The Paths To Understanding Podcast

Law and Disorder - Pt. 2

In last week’s edition of Challenge 2.0, we began a conversation with two highly experienced western Washington law enforcement officials. One, a retired prosecutor-the other, a retired police chief are deeply concerned over the long-term impact of aggressive seizures of alleged illegal immigrants and refugees. We now continue that conversation

Law and Disorder-part one

Political, legal and faith leaders have been increasingly criticizing the ICE and Border Patrol raids and tactics. Law enforcement officials are increasingly joining in those criticisms. In this edition of Challenge 2.0, we speak with a retired prosecutor and a retired police chief, both with decades of experience in the Puget Sound area. They contend the methods used by federal agents to impose law and order, may actually increase lawlessness and disorder.

Homeland Peace and Security on ICE-Part One

American religious leaders are becoming increasingly vocal in their opposition to federal seizures of alleged illegal immigrants and refugees. A leading Catholic biweekly newspaper asserted members of the faith must decide between loyalty to leaders supporting the raids or loyalty to the Gospel. Lutheran churches have filed lawsuits against the Department of Homeland Security. An Episcopal Bishop told his clergy that “it may be that now is no longer the time for statements, but for us with our bodies to stand between the powers of this world and the most vulnerable.” In this episode of Challenge 2.0, three Seattle faith leaders discuss the ICE raids and tactics.

The Atomic Pilgrim-Lessons Learned, Lessons Spurned

Millie Smith was one of 20,000 American children secretly exposed to radioactive gases; gases released from the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in eastern Washington. She later told Congress she developed metastasized Thyroid Cancer, describing classmates who died, illness-induced poverty that forced her to subsist at times on rice and popcorn. “We are as abused children, victims of our own country”, she testified. Despite the stories of Millie and others and the investigative reporting that uncovered the suppression of evidence, governments and corporations are today increasingly seeking to roll back disclosure and safety standards. In this second episode of ‘The Atomic Pilgrim’, we look at lessons learned and lessons spurned.

The Atomic Pilgrim-Part One

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world.” That quote attributed to the late American Anthropologist Margaret Mead has inspired countless activists. That included a small but dedicated group of men and women who began a pilgrimage from Washington State to the Middle East in 1982. They walked 6700 miles! More than forty years later, their experience offers important guidance to activists seeking positive change today. In this episode of Challenge 2.0, we meet ‘the atomic pilgrim’, who shares his experience, wisdom and guidance.

Our Lady of Guadalupe -The Many Faceted Diamond

When Christians seek to celebrate the foundation of Christmas, they collide with what’s been called the scandal of the holiday. Jesus was born to a family not of power and wealth, but of poverty and humility-a family soon forced to flee, to become homeless refugees, their infant son targeted for death by the insecurities of a king. It resonates with the reality of many who have been our neighbors but are now themselves forced into hiding or exile. Many, particularly those of Mexican heritage, are drawing inspiration in these difficult times from the story of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Our guest in this episode of Challenge 2.0, a professor at Seattle University, explains how this almost five-hundred year old story offers guidance not only for Mexican-Americans, but for all.

Replacing the Emotional Hangover of Feeling Endless “Hanger

The word ‘hangry’ describes a real physical condition; when hunger-low blood sugar-causes the release of hormones that make people angry. It’s also been used to describe the emotional state in this country. In last week’s episode of Challenge 2.0, we explored the rise of Nihilism-the rising drive to destroy-institutions, relationships, individuals. This week, we continue our conversation

Countering the Rise of Nihilism

Faith in religion isn’t the only element at or near an all-time low in America; so is faith in American institutions. That was the finding of a recent Gallup poll. Observers say that masks an even more serious trend-the willing embrace of demonization and fearmongering, the drive to destroy and to gain power by any means possible. That trend, that orientation, is called Nihilism. In this episode of Challenge 2.0, three Seattle-area faith leaders address that trend-it’s foundations, it’s cost and constructive responses.

Rediscovering Right and Respectful Relations in America, Part Two

In last week’s edition of Challenge, we began a conversation centered on wisdom sharing by Pacific Northwest tribal leaders aimed at transforming the ongoing conflict-in our neighborhoods, country and on our home planet. This week, we continue our conversation with Dr. Kurt Russo, the co-executive director of a group founded by northwest indigenous nations called Se Si Le. In their collective work “In the Spirit of Right and Respectful Relations”, they demonstrate how ancestral indigenous knowledge can heal that conflict, and lead to the flourishing of ourselves, future generations and our home.

Rediscovering Right and Respectful Relations in America

In 1988, the U.S. Senate recognized the Iroquois Confederacy of five native American tribes as a core foundation of the Constitution and our political system. That confederacy was founded in 1142, and has been recognized as the oldest living participatory democracy on earth. It ended a long, costly and destabilizing period of conflict among those tribes. In this episode of Challenge 2.0, we’ll learn of a new wisdom sharing, this by Pacific Northwest tribal leaders, intended to re-set our ongoing period of conflict between ourselves and our home planet. It’s called “In the Spirit of Right and Respectful Relations”.