The Paths To Understanding Podcast

Learn more about Paths to Understanding at https://www. PathsToUnderstanding.org Join the Paths Network at https://www. PathsNetwork.org Joy would seem to be an unlikely emotion in a world increasingly filled with uncertainty, and the fear, anger and anxiety it creates. The noted figures of the Dalai Lama and the late South African Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu emphasized we can access and expe...

Learn more about Paths to Understanding at https://www. PathsToUnderstanding.org Join the Paths Network at https://www. PathsNetwork.org Last month’s elections left many Americans deeply troubled. Whatever our individual opinions might be, what approaches and thoughts will best help us navigate the uncertainty of the coming months? In this episode of Challenge 2.0, we turn to three leaders from th...

Learn more about Paths to Understanding at https://www. PathsToUnderstanding.org Join the Paths Network at https://www. PathsNetwork.org   In our last episode of Challenge 2.0, we began a conversation with John Philip Newell, the author of a new book called “The Great Search”. It explored why an increasing number of people believe organized religious institutions are failing to help them cope with...

Learn more about Paths to Understanding at https://www. PathsToUnderstanding.org Join the Paths Network at https://www. PathsNetwork.org Churches are closing, faith communities are declaring bankruptcy, the ‘faithful’ are increasingly expressing a sense that their religious communities have broken faith with them. I recently read two sentences that provided a useful summary-“Religion as we have kn...

Learn more about Paths to Understanding at https://www. PathsToUnderstanding.org Join the Paths Network at https://www. PathsNetwork.org One hundred and twelve years ago, Washington became one of the first states to adopt the initiative and referendum process. This gave citizens the ability to overturn laws and write new ones...essentially acting as a check on the power of elected officialsand on...

Learn more about Paths to Understanding at https://www. PathsToUnderstanding.org Join the Paths Network at https://www. PathsNetwork.org Last week, we met the father and mother of a young man who died from suicide. In this episode of Challenge 2.0, they’ll outline a program they’ve developed to prevent such tragedies, aided by their son’s friends, as well as medical and mental health professionals...

Learn more about Paths to Understanding at https://www. PathsToUnderstanding.org Join the Paths Network at https://www. PathsNetwork.org Suicide is now the second leading cause of death among young people. Only car crashes claim more lives. The number of suicide deaths continues to increase dramatically, even among children as young as eight. In the next three editions of Challenge 2.0, we’ll meet...

Learn more about Paths to Understanding at https://www. PathsToUnderstanding.org Join the Paths Network at https://www. PathsNetwork.org Holiday dinners frequently pose challenges. But as differences in politics, philosophy and faith have become more extreme, such gatherings can become toxic-even or perhaps especially when the guests are related. But a new program called Potluck for Democracy beli...

Learn more about Paths to Understanding at https://www. PathsToUnderstanding.org Join the Paths Network at https://www. PathsNetwork.org Workers who move to a region for oil, gas and mining jobs often set up what are called ‘man camps’; residential villages often located near or even on native reservations. Investigators from groups such as Amnesty International have documented the increased risk...

Learn more about Paths to Understanding at https://www. PathsToUnderstanding.org Join the Paths Network at https://www. PathsNetwork.org The story of today’s Challenge episode was born in tragedy. A young woman who unsuccessfully sought to escape an abusive husband died at his hands when she was unable to find safe shelter. But it inspired a response that has literally saved thousands from similar...

Learn more about Paths to Understanding at https://www. PathsToUnderstanding.org Join the Paths Network at https://www. PathsNetwork.org Translating values into policy and law is never easy and rarely quick. In this episode of Challenge 2.0, we visit with leaders from the group Faith Action Network which represents 167 faith communities throughout the state. Those communities encompass Christianit...

One faith leader has described what is called ‘wokeness’ as a pseudo-religion, another as simply being ‘vile’. Florida governor Ron DeSantis brags his state is where ‘wokeness’ goes to die. Yet other faith leaders call it an expression of authentic religious faithwith some qualifications. In this episode of Challenge 2.0, three faith leaders of Christianity, Judaism and Islam consider this controv...

Learn more about Paths to Understanding at https://www. PathsToUnderstanding.org Join the Paths Network at https://www. PathsNetwork.org The most common narrative of the current conflict in the middle east is that it pits Muslims and Jews against each other. It suggests differences in the two religions, and the expectations inherent in those faiths makes finding common ground impossible. But are d...

Learn more about Paths to Understanding at https://www. PathsToUnderstanding.org Join the Paths Network at https://www. PathsNetwork.org Last week, we began a conversation examining the force of White Christian Nationalism in America; how it conflicts with the essence of Christianity and the motto found on coins-‘E Pluribus Unum’-out of many, one. We continue our discussion this week with the auth...

White Christian Nationalism has become a potent and disruptive force in American politics. Some would argue that it has everything to do with a mix of anger and fear among white Americans, the impulse of nationalism, but very little to do with authentic Christianity. Reverend Terry Kyllo is among those. Go and Do Likewise is the title of his analysis of this toxic force in our culture. In this epi...

Learn more about Paths to Understanding at https://www. PathsToUnderstanding.org Join the Paths Network at https://www. PathsNetwork.org   In last week’s episode of Challenge 2.0, we began a conversation with an internationally recognized advocate of nonviolence and how it’s a proven path to peace and justice. This week, we explore what the practice of nonviolence is, how change within us is neede...

Learn more about Paths to Understanding at https://www. PathsToUnderstanding.org Join the Paths Network at https://www. PathsNetwork.org Violence or the threat of violence dominates the news-whether it’s in the Middle East, the Ukraine, on American streets or in classrooms. It seems to be a never-ending cycle, with peace and justice remaining ever elusive. In this episode of Challenge 2.0, we spea...

Learn more about Paths to Understanding at https://www. PathsToUnderstanding.org Join the Paths Network at https://www. PathsNetwork.org The two basins formed by the Columbia and Snake rivers were once the biggest salmon habitats in the world. But no longer. Just as the native fish population in this once famed region is struggling to survive, what are called the ‘people of the salmon’ are also fa...

Learn more about Paths to Understanding at https://www. PathsToUnderstanding.org Join the Paths Network at https://www. PathsNetwork.org Science has clearly implicated four dams  on the lower Snake River as bearing major responsibility for the precipitous decline of salmon in the Columbia basin. All four salmon and steel head populations in this area at risk of extinctions. The four major tribal n...

Learn more about Paths to Understanding at https://www. PathsToUnderstanding.org Join the Paths Network at https://www. PathsNetwork.org The George Orwell novel 1984 describes an era ruled by thought police with those who evade book bans charged with ‘thought crimes’. Ironically, as book bans are increasing rapidly in the United States, the Orwellian novel is among those books most frequently chal...

Learn more about Paths to Understanding at https://www. PathsToUnderstanding.org Join the Paths Network at https://www. PathsNetwork.org The textbook definition of history is that it’s the study of the human past as described by written documents left by humans. But when such history is uncomfortable, inconvenient or controversial, some groups seek to erase it. That’s particularly true of black hi...

Last week we began an examination of black history-the efforts to marginalize it or eliminate it from school curricula. This week we continue that conversation, and consider why not only black students but also white students lose if the wealth of all cultures aren’t taught. 

Learn more about Paths to Understanding at https://www. PathsToUnderstanding.org Join the Paths Network at https://www. PathsNetwork.org Study after study documents the number of Americans who participate in most organized religions is decreasing. Most religions. The exception may be a surprise. At the turn of the century, census figures estimated 134,000 Americans identified themselves as Pagans....

Learn more about Paths to Understanding at https://www. PathsToUnderstanding.org Join the Paths Network at https://www. PathsNetwork.org Fear is the common denominator between Gaza and Israel. The continued violence, destruction and loss of life has most people fleeing Gaza if at all possible, and continuing to mourn both the dead and lost sense of safety in Israel. But there are volunteers now se...

Learn more about Paths to Understanding at https://www. PathsToUnderstanding.org Join the Paths Network at https://www. PathsNetwork.org The Hamas attack in Israeli and the counter-attack by Israeli Defense Forces in Gaza have led to thousands of civilian casualties. It is a human tragedy of inconceivable scale and impact. In this episode of Challenge 2.0, we’ll seek to move beyond the political,...