. Pictures taken from the Hubble telescope are truly numinous, but their awe is compounded by our understanding. For example, we know that a nebula is more than just a collection of interstellar gas, it is the place where stars are born.

Since we have no evidence of life after death, we believe that when we die we cease to exist. All we have is the time that we have here on Earth. We therefore must make the most of the time we have. Music, art, theatre, and charity are all important to humanists. It is necessary to not neglect these things so that we may develop as whole people. The arts allow us to explore the human condition in ways that science cannot, and thus gives us a greater perspective on life.

Thirdly, Humanists are motivated by compassion. Humanists seek to make the world a better place because we value life. We are but a pale blue dot in space and our observations suggest that life is exceptionally rare in this universe. We must therefore help our neighbours, seek peaceful solutions, and promote human dignity where ever possible. This life is the only life we have and for this reason we must act to minimize the suffering of others.

I now want to address the issue of morality without a god. This is a common question posed to many humanists because we believe that the existence of a supreme being is unnecessary to live a moral life. Philosophers have long recognized that morality, or the question of why be good, is independent of the question of the existence God. In ancient Greece nearly 2500 years ago, Epicurus asked a question that those who believe in God have yet to adequately answer: “Is something good because the gods says it so; or do the gods say something is good because it is good?”

In other words, does God decide what is good, therefore making the difference between right and wrong a mere arbitrary choice, one that can change with His mood. Some would argue that God wouldn’t arbitrarily change his mind, but then if God can’t change the ethical laws then He is not all powerful.

Or, could it be that Good is something independent of God? There may be an objective moral standard that says what is and isn’t right. If this is the case, then why even include God in the discussion? If God is just following a higher rule of the universe – like a physical law – then why do we need to invoke him at all. Could we not just pursue that greater ideal?

With secular morality, based on reason and human dignity, we don’t need to run into these dilemmas. Humanists aren’t forced to do mental gymnastics to circle these squares. We state that human dignity is a value and that it is moral to promote it.

Therefore, being good without god is really quite easy. It’s about seeking to make the world a better place by promoting things that increase human dignity and flourishing and avoiding things that cause harm. Many of the moral lessons of religion remain valid: do unto others as they would do unto you, the commandments against murder and lying etc. These lessons are not enforced by a higher power, but by our desire to live in and have future generations live in a world that is compassionate and caring.

Finally, Humanists want to see real progressive change in the world, and we want our organizations to be the vehicle of change, and so I want to talk about how we put these beliefs into action. Humanists recognize that many people have a need to belong. By building communities we create a place for like-minded people come to together with common goals. With greater organization comes a greater ability to affect positive change in the world.

In this light, the BC Humanist Association seeks to bring together people who share Humanist beliefs and values. We seek to build a community and to raise awareness of humanism. To do this we hold weekly meetings, which also happen to be on Sunday mornings, where we socialize and hold discussions. Our meetings tend to have a number of different opinions represented, and we value intelligent discussions in which our own beliefs are questioned and challenged.

We also do a number of special events. Coming up next weeks we will be joining the Vancouver Walk for Peace and building a secular parenting community. We also hold many lectures. This past year we’ve had many speakers including one on the dilemmas of war in a Humanist framework and a psychology professor from UBC talked about her research on beliefs at the end of a person’s life. We also run a monthly book and are raising money for the Light the Night walk to fight blood cancers with the foundation beyond belief. These programs show that Humanists can be good without god and positive change agents.

We are also hoping to expand across the province. There are humanists in every city and town across this province and they often lack a like-minded community. By establishing new meetup groups I hope to build more communities like our thriving group in Vancouver.

We are also just waiting for government recognition to launch our Humanist officiant program. Humanists see value in community and tradition, when grounded in reason. We see that it is important to many people to mark certain events in life that have been traditionally dominated with religious rituals, and there is a growing demand for more secular ceremonies that can still mark the importance of the event. We therefore want to provide trained officiants who can help families mark different passages in their lives. We’re hoping to model our program on a similar one based in Ontario. Our goal will be to have officiants across the province who can perform baby welcoming ceremonies, marriages, memorials, and invocations.

So lets talk about humanist rituals. A ritual is merely a set of actions, performed mainly for their symbolic value. There is nothing inherently religious about rituals, graduation is an inherently secular ritual, nor are they necessarily irrational.

While Humanism has made belief in god irrelevant, it hasn’t removed the desire to mark moments in our lives in meaningful ways. So how do humanists mark our births, bonds, and burials?

First we have ceremonies to mark the birth of a child. Where the religious traditionally offer christenings, and we have the secular commercialized baby showers. Humanists offer naming or welcoming ceremonies. When a couple chooses to add a child to their family – whether it’s a traditional birth or an adoption, surrogate, or otherwise – it is a momentous occasion. It’s only natural to want to share that moment with the friends and family that will be necessary to support the new parents in their responsibilities.

Next we have the passage to adulthood or coming of age. The religious mark this time in the late teenage years with Bah mitzvahs, confirmation, while the only North American secular alternative involves Las Vegas or other debauchery. Yet there are meaningful ways to mark this time of life. The Norwegian Humanists offer a confirmation that involves a year of weekly study into humanist ethics before taking the confirmation test. This is a chance to demonstrate that a child is ready for some of the new responsibilities and rights of adulthood, and is worthy of celebration.

Next we have perhaps the biggest of the ceremonies, and the only one to require government approval, marriage and commitment ceremonies. Secular options have been around for a while, which typically remove the supernatural and welcome non-traditional families, a truly humanist marriage ceremony is one designed to be a dignity-affirming commitment between two people. Additionally, for those who reject marriage as an institution, we can offer commitment ceremonies that recognize the promises made, yet keep the state and law out of the bedroom.

Next, as not all marriages are meant to be, it can sometimes be dignity-affirming to recognize divorce or separation with a ceremony. As humanists place no supernatural value on marriage, we can recognize separation as an important decision. While not all divorces are worthy of celebration, it can be a way to heal some wounds and part on peaceful terms.

Finally, as we all will eventually die, humanists recognize the need for those who live on to remember and comfort one another. Our memorials are therefore framed as celebrations of life and remembrance, and can be arranged around whatever is chosen to be done with the remains.

The key difference I hope you will take from this speech between traditional religious rituals and those offered by humanist organizations is that humanist rituals are malleable and are about affirming the views and dignity of those involved. We don’t want to force you to splash water on your baby or eat crackers, a humanist ceremony is about you.

Finally, Humanists are also establishing chaplaincies and communities at a number of universities, including Harvard, Stanford, and the University of Toronto. These agents fill the gap for secular students who have the big questions and want answers based on reason and compassion.

Rituals do not have to be about superstitions or blind obedience, they can be life-affirming ceremonies and celebrations. And if they’re not for you, that’s okay too.

This morning the trend of increasingly successful BCHA meetings continued, with just over thirty humanists gathering at the Oakridge Seniors’ Centre for a discussion on Neuroscience and Memory. Four-year-old Addysen was perhaps one of the youngest attendees to one of our meetings yet – although I think she was too advanced for the discussion and preferred to go to the Lego Store.

Afterwards, I headed to New Westminster for a new Skeptics in the Pub meetup, organized by Peter Naugler. This event was organized on about a week or two notice, yet still brought out another thirty skeptics (with very little overlap from the BCHA meeting) due to the convenient location.

Peter didn’t realize how successful this event would be, otherwise he would have called ahead to ensure that The Met Pub had adequate staff. Still, the one waitress that was working was quite efficient and patient with our large and loud group that descended on her Sunday afternoon without warning.

It was fantastic getting to meet so many new people and I got a number of new ideas for programs and events to try to reach broader and wider audiences in the future. It’s going to be an exciting summer!

First, last week my wife won an iPad through The Peak’s iPad a Day in May contest, and then I won one this week. We’re selling hers, but I’m writing this from my first Apple product!

So far I like the interface and the speed is phenomenal. I’m a bit disappointed by the lack of good free Google Apps that I’m used to having on my Android phone (like Google Drive, Reader, etc.) but I’m quickly discovering new apps for all my needs.

My other piece of news is that I have been hired as the BC Humanists first executive director! I hope to build on my work over the past couple years and really apply the knowledge and skills I’m learning from the nonprofit management courses I’ve been taking rough BCIT.

So hopefully I’ll be able to combine these pieces of great news and develop some promotional slides and videos for the BCHA that I can present on this iPad.

There was a total of 146 entrants, of which the 135th scheduled entry was the BC Humanist Association. With the BCHA marched the SFU Skeptics and CFI Vancouver.

I had previously marched in the 2008 and 2009 Edmonton Pride Parades with the Society of Edmonton Atheists and they marched again this year with a great FSM sculpture (write up and photos). Our first year there was a bit tame, but we had a table and showed some spirit. It looks like they’ve gotten really good at parades since then.

I’m proud to say that yesterday’s turnout was fantastic. We had almost 20 people out, facepaint, banners and lots of dancing. We unfortunately weren’t quite organized early enough to get a table (I brought this idea to the BCHA in early June and the entry deadline was June 30).

(video and photos below fold)

There’s a few good write-ups already out there at Crommunist Manifesto and Intellectual Waste, and Crommunist has a video online (forgive the shaky hands since its hard to film while dancing):

And now for some photos:

(Photo credit: Glenn Hardie)

And our biggest fan (photo credit Crommunist):