Transcripts For KPIX Mosaic 20160110

Beautiful mother who embraces us. Praise be to you my lord. That is the name of the encyclical. He says the earth cries out because of the harm we have inflicted with irresponsible use and abuse. It is a call to renew the earth and to make that a religious calling. A beautiful, wonderful first sermon and encyclical from pope francis. Ron, how about you . I think that when you start off with pope francis, let me add that i think of a quote from dr. Martin luther king junior. He said that religious that is not concerned only for the souls of people and not for the political, social and Economic Conditions that strangle us all, it drives religion. I think faced with some of the political and social issues of our time. Pope francis along with the environment. He came to america. He first came to cuba and then to america and he addressed washington and the congress. He was also in new york and in philadelphia. I mentioned him because in that speech to the joint session of congress, he mentioned for persons that influenced us here in this culture. Our values and so forth. Thomas Newton Thomas newton, dorothy day and Martin Luther king with an emphasis on civil rights. He also mentioned abraham lincoln. I was impressed that he had such knowledge of our country and that he did his homework. So, along with the encyclical in terms of the environment, he addressed social rights to these individuals that have impacted our world. I thought that was insightful of him. Francis was the first judge with pope. So, one of your big stories is the pope addresses congress. Right. Also the issues that face our country and the world. He use that platform to address the issues that i think interface with the world around us. Right. I thought that was impressive. What is another story . I was going to start off with the Supreme Court decision this past summer which was 54 to legalize samesex marriage. That cost route that cost issues. Of course that gave the right for all who had supported the Lgbt Community for years. You might say that gave the legal right. And, an issue of justice for a lot of people. That does not end the story because we know that the nomination and the congregation are still debating. I think presbyterians are farther along than the methodist. The lutherans made some steps in that direction. In the 1800s, they were the first to ordain, African Americans, women and the gays and lesbians. That was not an issue for them. We struggle that. Of course, more conservative denominations have rejected that altogether. It has opened the door for a lot of people and joy came from that as well. That is on my list as well. From a different standpoint, following that there was kim devitt kim davis who was the clerk who had to register the marriages. She said she would not do it because it violated her freedom of religion and conference and conscious because of marriage should be between a man and a woman. This went all the way to the Supreme Court. The judge in the local town said that is all very well and good, but you are going to jail. The Supreme Court in one sentence said no, thats it, you have to enforce the law. The law trumps your religious liberty. Now, she has reached a compromise so that associate clerk sine the thing. But this goes back to a larger story from a year ago with hobby lobby. They said no, we dont want to pay the medical insurance for employees when it comes to birth control. The Supreme Court was 54 and they said oh no, you must you dont have to pay that, even though you were a private company and privately owned, iq are illegal corporation. You dont have to pay that if it violates your religious freedoms. It was an amazing thing. After hobby lobby, Congress Passed something that said that you can do that. It led to big turmoil going on about what are the boundaries of your religious rights and what can the state say . You may hold that privately, but publicly you will be upholding the law whether you object to it or not. There will be a lot of activity in church and state. It is something i am interested in at least. When we come back, ron swisher will continue. Stay with us, we will be right back. The top religious news stories of 2015. We have ron swisher sharing with us. Years ago, Nelson Mandela was the big story. He came out with the captors. Then there was the huge story that killed the people in the church in charleston, south carolina. Of course, it shocked us all. The people were in church having a bible study and the person comes in and kills eight people, laypeople, as well as the pastor. Then the next day was the forgiveness. We forgive you. It is so hard. People take seriously their faith. Father, forgive them. He knew what he was doing and that is even a larger ability for them to forgive. I think that forgiveness has really been a mark in our life this year. Can we forgive . I think Time Magazine said, how long can you forgive . Do you forgive the killer . I think that is something we wrestle with. Many people feel it is a process. You cannot do it overnight. However we feel about that, forgiveness needs to be a critical aspect to all of our religion. It goes back to a gospel story when one of the disciples said, how many times must i forgive . As many as 7 . Because under judaic law, you have to give you have to forgive seven times. And jesus said 70w7 and the man went away disheartened. As a result, he didnt really say except it was black. It was definitely racial. But, it was also it created a black a backlash on the flag. They would lose the confederate flag. It is illegal in many parts and it started from that. It was definitely racial, as you said. But, he did not say all of the other motives, as you said. It was double forgiveness because you are being targeted because of race. That is another thing to forgive. Another story connected with that is the black lives Matter Movement that has been supported by a lot of congregations and denominations and religious communities from the unitarians to main line denominations and evangelical groups. They had seen it important that life among black and African Americans counts. It doesnt mean other lives dont matter, but because we have been targeted so much in terms of the lack of employment and the violence that we have experienced. Also, for many of us, the police misconduct. We have seen so many accidents. Then the Prosecutor Says it is not is justified. That is difficult when a 12 yearold boy is killed or someone is choked by police officers. All of this right down the line. So, black lives matters has to address that violence. We dont condemn all police officers, but the misconduct of those should be addressed and confronted. When it is always this code of silence among the police officers, we have a difficult time. Some will speak out against that and that is a real concern. Okay, another one for us. I was say the refugees. The refugees from all over who have gone from syria. I think it is amazing that germany opened their doors. We know that merkel, the chancellor is that person of the year and thats the reason. Opening the doors in germany. The ways they have been yet with world war i them and 2, on world world war i and world war ii, they were the enemy. We have put up walls and concern. I understood some of that, but the idea that we are a country of immigrants in which we have always open doors. I think those that come from those countries are under great scrutiny, more than any other. It is a huge issue. The former enemy teaches us about compassion. We are going to take a break and we will have more religious stories. Stay with us. , moderator we are here with reverend. Ron swisher who was sharing religious stories from 2015. I think that religion we have seen the loss of about 700,000 people who lead to leave the conventional churches and religion. Thats been every year for the past 20 years. So, the fastest number grow fastestgrowing numbers are those who check none or done. They dont want to come back. What you do when you use lose millions of people . What does that mean regarding religious commitment . Moderator about 50 of people do and 50 dont. You have to Wonder Within that poll, how many are buddhist or muslim or hindu and how many are christian . But you are right, a few study show that typically people ages 1840 are very much higher. Who is losing people . Mainline protestants. We are sidelined. We are sidelined and where that will go, i dont know. That does bring up a story that i was going to talk about. Ron dryer who is a rotter and a writer and conservative editor went to the temple foundation. He had read something that basically said people of conservative christian religion are simply withdrawing. They are saying that the society is in decline and it is not who we are anymore. It is not the america that we know. They are taking the benedict option. They are saying to society, you can do what you want, but in the model of the benedictine fathers, we will pray among ourselves. It is withdrawal from the society and we will see how that goes. What else . I think we have to go back to gun violence. What are we going to do about gun violence . I have friends who are hunters and i have friends who have guns. I have clergy colleagues who have guns. So, they understand it is a violation of the Second Amendment when you talk about registration. But, we have to do something because when you look at things like sandy hook. The killings have been going on. It is mass killing. Then connected with that is the antimuslim killing. Yet, many of the killings have not been muslims. You go to sandy hook and the Movie Theater and all the way back to Timmy Timothy mcveigh in oklahoma. There have been killings by all kinds of people who should not have guns. A fellow just shot up the planned parenthood last year. That is a real concern. I am just not sure. We are 5 of the World Population and we own 40 of the worlds guns. What about canada where they have 100 homicides in the year and we have what hundred and one city. It goes on and on. And the death by children because of guns. Guns left in the drawer around the house. Parents who do not lock them up. It is amazing. It is a big concern for everyone. Im going to switch a little bit. I think one of the big stories is star wars. Star wars grossed 1 billion in one week and it is still going on. It will top it will probably top avatar. But, it is the attitude of wanting to connect to something larger than we are. On christmas eve, some time ago, there was the word was god and dwelt among us. It was connecting to that beginning that we all long for. I think that is what the star wars and the star track and the chronicles of narnia all do so well. What is it the lord of the rings . Yes. We have something within us that wants to go beyond us. Hans Christian Anderson said that life is a fairytale written by gods finger. Life is good. I think what they have tapped into with star wars and all of the creators of that. They have not left the spiritual longings and desires to go beyond, even if they have left the church. Yes, the star wars saga of touching the force is certainly the new church of america. We are talking religion 2015 with ron swisher. We will be right back. Stay with us. Moderator i am hugh burroghs with reverend. Ron swisher. We are talking about the top religious stories of 2015. Before we run out of time, lets come over here. Thank you gentlemen. Here are eight of my stories. You can log on. Praise to you oh my lord from the popes first encyclical from st. Francis assisi. Not on my bus has to do with the women of religions who got into a scrape with the vatican. They were put under edict and that was taken away. The local nuns on the bus when big. Then there is one for hobby lobby which goes to the continuing Supreme Court hustle over religion and rights. It has led to this newest ruling which said gay and lesbian marriages would be recognized everywhere. Number four is who goes to church, especially in california. Those who do not go to church or mainline protestants and Roman Catholics. Those who do go to church are conservative christians. There is also a high incidence of muslims and sheiks. Attendance is still lower than many other states in california. We talked about the war in syria. Gail and i were at the isle of utmost when the boat came to take us on to athens. The number of people that were ages 1830 that piled onto the boat and slept in the hallways and on the decks. There were 4 Million People leaving syria in the ongoing war not to mention iraq and afghanistan. Then you better read up on other religions because christianity is about to become a minority in this country and in the world. Muslim is searching. This will no longer be a majority christian nation. There are a few studies that say it will be a plurality. Then the gt you s the gtu center at berkeley that has hindu and buddhist studies. Any religion in the world is there talking with one another. This is a good news story as a religions of the world come together despite what it looks like on the outside. Then the number eight story with ron swisher and Elizabeth Ekdale has ongoing moderators of ron swisher 2016. Then there is the story of a hospital denying care because a woman wanted a tubal ligation in the hospital said no, we are Roman Catholic and we wont do that. This will be a big story in 2016. Ron, we have about a minute and a half. We have also heard that people are spiritual but not religious. I think they go handinhand. Religion tells us how to do it. It is prayer, study, worship and service. Spirituality tells us why we do it. For god, for christ, for the spirit. I dont think you can have one without the other. There you have it. We look forward to reverend. Ron swisher hosting in 2016. I am hugh burroghs. Pick a church around the corner. We are here with eric webb up we want to wish everybody a merry christmas. We want to thank everybody here at kpix who put us on the air. Happy new year. ,,,,,,, show for you this sunday. And we begin a tour of wine country sort no car needed just a pair solid running sneakers and whole lot guts and gyle. We are talking the napa valley marathon sponsered by Kaiser Permanente. W in its 38th y welcome to bay sunday. I am your host,. Sponsored by Kaiser Permanente and now in its 38th year. We are looking at wine country today. It is good to have you back, we had a big clear figure last year. Lets talk about the weather