Inaugural Humanist conference in Waterloo, ON: Saturday, November 16, 2024
Join the Society of Freethinkers and Secular Connexion for Humanism in Action: Igniting Progress for Positive Change.
Speakers include:
- Maureen Bulbrook & Christina Ninham
- Dr. Christopher DiCarlo, host of All Thinks Considered
- Doug Thomas, President of Secular Connexion
- Leslie Rosenblood, host of Podcast for Inquiry
This exciting full-day conference will be held on Saturday, November 16 at the KW Granite Club in Waterloo, Ontario. From the registration page: “This event is an innovative experience, where ideas, dreams, hopes, and practical strategies come together to bolster advocacy efforts across Ontario. Unlike other secular conferences in Canada, this conference offers a distinctly Canadian perspective on Humanist values and their impact on shaping a better future for us all.”
Tickets are limited! Get yours today.
Secular Pastors Research Project: Request for Proposals
CFIC has recieved a very generous donation for the purpose of researching the needs of non-religious prisoners in Canada’s Criminal Justice System. We are looking for proposals from qualified individuals to conduct this research.
Please share our Request for Proposals as broadly as possible. We will be excited to share the results with our readers.
What Religion Costs in Canada
Join us on Tuesday, March 19, at 7 PM ET (4 PM PT) for an online roundtable discussion about the cost of religion in Canada, quantified by original research conducted by the CFIC.
Bettianne Hedges of Humanist Canada will be hosting Leslie Rosenblood from CFIC alongside Teale Phelps Bondaroff and Ian Bushfield of the BC Humanist Association. They will discuss the many ways Canada still tangibly privileges religion and its institutions over similar non-theistic organizations. Just a few policy choices cost Canadians billions — yes, with a B — each and every year.
You can learn more by reading CFIC’s Cost of Religion in Canada reports or watching the recent Podcast for Inquiry conversation with CFIC’s Executive Director, Sandra Dunham: Why does Canada give $5.6 Billion annually to religious charities?
Register today. We look forward to seeing you on Tuesday, March 19.
We Did It! Thank You!
Best wishes for 2024!
Thank you to everyone who donated to our year-end campaign! You have helped us exceed our lofty goal of $30,000! This will allow us to carry on promoting science, secularism, and critical thinking in 2024. While the change in year is simply the turning of a page on a calendar, it also is an opportunity to look back on our activities of the past year and to shore up plans for the coming year.
Last year we were pleased to bring you 12 editions of Critical Links and 24 podcasts. We also held a joint virtual conference, “When Religious Leaders Become Atheists.” And members of many of our branches resumed in-person meetings. In Ontario, we also continued to pressure the government to stop publicly funding religious education.
We have big plans for 2024. We will be conducting research into the needs of non-religious inmates and will see our petition for one public secular school system presented in the Ontario legislature. Of course, we will continue to bring you news and viewpoints through Critical Links and Podcast for Inquiry. And we will continue to expand our growing library of critical thinking resources. Other projects that will be shepherded along include the public funding of religious hospitals; the misleading question about religion on the long-form census and the Advancement of Religion as a charitable purpose.
Your financial support allows us to carry on and tackle some big issues. But it is our members’ ideas that launch us in new and exciting directions. Do you have a project that warrants attention? And a little energy to move it forward? Tell us about it. Perhaps we can do even more!
Thank you for your support in making 2023 a great year for CFIC and stay tuned for more.
Secularism Works
Axial Tilt is the Reason for the Season.
December is a month dominated by religious traditions. Some humanists are able to overlook religious traditions and focus on generosity, celebrating with friends and family. It provides a break in the long dark days that surround the Winter Solstice. Other non-religious folks struggle with the constant rhetoric about the benefits of religion. Whichever camp applies to you, please consider making a donation to CFIC as we fight for secular values in Canada.
There is a strong positive correlation between secularism and desirable social outcomes such as reduced poverty, rates of incarceration, teenage pregnancies, and addictions; and increased literacy, life expectancy, employment and wealth. Yet in spite of this the Canadian government continues to endorse and subsidize religious perspectives and practices over secular values and institutions.
Perhaps the most egregious evidence of this is that the government provides charitable status for organizations whose goal is “the advancement of religion.” This single issue costs Canadians more than $5.5 billion each and every year!
However, it does not stop there. Many provinces have faith-based hospitals. While these hospitals are open to the public treatment is often determined by religious principles at odds with the best interests of the patient – regardless of whether the patient is a member of that faith or not. As a result, people are denied access to medical assistance in dying, birth control and abortion.
Even the census fails to be impartial in the matter of religion. The census asks: “What is this person’s religion? Indicate a specific denomination or religion even if this person is not currently a practising member of that group.” (emphasis added) This wording leads to higher reported rates for all religions at the expense of accuracy.
As 2023 draws to a close, give the gift of secularism. Please consider donating to CFIC so that we can do more to promote secularism for all.
For more information see:
The Cost of Religion in Canada 2022
When Religious Leaders Become Atheists
Sudbury Inmates’ Reading limited to Christian Bibles
Religion: Freedom “Of” or Freedom “From”
What It Means to be Moral with Phil Zuckerman
Seth Andrews, host of The Thinking Atheist, on the un-Christian behaviour of many Christians