The Humanist Book Club meets on the fourth Saturday of each month at 10:30 a.m. at the Mesa Main Library, 64 East 1st Street (East of Country Club Way at the intersection of N. Centennial Way -- N.W. corner)

From Amazon.com:

"The funniest book ever written about why your religion is false!

Whether you're a Christian or a Jew, a Muslim or a Hindu, a Rasta or a Jain, an Environmentalist or a Cheondoist, a Scientologist or a Giant Stone Head Worshipper, your religion is false.

But don't feel bad -- so is everyone else's! When you want to know what not to believe, this is the only book you need."

We had two speakers to address casino gambling and addiction problems.

Dr. Harold Saferstein is a retired dermatologist and longtime HSGP member, who has spoken to us in the past on a variety of subjects. He is a retired Board Certified Dermatologist, licensed to practice medicine in Arizona. He earned his MD at University of Illinois Medical School in 1958 and completed 4 years of residency at Temple University Skin and Cancer Hospital in Philadelphia. He then practiced Dermatology in Wheeling, WV for 30 years and retired to Arizona in 1993. He was Assistant Clinical Professor of Dermatology at West Virginia Univ. Medical School and a Lecturer in Dermatology at Pittsburgh University Medical School. He did some clinical part-time practice here in AZ for a few years.

Dr. Emmett Velten is a clinical psychologist licensed in Arizona and California, with forty years of professional experience. He holds a Bachelor's degree in psychology from the Univ. of Chicago and a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the Univ. of Southern Calif.

He had a long-term association with the late Dr. Albert Ellis (AHA Humanist of the Year for 1971) and the Albert Ellis Institute, where he served for nine years on its Board of Trustees. He was also a training supervisor and a member of its Board of Professional Advisors. He has been on the clinical faculty at the Univ. of Calif., San Francisco; taught at the California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco; was a Volunteer Advisor to Self Management And Recovery Training (SMART Recovery®); a past president of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapy, and editor of SMART Recovery®’s newsletter.

He co-authored two books with Albert Ellis -- When AA Doesn’t Work for You: Rational Steps To Quitting Alcohol, and Optimal Aging: Get Over Getting Older. He was editor and wrote three chapters in Under the Influence: Reflections of Albert Ellis in the Work of Others. In early 2010 he published (with Patricia E. Penn, Ph.D.) REBT for People with Co-occurring Problems: Albert Ellis in the Wilds of Arizona. Later this year, he will publish Albert Ellis: American Revolutionary.

Author Richard Morris discussed and sign his book, "God on Trial."

Synopsis: Blasphemy, murder and the Lord don’t mix when religion and reason collide in court. When university graduate student David Stone publicly challenges Pastor, he unknowingly threatens Pastor and Sister Leah’s lifestyle of crime, corruption, and debauchery. David is arrested for blasphemy and contends the State must first prove the existence of God in court, using the standard Rules of Evidence. This book is about critical thinking and challenges the reader to ask: What do I know and how do I know it?

Dr. Richard W. Morris, a lawyer licensed in two U.S. states and England, is a member of Mensa, a former teacher and adjunct professor. In his half-century as a pilot (airline transport pilot, flight and ground instructor licenses) he flew as pilot-in-command (captain) in some forty countries on four continents. He began his legal career as a prosecutor, and did criminal defense before limiting his practice to civil matters. His published credits include articles in such diverse periodicals as the San Diego Realtor magazine, San Diego Mensan, American Atheist, Playboy, Truth Seeker and Art World News.

Richard also co-authored The Art Fraud Virus, with Richard W. Stevens, and is now working on his next Sister Leah novel, Murder at the Hospice of God.

Matt Schoenley is President & Executive Director of the newly-formed Secular Coalition for Arizona (SC Arizona), as well as one of the founders of Arizona Coalition of Reason (Arizona CoR). SC Arizona is the voice and lobby of the Arizona nontheistic community at the State House. Matt, who works as a commercial pilot for a major airline, and his wife Tracy are members of HSGP.

Anne Mardick is the founder and president of the Greater Phoenix chapter of Americans United for Separation of Church and State (AU). Visit their website at http://www.au-gp.org/. Anne serves as the field representative to chapters of the American Humanist Association. She is also an active member of HSGP. She gave us a current snapshot of Arizona church/state separation issues and the challenges that lie ahead.

The Humanist Book Club meets on the fourth Saturday of each month at 10:30 a.m. at the Mesa Main Library, 64 East 1st Street (East of Country Club Way at the intersection of N. Centennial Way -- N.W. corner)

From Amazon.com:

Consistently lauded for its lively, readable prose, this revised and updated edition of A People's History of the United States turns traditional textbook history on its head. Howard Zinn infuses the often-submerged voices of blacks, women, American Indians, war resisters, and poor laborers of all nationalities into this thorough narrative that spans American history from Christopher Columbus's arrival to an afterword on the Clinton presidency.

.... If your last experience of American history was brought to you by junior high school textbooks--or even if you're a specialist--get ready for the other side of stories you may not even have heard. With its vivid descriptions of rarely noted events, A People's History of the United States is required reading for anyone who wants to take a fresh look at the rich, rocky history of America.

Randall Cerveny is a professor of geographical sciences at ASU, where he has taught since 1986. He received his B.S., M.A. and Ph.D. in Geography from the University of Nebraska.

Dr. Cerveny serves as Rapporteur on Extreme Records for the United Nations/World Meteorological Organization, and in this connection is responsible for researching and verifying global weather records. At ASU, he directs the meteorology program, and was awarded the title of President's Professor in recognition of his contributions to undergraduate education. He is contributing editor for the magazine Weatherwise, and is the author of numerous journal articles as well as two books, Freaks of the Storm, Thunder's Mouth Press, 2006, and Weather's Greatest Mysteries Solved!, Prometheus Books, 2009.

Kyrsten Sinema is a Democratic member of the Arizona House of Representatives, representing the 15th District since January 2005. Born in Tucson, Arizona to conservative Mormon parents, Sinema moved to Phoenix in 1995. She attended Arizona State University where she earned a Masters degree in social work and then a Juris Doctor. She was a social worker in the Washington Elementary School District before becoming a criminal defense lawyer.

In 2006 she chaired Arizona Together, the statewide campaign that defeated Proposition 107 which would have banned the recognition of same-sex marriage and civil unions in Arizona. In 2008, she also led the campaign against Proposition 102, a narrowed down version of Proposition 107. Proposition 102 was approved by 56% of voters in the general election on November 4, 2008.

A supporter of Barack Obama's presidential campaign, Sinema was a delegate to the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver. In July 2009, she published her first book, Unite and Conquer: How to Build Coalitions That Win and Last.

We were delighted to welcome Rep. Sinema back to speak to HSGP!

The Humanist Book Club meets on the fourth Saturday of each month at 10:30 a.m. at the Mesa Main Library, 64 East 1st Street (East of Country Club Way at the intersection of N. Centennial Way -- N.W. corner)

From Booklist:

The revoking of Robert Oppenheimer's security clearance, which caused his dismissal from the National Security Council and effectively ended his influence in the shaping of U.S. nuclear policy, constituted a tragic last act in the career of the father of the atomic bomb. Harvard professor McMillan offers a meticulously detailed account of the trial and the McCarthy-era shenanigans that surrounded it. Much of this story has been told before, most recently in Bird and Sherwin's definitive biography of Oppenheimer, American Prometheus (2005), but McMillan digs deeper, providing more evidence of the double--dealing by Oppenheimer's nemesis, security council member and McCarthy ally Lewis Strauss, and by rival physicist Edward Teller. She also argues persuasively that, had Oppenheimer remained on the council, he might have prevented the full-scale escalation of the arms race. Unfortunately, the security hearing makes for much less compelling reading than the human story of Oppenheimer himself, told so effectively in American Prometheus. Still, this account provides rich supplementary reading for those with an intense interest in the beginnings of the atomic age. --Bill Ott