We will not appeal to religion or god, Schweitzer says. Happiness and fulfillment are derived from the freedom to discover within ourselves our inherent good, and then to act on that better instinct, not because of any mandate from above or in obedience to the Bible, but because we can.

     Dr. Schweitzer is a scientist who has written extensively on topics of morality, religion, politics and science - how they relate to each other and their importance in today's polarized social environment. As a former White House science advisor under the Clinton Administration, he provided policy advice and analysis to the President, Vice President Al Gore and the director of the Office of Science & Technology Policy. Dr. Schweitzer says that from that perch, he realized "that one critical element was missing from global efforts to bring science, conservation and development together; there was no appropriate ethical foundation providing a compelling mandate."

$8, or free for Friends of the Center.

     Prof. Nur, whose new book is Apocalypse: Earthquakes, Archaeology, and the Wrath of God, will explore significant geophysical and archaeological questions about earthquakes and archaeological findings about regional destruction and civilization collapse, focusing on the catastrophic end of the Bronze Age circa 1200 B.C.E. He will also discuss how earthquakes have played a role in the way religious beliefs tried to comprehend the impact of catastrophic disasters.

     Prof. Nur is the Wayne Loel Professor of Earth Sciences at Stanford University, where he has taught since 1970, and the current director of the university's Overseas Studies Program. He received his BS in geology from Hebrew University in Jerusalem and his Ph.D. in Geophysics from M.I.T. For more than 20 years, he has been investigating the temporal and spatial patterns of earthquakes throughout history to find clues useful for earthquake prediction.

$8, or free for Friends of the Center.

     Carrier is the author of Sense and Goodness without God, as well as numerous articles online and in print. He received his Ph.D. in ancient history from Columbia University in 2008 and now specializes in the modern philosophy of naturalism, the origins of Christianity, and the intellectual history of Greece and Rome. For more information about Carrier and his work, visit www.richardcarrier.info.

$8, or free for Friends of the Center.

     In his talk, Brad Spellberg, M.D., will discuss the causes and extent of antibiotic resistant infections and dying antibiotic development, which he describes in his new book, Rising Plague: The Global Threat from Deadly Bacteria and Our Dwindling Arsenal to Fight Them. Spellberg will explain that physician misuse or overuse of antibiotics is not the cause of the problem, but that economic, regulatory, and political forces are the causes. He will describe his own personal experiences at the front line of this policy struggle, share compelling patient stories , and describe a comprehensive plan that attacks the problem of dying antibiotic development at multiple levels, and will serve as a call to action for solving this problem.

     Dr. Spellberg is an Associate Professor of Medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and the Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center. Dr. Spellberg is an academic scientific investigator who sees patients, teaches students and resident physicians, and has an NIH-funded program in vaccines and immune-enhancing therapies. He is a member of a national task force at the Infectious Diseases Society of America charged with solving the antibiotic crisis.

$8, or free for Friends of the Center.

Join us for a holiday celebration with a patio cookout of hot dogs, burgers and chicken for just $8 per person ($5 for Friends of the Center). Please RSVP by September 3 to alice[at]cfiwest.org, or (323) 666-9797, ext. 102.

     Darrel Ray is an organizational psychologist and lilfelong student of religion. He has degrees in sociology, anthropology, and religion as well as a Doctor of Education degree in psychology. Ray also is the founder of Recovering from Religion, and organization devoted to helping people escape religion and recover from its effects [www.recoveringreligionists.com]. He has written two other books, both dealing with teams and teamwork in the business world.

$8, or free for Friends of the Center.