The Paths To Understanding Podcast

Find out more at pathstounderstanding.org

 

‘They paid their debt to society’. That phrase is supposed to describe how someone convicted of a crime, and done their time, should be free to rebuild their life and that of their families. That’s not reality. But an imaginative program based in Seattle is aimed at transforming that situation. In this edition of Challenge 2.0; Emerging from the Prison Beyond Bars-The Prison Scholars program. 

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In this episode of Wisdom from Our Neighborhood, Terry talk with Nina Fernando. Nina serves as the Executive Director of the Shoulder to Shoulder Campaign (S2S). S2S is an interfaith organization that works across the nation to counter anti-Mulsim bigotry. Terry asks Nina about the work they do, why the work is needed, and how people can participate in this important work in their own community.

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http://chris-hoke.com/undergroundministries

 

Terry is joined by the executive director of Underground Ministries:

Since 2015 I’ve found a level of friendship, electric spiritual reflection, and heartbending stories in relationship with the incarcerated. The local county jail was just the first portal to the rabbit hole—into the underground of polite society, the streets, the supermax prisons, the cycle between the two that function like the circles of hell, or Hades today.

I am now the founding director of Underground Ministries. We want to pry open that underworld of our making, one relationship at a time. We are based in Skagit Valley, WA, but our models for churches and businesses to get in the game are resources of a wider movement. We want to make resurrection an ethic, a practice—for folks who thought they believed in it or not.

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In last week’s edition of Challenge 2.0, we joined the two thousand mile journey of a totem pole created by the Lummi Nation House of Tears carvers. We also joined a discussion of what that journey represents and what it calls for-a change in our relationship to the environment, a restoration of ancient Salmon runs that sustained life in the Pacific Northwest for millenia. Welcome to this edition of Challenge 2.0-Spirit of the Waters, Part Two.

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The Spirit of the Waters Totem Pole Journey in May stretched over seventeen days and more than two thousand miles. But the journey of this sixteen foot pole, created by the Lummi Nation House of Tears carvers, extends much farther in time. It reviews the relationship between humans and the environment that sustained a rich and sustainable culture for centuries in the Pacific Northwest, examines how abandoning that wisdom now threatens the lives and prosperity of this region and it calls us to reclaim that wisdom on our journey into the future. That’s the subject of this edition of Challenge 2.0, Spirit of the Waters.

 

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In last week’s edition of Challenge 2.0, faith leaders from Judaism, Christianity and Islam looked at the environmental crisis and how it models a crisis within our lives-our faiths, our values. We continue and expand that conversation this week, looking at how solutions demand not only good science and careful application of technology…but also digging deeper into what we value and believe.

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Last year brought the hottest month ever recorded on this planet, the longest drought ever recorded over the western United States and record rainfall and flooding over the eastern United States. Climate researchers agree it is a crisis demanding careful science and application of technology…but there’s an increasing sense that it also is a crisis of values and faith…that to successfully confront the challenges of the world we live in we must first confront the challenges of the world that lives in each of us. That’s the subject of this edition of Challenge 2.0.

The Christian church recently celebrated Pentecost, which observes the descent of the Holy Spirit upon people of all nations, ethnicity and races. As Deacon Joseph Connor noted in last week’s edition of Challenge 2.0, the reality is that no faith is truly color blind, offering equal welcome or opportunities for leadership to all. We continue that conversation this week. 

 

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Join the Paths Network at https://www.PathsNetwork.org

Seven years ago, a twenty one year old white man walked into a predominantly black church in South Carolina, opened fire and killed nine members of that faith community.  Most religious communities condemned the action and beliefs of Dylan Roof. But many  have also failed to see the contradiction between their expressed beliefs and their fears, resentments and discomfort focused on people of color. In this episode of Challenge 2.0, we examine Racism; Religion’s Blind Spot…what it’s like to be black in mostly white faith communities. 

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In last weeks’ edition of Challenge 2.0, we began a conversation with two prominent atheists/humanists. What do those terms mean? Does their disbelief mean they don’t share common values with those who do profess a religious faith? Is there room for collaborative action and connection in a society that increasingly offers neither?