Jan 6: Forgive for Love
Dr Frederic Luskin is the Director of the Stanford Forgiveness Project and author of Forgive for Good, © 2002, and Forgive for Love, published Dec 2007. Dr Luskin will discuss how forgiveness helps enhance and heal committed relationships. He will explore recent research demonstrating that forgiveness can reduce anger and depression as well as enhance hopefulness and self-efficacy, looking especially to how this relates to love relationships.

Jan 13: Your Own Individual Psychotherapy Session
Dr Michael R. Edelstein will present the principles of his Three Minute Therapy (TMT), which is based on Albert Ellis' Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT). Then he will take each of you through the process of identifying and overcoming a psychological problem you would like help with. You will learn how to conquer anxiety, depression, relationship problems, addictions, and more.

Jan 20: Hospice: To Live Until You Die
Most people have heard of hospice, but many do not know what hospice actually does and does not do. Carol David, a retired registered nurse who has used hospice services for family members and volunteered for a local hospice, will discuss hospice from both a personal and organizational viewpoint.

Jan 27: Recruiting 'Intelligence': Expanding Links Between US Intelligence Agencies and Universities
Roberto Gonzalez, Associate Professor of Anthropology at San Jose State University, will review the processes by which US intelligence agencies are stepping up efforts to recruit young people for IC (intelligence community) careers. In particular, he will examine the genesis and development of the multimillion dollar IC-CAE (Intelligence Community-Centers of Academic Excellence) program which has been introduced on 10 university campuses in recent years by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. The presentation will critically examine such programs from a cultural and historical perspective.

Feb 3: Two Humanist Perspectives on the Role of Government
Humanist Community members Mark Willey and Gerry Gras will discuss the question "To what extent do you think the government should attempt to help some or all of its citizens? Explain your answer in terms of your humanist values." Mark and Gerry hold different views on this question and, through their dialog, will help us understand how humanists can view the purpose of government differently.

Feb 10: Charles Darwin of Shrewsbury
Half of all Americans, including three of the Republican candidates for President, reject the theory of evolution, believing instead in Creationism or its thinly disguised clone, Intelligent Design. This challenge to the theory of evolution is not new; it has been under attack since On the Origin of Species was published in 1859. Why has the theory of evolution been subject to such attack? Because it changed the world and our place in it as well as the whole field of biology. Its opponents have correctly understood that and have been unrelenting in their attempts to refute it. So who was this Charles Darwin who developed this theory that upset the world? He was born in Shrewsbury, Shropshire on the 12th of February, in 1809. In this small town he developed his enthusiasm for plants, animals and geology. From here he went off to university in 1825 and on his voyage on the Beagle in 1831. Peter Boyd, Museum Collections Manager for Shrewsbury Museum Service, will present an illustrated talk to provide an account of the Darwin-Shrewsbury connection and aspects of social history that influenced the Darwin family's lives. Prior to taking his current position, Mr. Boyd trained as a geologist and biologist and did post-graduate research in palaeoecology as well as teaching for several years. Some of Mr. Boyd's other work can be found on his website, http://www.peterboyd.com , including work on his passion: Scots Roses.

Feb 17: Challenging Corporate Power
How did corporations get all their power? What in the world is corporate personhood? And what does that have to do with the 14th Amendment? Our present complicated legal situation regarding corporations and their rights are partly the result of a Supreme Court case Santa Clara County vs. Southern Pacific Railroad in 1886. Come hear a presentation on these subjects by Lois J. Fiedler, Ph.D., a retired faculty psychologist from the University of Minnesota and San Jose State University.

Feb 24: Effective Communication Skills for Resolving Conflicts
Anne Bers, Manager of Mediation Programs at Peninsula Conflict Resolution Center (PCRC) in San Mateo, daughter of Humanist Community members Mel and Marion Bers, will give a brief overview of PCRC's community mediation program and then lead us through some effective communication skills for resolving conflicts. Ms. Bers has worked as a professional communicator for government agencies, corporations and small businesses, and currently supports a pool of approximately 160 PCRC mediation volunteers.

Mar 2: Making Globalization Work for More People, Rebuilding America, and Fostering Sustainability
Prof. Clark W. Reynolds, Emeritus Professor of Economics at Stanford, will discuss what globalization is, some of its good and bad effects, and what might be done to reduce inequality, rebuild America, and foster sustainability. Prof. Reynolds was a Professor of Development Economics at Stanford for 33 years, and has researched and taught in Latin America, Europe, and China.

Mar 9: The Promise and Challenge of Restorative Justice
Restorative Justice offers a new way to think about and practice criminal justice. Crime creates wounds. Jack Dison will describe how Restorative Justice looks at how, in some cases, the wounds and needs which arise from crime may be acknowledged and even healed by cooperative efforts of victims, offenders, and others impacted by crime. Mr. Dison is a retired criminology and sociology teacher who facilitates and teaches conflict resolution techniques to lifers in San Quentin, facilitates dialogue (mediation) between victims and offenders in cases of serious violence, and works in peacemaking circles with persons released from prison.

Mar 16: Understanding Parents' Perspectives on Children's Lives in a Low-Income Silicon Valley Neighborhood
Chuck Darrah presents results of a study done to help design services sensitive to local needs, laying the foundation for comparative studies of how youth in the region interact with institutional environments, implications for life courses, and how institutions may be made more responsive.
Chuck Darrah, MA, MPH, PhD, Chair of the Department of Anthropology, SJSU, is a cultural anthropologist whose research has focused on work, families and technology. He is a co-founder of the Silicon Valley Cultures Project, a long-term anthropological study of the everyday lives of people in a region long dominated by high-tech industry and imagery. He is the author of Learning and Work: An Exploration in Industrial Ethnography and Busier Than Ever!: Why American Families Can't Slow Down.

Mar 23: Changing Lives One House at a Time
It was called a CRAZY IDEA by some back in 1976 when Habitat For Humanity built the first Habitat home in Americus, Georgia. Ken Becker, a Habitat volunteer, will tell the story of how small groups of volunteers worldwide have changed the lives of over one million people.

Mar 30: Clowns Without Borders
Have we considered what it might be like for children and their parents living in a war zone? Moshe Cohen is founder/director of the US branch of the international organization Clowns Without Borders. Moshe will perform in his European character for twenty minutes. After the children go to Sunday School, he will remain for the adult audience until noon, speaking as himself, answering questions about his work, and showing pictures of Kosovo and Chiapas.

convenience links: ... home page ... activities ... calendar ... Forums ... blog

Apr 6: Tuolumne River
From its headwaters high in the mountains of Yosemite National Park, the Tuolumne River cascades 162 miles west before joining the San Joaquin River and flowing north into the San Francisco Bay Delta. Designated a Wild and Scenic River in 1984, the Tuolumne offers unparalleled outdoor recreation opportunities, hosting thousands of hikers, whitewater boaters, anglers and family campers each year. The Tuolumne River is now under threat. Despite dramatic declines in Chinook salmon and steelhead trout, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission has proposed diverting an additional 25 million gallons of water per day from the River. It's time to focus major attention on water conservation, efficiency and recycling. Peter Drekmeier, Bay Area Program Director for the Tuolumne River Trust, will discuss the Tuolumne and current efforts to protect it.

Apr 13: The Electoral College: The Framers' Folly
Professor John Gilbert, a recently retired political scientist from North Carolina State University and current Chairman of the Wake County (Raleigh) Board of Elections, will discuss the origins and evolution of the Electoral College. (Or, why it takes 4 California voters to equal one Wyoming voter.)

Apr 20: Can We Have World Peace Without a Democratic World Government?
A world government will have powers to prevent wars. In today's world, although most nations may genuinely want peace, they also want to retain sovereignty. Ironically sovereignty includes the power to start wars. Bob Gauntt, Vice President of the Coalition for Democratic World Government, will make a short presentation and raise the following questions for discussion: (1) What are some ideas, if any, for world peace that might work even while nations retain war-making powers? (2) Can national war-making powers be eliminated without a world government?

Apr 27: The Inquisition of Bertrand Russell
In 1940, the philosopher Bertrand Russell was appointed to a position at City College of New York. That appointment generated a huge firestorm of criticism, and led to one of the most infamous legal cases of the era. Peter Stone, political theorist, member of the Humanist Community and of the Bertrand Russell Society, will discuss the case and the questions it still raises for us today.
This Forum will be held in the ballroom of Lucie Stern Center, 1305 Middlefield Rd., Palo Alto (map & directions)

May 4: Education and Opportunity - A California Story
Skyler Porras will discuss her experiences as San José Director of the ACLU of Northern California, Southeastern Regional Organizer in the National ACLU's Washington Legislative Office, and the Latino Outreach Director for Presidential candidate Howard Dean in Iowa. She has done the majority of her work in California, including Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, and Contra Costa Counties. She has worked with elected officials and labor unions, and was a CityYear (Americorps) corpsmember at Horace Mann Elementary in downtown San José.

May 11: A Conversation with Sunsara Taylor
Sunsara Taylor is a writer for Revolution newspaper, a co-host on the WBAI (Pacifica) radio program "Equal Time for Freethought," and sits on the Advisory Board of World Can't Wait - Drive Out the Bush Regime! She has appeared frequently on/in the New York Times, "The O'Reilly Factor," CNN's "Showbiz Tonight," "Hannity & Colmes," "Fox & Friends," and the Alan Colmes Radio Show. Her commentaries have appeared in Revolution (revcom.us), TruthDig.com, TruthOut.org, CounterPunch.org, OnlineJournal.com, OpEdNews.com, and SmirkingChimp.com . Sunsara has covered important national stories analyzing the development of the Christian Right, including the death of Terri Schiavo, and the teen mega-revival operation "Battlecry/Teen Mania." Most recently, she is speaking on behalf of Bob Avakian's new book, Away With All Gods! Unchaining the Mind and Radically Changing the World, including later this month in New York with Chris Hedges in "An Exchange: Atheism, God and Morality in a Time of Imperialism and Rising Fundamentalism." She believes humanity is capable of a morality flowing from principles which guide an ongoing struggle to uproot all vestiges of male supremacy, to promote and base ourselves on science and truth, to value people around the world as much as ourselves, to overcome the brutal history and present reality of racism, and to construct a better world in the process. Come join the conversation.

May 18: Can Meaning (Religion) and Knowledge (Science) Be Joined?
Our President Arthur Jackson claims that most people of the world would answer the title question with their own question, "Why would you want to?" He further asserts that the beliefs underlying their question have trapped us in a blind alley where we see impossible problems in every direction we look rather than magnificent possibilities. Jackson will explore how the insights permitted through the study of human evolution provide answers for escaping the dilemmas that have immobilized humanity, or at least misdirected us for many centuries.

May 25: Why We Need to Go from Protest to Resistance
Stephanie Tang, a lifelong activist with strong convictions, dedicates herself to issues such as ending wars, protecting immigrant rights, and stopping police brutality. She is a leader in local efforts of The World Can't Wait - Drive Out The Bush Regime. (The Nation magazine gave World Can't Wait the "Most Valuable Crusade" award of 2007.) Stephanie's presentation will challenge you to be involved.

Jun 1: A National Popular Vote for President
Many shortcomings of the current system of electing the President stem from the rule that awards all of a state's electoral votes to the candidate who receives the most popular votes in that particular state. Thus, voters in two thirds of the states are in effect disenfranchised in presidential elections because candidates concentrate their attention on a small handful of "battleground" states. It also permits a candidate to win the Presidency without winning the most popular votes nationwide. Under the National Popular Vote bill, all of a state's electoral votes will be awarded to the candidate who receives the most popular votes in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The bill would take effect only when enacted, in identical form, by several states which together possess a majority of the electoral votes (270 of 538) — enough to elect a President. Dr. John R. Koza, a consulting professor at Stanford University and the originator of the National Popular Vote bill, will discuss these topics.

Jun 8: Frontier Justice in the United States
Christiane Cook, Ph.D., J.D., an active member of both ACLU and our HC, will present some serious flaws of the American Justice System — coerced confessions, erroneous indictments, and extravagantly harsh sentences — and suggest ways in which Americans can put pressure on legislators to make the American justice system more civilized and more humane without endangering the security of the people.

Jun 15: Permission to Marry the One You Love?
— More completely, "What If You Had to Ask 260 Million People for Permission to Marry the One You Love?" Pamela Brown, Marriage Equality USA's Policy Director, will discuss the current political landscape on the issue of marriage equality for gay and lesbian couples, including the recent California Supreme Court decision and possible November ballot initiative to add discrimination into our state Constitution. In addition, she will discuss why the Council for Secular Humanism supports the freedom to marry by highlighting issues raised in their amicus ("friends of the court") brief filed before the California Supreme Court. Come see a couple of short, poignant and humorous videos on the subject, share your views, and find out what you can do locally to make a difference.

Jun 22: Getting the Health Care You Want
Karen Duncan, Ph.D. will discuss themes from her forthcoming book, The Sacred Myths of Health Care. These myths include: #1. The U.S. has the best health care in the world. #2. Our doctors practice to the highest standards of care. #3. Someone is in charge of our health care system. #4. An open-market system is best for managing/delivering health care. #5. In the future you'll be a full partner in your own health care. For over 35 years Duncan has been engaged in health care systems research, analysis, and planning. With undergraduate studies in medical technology and a doctorate in biostatistics and epidemiology, her experience includes medical information systems, hospitals and clinics, medical school faculty, consulting, lecturing and writing.

Jun 29: Review of the 2008 AHA Conference
Humanist Community members who attended the 2008 AHA Conference in Washington, D.C. in early June will present their descriptions and impressions of the Conference for the benefit of those of us not lucky enough to have attended!

convenience links: ... home page ... activities ... calendar ... Forums ... blog

Jul 6: A Humanist's Impressions of China
Dr. Dennis A. Etler, a Mandarin-speaking Physical Anthropologist who conducted research in China during the 1980s and 90s, is President of Secular Humanists of Santa Cruz County. He recently returned from a visit to the PRC after an absence of nearly a decade. He will speak about his impressions of China, especially that nation's response to the recent earthquake in Sichuan province, which occurred during his trip. He will also discuss his ongoing research into human origins in East Asia.

Jul 13: Unconscious and Structural Bias in American Life
Are you prejudiced? This presentation by Paul Gilbert, Executive Director of the Humanist Community, will attempt to show that you are. And, if we are prejudiced, what are we to do about it? Come join the discussion.

Jul 20: The Secular Student Alliance's Northern California Intern
Jane Huang is a Stanford student hired as NorCal Campus Organizing Intern in April by Secular Student Alliance to organize atheist/agnostic/humanist/skeptic/freethought campus groups in northern California. This grant was put together as a result of Humanist Community efforts. She will bring us up to date on what's been accomplished so far and hopes and plans for the future.

Jul 27: Paths to Secular Humanism
Humanist Community member Melvin Bers will talk about what he views as being some of the paths that a person could follow in order to become a believer in Secular Humanism.

Aug 3: Sunshine Ordinance in San José and More Openness with Police Records
Mark Schlosberg has served for the last six years as Police Practices Policy Director for the ACLU of Northern California. In this capacity, he has worked on a variety of policing issues including racial profiling, accountability systems, surveillance, crowd management, and use of force. He managed the successful 2003 ballot campaign to strengthen San Francisco's civilian oversight system and has worked extensively on state and local legislative efforts to provide greater public access to police records. Schlosberg received his law degree from New York University School of Law.

Aug 10: Buddhism and the World of Suffering
Les Kaye will explore the basis of human suffering from the Buddhist perspective and the experience of suffering in our daily lives. We will discuss how Buddhism and Zen practice enable individuals to respond creatively and with equanimity to a world of anxiety, disappointment, and loss. Mr. Kaye started Zen practice in 1966, was ordained as a Zen priest in 1971, and was acknowledged as a Zen teacher in 1985. He has taught mediation in Silicon Valley corporations for ten years and has taught classes in Zen in the Continuing Studies program at Stanford. He is currently the abbot at the Kannon Do Zen Meditation Center in Mountain View.

Aug 17: Subjective and Objective Thinking
We are most aware of the act that we are thinking when we are doing objective thinking, when the principles of mathematics are most important. In addition, cognitive psychology has been able to identify some other thinking that occurs at a much less conscious level within the human mind. Peter Bishop, Ph.D., H.C., H.A., has been discovering more about the nature of this kind of thinking, which he is starting to call "subjective thinking", as he has been teaching Humanist Philosophy to the older class in our Children's Program. Peter will explain what he has discovered, its basis in cognitive psychology, and its relevance to life and to humanist philosophy.

Aug 24: An Advanced Course in Biodiesel
Michael McOmber, biodiesel activist from Carmel, CA, will coordinate this program on biodiesel, supporting AHA's efforts to increase involvement in getting the documentary film Fields of Fuel into theaters this fall as part of the Humanist environmental concern. We will examine why AHA became a partner and fiscal sponsor of this film, produced by AHA member Josh Tickell. In 2006 Tickell wrote Biodiesel America, which provides the facts and ideas for how to achieve energy security, to free America from Middle-East oil dependence, significantly to reduce environmental impacts of transportation, and to improve the U. S. Economy.

Aug 31: Finding Our Foremothers
Humanist members led by Prof. Meg Bowman portray three Humanists, Unitarians, Feminists, and Pioneer women discussing their trials and tribulations: Canada's first woman doctor, Emily Stowe; author, lecturer and socialist, Charlotte Perkins Gilman; and Britain's reformer, Frances Power Cobbe who exposed domestic violence and wrote Wife Torture in England. Plus: Discouragement, a short conversation between Eugene V. Debs and Robert G. Ingersoll, by Prof. Bowman.

Sep 7: A Practical Computer Program that Diagnoses Diseases in Actual Patients
Carlos Feder, MD, will present this computer program that he created with the help and important contributions of his son Tomás Feder, PhD in Computer Sciences from Stanford University. Carlos will emphasize the paramount medical and socioeconomic importance of such a program for patients, physicians, nurses, health care insurances, malpractice lawyers, and the entire medical establishment. He will comment on the frequency of medical errors and their causes, general and personal history of the evolution of computers and research in the medical diagnosis field, and the advantages of their novel program over existing so-called "computer diagnosis programs".

Sep 14: How to Manage Challenging Conversations
We all know that communication can be challenging when strong emotions are involved. In this interactive session, we'll explore the difference between dialogue and debate, learn tips for effectively receiving and expressing strong opinions, and practice sharing our passionate views with the goals of enhancing our relationships and gaining mutual understanding. Anne Bers, Manager of Mediation Programs at the Peninsula Conflict Resolution Center, will speak and facilitate our discussion.

Sep 21: Why I Can't Be a Patriot
Dr. Christiane Cook will explain that with the youth she had in France, between two World Wars and during the Nazi Occupation, she could not but become a bleeding heart internationalist. She found her land in Berkeley where she arrived in 1946. She was staying at the International House with graduate students who all had suffered from WWII or had gone through other political ordeals. They all craved peace, and the University itself and the whole city of Berkeley were in tune with her feelings. Come hear her amazing story.

Sep 28: The Creationist Chameleon: Past, Present, and Future
Creationism is a peculiarly American institution. Its immediate aim is to introduce a very specific kind of religion into public school science classrooms. But this aim ties in with a much broader vision of a theocratic society. As the courts have invalidated various creationist initiatives, the movement has evolved without altering its real goals. Lawrence S. Lerner, Professor Emeritus in the College of Natural Sciences & Mathematics at California State University, Long Beach, and the recipient of the Friend of Darwin Award will trace the history of this evolution and try to peer into the future.
This Forum will be held in the ballroom of Lucie Stern Center, 1305 Middlefield Rd., Palo Alto (map & directions)

convenience links: ... home page ... activities ... calendar ... Forums ... blog

Oct 5: Why Voting No on Prop. 8 is So Important: A Personal Story
Bev Scott, an organization and management consultant for over 35 years, and co-chair of the Horizons Foundation Board of Directors, will share the emotional high and the nagging fear she experienced when the California Supreme Court decision acknowledged the right to marry with the "dignity, respect and stature" of other couples. Hear the personal story of a lesbian in a 30-year relationship relate her story of why the freedom to marry is so important to her and to others in the LGBT community, and why defeating Prop. 8 is important for California and the whole country.

Oct 12: Propositions 4, 5, 6, and 9
Jay Laefer, an attorney and software engineer, and Vice-Chair of the Santa Clara Valley chapter of the ACLU, will speak on Propositions 4, 5, 6, and 9 on the November ballot. These wide-ranging propositions affect abortion rights and criminal justice issues. (The ACLU of Northern California supports Proposition 5 and opposes Propositions 4, 6, 8, and 9.)

Oct 19: The Humanist Community Summer Internship Program: Teen Social Action
Armineh Noravian, a Humanist Community Board member with Masters degrees in Engineering and Applied Anthropology, will describe our first Humanist Community Summer Internship Program, in which three students from a Bay Area high school participated. She will talk about how this program got started, the thinking behind it, what they did, and what they learned.

Oct 26: An English Atheist in Catholic Ireland
Ann James is secretary of the Humanist Association of Ireland (HAI), which is affiliated to the International Humanist and Ethical Union and is a member of the European Humanist Federation. She will discuss the work and development of the HAI, and its priorities for 2008.

Nov 2: The California Propositions
As a final preparation for the general election on Tuesday, Nov 4, longtime Humanist Community member Alex Havasy will describe each of the twelve Propositions on the California ballot this year, and facilitate a discussion of the Propositions by audience members.

Nov 9: Philosophy, Religion, and Secular Forms of Life
Jason Smick, Professor of Sociology of Religion at Santa Clara University, will explore the connections among philosophy, religion, and secular cultures. He will discuss and link four themes: (1) philosophical critiques of religion from Socrates to Nietzsche, (2) the differences and similarities of religion and philosophy, (3) the meaning of secularization and philosophy's and religion's role in it, (4) the connection between the history of humanism and the history of philosophy.

Nov 16: How an Evangelical Preacher Became One of America's Leading Atheists
Dan Barker, co-president of the Freedom From Religion Foundation (ffrf) will discuss his new book Godless: How an Evangelical Preacher Became One of America's Leading Atheists (foreword by Richard Dawkins). Come and hear one of America's greatest voices for reason, atheism, and the separation of church and state.

Nov 23: TLC (Tender Loving Care) in TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine)
Dr. Erna Wenus will talk about TLC from the point of view of TCM. Dr. Wenus received a PhD in medicine from Germany and specialized in anesthesiology. But she then fell in love with acupuncture and has since immersed herself into unfolding ancient symbols. She is currently a licensed acupuncturist and herbalist.

Nov 30: Expanding Our Conception of Humanism
Humanist Community member Marc Perkel will lead a discussion of "What is a Humanist?" with the initial assumption that the name "Humanism" defines the organization. Learn everything you can about Humanism and then forget it all. We will use a new way of problem solving that transcends the limitations of ordinary thinking. Can we take our understanding of who we are as Humanists farther than it has ever been taken before in a one-hour session? Come and find out.

Dec 7: Problems with the Use of TASERS
Aram B. James, justice activist and criminal defense attorney, will give a talk on the widespread use of TASERS by police in America. Aspects he will present are: the lack of sufficient testing and regulation by the EPA, an update on the current number of ongoing TASER deaths, and the fact that the vast majority of those tased are from vulnerable populations. Mr. James maintains that TASERs are unsafe for the police and unsafe for the community. Would you like to be punished by an anxious or angry policeman before you have been convicted of a crime?

Dec 14: Humanism in Action
Four members of the Humanist Community will talk about their volunteer work: where they volunteer, what they do, why they do it, and what it means to them. Norton Bell counts marine life, Ross Hotchkiss plants trees, Marian Sanders helps feed the hungry, and Bob Stephens visits the sick. Their experiences illustrate the ways in which Humanists are making a difference in today's world.

Dec 21: Colloquy for the Holiday Season on Gifts & Giving
Join Humanist Community member Ben Wade, using the format of the colloquy, to consider the meaning of gifts and giving. What do you give and in what spirit do you give it? What feelings accompany your gifts both given and received? Come and explore this often neglected, but important aspect of the Holiday Season. Humanist Community member Carlos Feder will play the movements of a Mozart piano sonata at several points during the colloquy.

Dec 28: Our Ghana Project - Start to Finish and Beyond
Just over one year ago, the Humanist Community embarked on an unprecedented adventure in international charity. We did not expect that by now we would have brought two schools in northern Ghana from dream to reality, but that is what we have achieved. Come and hear the amazing story, see the latest pictures, and help us consider what comes next. Catherine Bishop, a long-standing member of the Humanist Community who has been deeply involved in this project, along with her family, will speak.
After this Forum, we will extend our lunch into a party to honor Peter and Catherine Bishop!