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.

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

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.

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.

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”.

As American forces pushed into Germany in early 1945, soldiers were also fighting a major morale problem. Many had not received mail for at least months.

The newly formed Six-Triple Eight battalion was charged with finding a solution. The predominantly black Army unit processed seventeen million pieces of undelivered mail in half the time expected. Yet their dedication was met with repeated bigotry. That historic mistreatment was magnified this year by Defense department’s removal of the webpage detailing the unit’s service. It is but one example of the greater burden of discrimination experienced by women of color, and has led to a more finely focused version of feminism, called Womanism.

Learn more about Paths to Understanding at https://www.PathsToUnderstanding.org

Eleven years ago, a college student named Elliott Rodger shot three young women outside their California sorority, killing two of them. It was part of a rampage that would claim the lives of six and injure fourteen others. The coming months and years would bring copycat attacks by others, who like Rodger, were frustrated by their inability to successfully form romantic relationships. They would call themselves “Incels”, shorthand for Involuntary Celibates. While their movement accepting and even celebrating violence toward women would remain mostly on the fringes, the Incel’s anger toward and dehumanizing of women has expanded, particularly this year. We’ll examine what’s come to be called “Toxic Masculinity” in this episode of Challenge 2.0.

Learn more about Paths to Understanding at https://www.PathsToUnderstanding.org 

In last week’s episode of Challenge 2.0, we met a small group of western Washington residents convinced that the courage to connect remains in what seems to be the Disunited States of America. They introduced us to the program they developed called Let’s Go Together that they believe can bring a sense of connection where there’s disconnection, replacing intolerance with acceptance, and prejudice with understanding. This week, we meet some of the early participants in this program; people with very different life experiences and outlooks who unexpectedly found common ground.

Learn more about Paths to Understanding at https://www.PathsToUnderstanding.org

America in the twenty first century seems to be defined by disconnection. That it’s become atoxic blend of distrust, discrimination and defiance; rejectingthe legal and social norms of cooperation built over decades. But aprogram called Let’s Go Together is proving that the courageto connect remainsin this countryand can be nourished; that it can bring together Americans of different life experiences, beliefs and affiliations. In this episode of Challenge 2.0, we meet three western Washington residents who have developed this program, and are proving that healing connections can develop not only in the Pacific Northwest, but throughout the United States.