Reconnecting Roots

At TowHaul, we value the creativity and hard work that built this country and improves our lives, by supporting education towards careers in manufacturing and the trades. TowHaul proud sponsor of Reconnecting Roots and public television. Support for Reconnecting Roots and public television is provided by Taylor Stitch, Taylor Stitch is responsibly built for the long haul and is proud to partner with brands that inspire hope for a more sustainable future. Muletown Coffee Roasters is honored to be a part of Reconnecting Roots and it's hope to inspire the future through lessons of the past. Muletown Coffee Roasters is all about slowing things down digging into community and encouraging good for goodness sake. Music Ranch Montana sharing a common passion for music and community in beautiful paradise valley. Music Ranch Montana's mission to support musicians and provide a place to enjoy it together is reflected in Reconnecting Roots. Gimmie that old time religion Praying, preaching, pilgrimming and persecuting, it's all apart of the American story, three times a week and twice on Sunday or Saturday depending upon your affiliation. Religious freedom is what exemplifies what it means to be an American and yet we take it for granted. How the United States kept separate from the church and how we the people still come together to serve a higher authority. beautiful for spacious skies, amber waves of grain, purple mountain majesties on the fruited plains. We're home. Hooooome, Hooooome. Framing the future through the past. This is Reconnecting Roots. Home Home <sound of horn fanfare> They sought to escape oppression, leave behind a mighty ruler who singled them out for being different and who sought to control the gods of the land. With great difficulty they made their way out of that land on a long treacherous journey that tested their hearts seeking a land of promise where they could live according to the religion their consciences accepted. It's the story of the exodus but without the golden calves and if the story that has influenced religious freedom in western civilization and the story that inspired pilgrims to flee from persecution by coming to America, a promise land for religious refugees. Churches are also places of refuge for the strangers, programs and sojourners coming into the land. Churches were a place to find community and our ideas of church aren't what they used to be. Of course, we have more than just churches. People in temples, synagogues and mosques are all allowed to freely teach and live out their faith. It's not always an easy piece to keep, but for the most part Americans have long insisted on the freedom of religious expression not only for themselves but for those of different faiths. (singing) In the Queens borough of New York City since the historic neighborhood of Flushing just over three centuries ago this colonial Dutch settlement was ground zero of the religious liberty movement. Today many of the oldest houses of worship in the country are still standing here and represent hundreds of different sects and belief systems, a salad bowl in the melting pot of America but looking into the story of this town we learn a few dirty little secrets about a time in American history where freedom of religion was thrown out the stain glassed window. So I'm guessing it's a few years old. Let's put it this way, George Washington has been in this place. So what's significant about the Quaker meeting house? It'd survived in a time when it was illegal to practice your own religion. Wait,wait,wait,wait, this is America. We have freedom to practice religion. And you're welcome because of where we are standing right now. Actually a couple of doors down was where the documents were actually signed that allowed the freedom of consciousness in what would become the United States of America. In sixteen fifty six, Governor Peter Stuyvesant declared one state religion. This especially led to the mistreatment and persecution of Flushing's Quaker community. The people of Flushing responded with their own decree declaring the right of freedom of conscience extending to Jews, Muslims and protecting the belief system of anyone who comes in peace. This Flushing Remonstrance caused a backlash from Stuyvesant's administration arresting local officials who refused to enforce his policy of intolerance before the provincial authorities cited in favor of freedom. So this is the very beginning of religious freedom even before the constitution. Correct,because of this. In the same neighborhood where the remonstrance took place, I was able to witness various religious groups flourishing in Flushing. Flushing I think really exemplifies where America's moving in terms of diversity and religious tolerance and coexistence. Flushing's interfaith council brought me together with this group of local clergy to discuss freedom and tolerance in America today. Do you feel like you have freedom of religion here in America? I've been to all,almost all the prayer houses in the area and I feel very comfortable, very nice experience in this part of the world. Do you think your parents or even your grandparents experienced that same religious freedom that you guys have experienced? The Jews in Europe look at America, they called it in Yiddish, but the translation English was a golden land for a life of of freedom and beauty and the ability to be yourself. And when they immigrated over luckily they were able. So my parents certainly new religious freedom. My grandparents had to search and find religious freedom. Even though we live in America which has freedom of religion there still seems to be some persecution. I think everything stems from ignorance or lack of education to make it sound better. And I think that's why we go visit the Quaker meeting house, the Hindu temple, the Jewish synagogue and if one of those groups has had persecution anywhere or they feel a threat, then we go and be their support, be a blockade or escort them to some place, then we stand up and do that. On the town square, in the wildwood, under a tent pole, wherever two or more are gathered, churches have long been pillars of our society, connecting people with a common identity. Since we are largely a people of traditions many of our church buildings have been well kept. You can step foot in a church and it looks exactly as it did when your grandparents or great grandparents stepped inside for worship, often singing the same hymns or playing the same music as they did generations ago. Churches in the country often relied on traveling preachers to make a circuit from town to town getting multiple sermons in a single Sunday and maybe gather afterwards for a pot luck on the lawn and in cities, congregations could afford to support a clergy to pastor them according to their accepted orthodoxies and oversee collection of ministries serving the community. Since the first official joining of church and state back in the Roman Empire a terrible system of abuses has occurred throughout history. Shocking claims of divine right and political manipulation of a higher authority proved to be a bloody business and it's not good for spiritual development when government hijacks religion or outlaws faith. Yeah, also shocking. And it's also pretty dangerous the other way around when theocracy's controlled government. So back when the U.S.A. was kick starting, the founders formulated a break through, something to disrupt the traditional church government relationship and protect what was sacred to the people without taking sides. While three quarters of the population went to some kind church with religion being so widespread, the forefathers of America had a decision to make. What would be the official church of America? Guys look I just feel like we've been going in circles and circles. Here's what I think. True freedom of religion has to protect everyone. Not just one church. (drums and whistles) This freedom arises from a multiplicity of sects which pervades America and which is the best and only security for religious liberty in any society, for where there is a variety of sects there cannot be a majority of any one sect to oppress or persecute the others. That felt really good. That felt like yeah. For sure bro, mutual toleration in the different professions thereof is what all good and candid minds and all ages have ever practiced and both by precept and example inculcated on mankind. Hey! Making a coffee run. You guys want anything? Yeah! Turkish coffee for me please. I'm good bro! Ever heard of shots from around the world? That's what I'm going. Was that supposed to be funny? Okay! Okay so it sounds like based on all of our exact an altered quotes we should really guarantee an amendment that says I don't know, 'Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.' That felt good. It's like cathartic. Listen we just went through this in Virginia. You just leave out the name of a specific deity or body. Somebody suggested including the name Jesus Christ. But 'the insertion was rejected by a great majority in proof that they meant to comprehend within the mantle of it's protection the Jew and the Gentile, the Christian and Mahometan, the Hindoo and infidel in every denomination. Some ignore this because even though early settlers came to the land as a way to avoid persecution, over time Americans started persecuting their own. Coffee boy. Don't go and start a revolution. After Joseph Smith created the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in the 1830's, he was harassed to the point of being tarred and feathered, literally. So he fled along with his followers and set up a community in Illinois. Things didn't go too well there either before the Mormon settled in Utah. In Philadelphia, false rumors fueled hatred toward Catholics, which caused the Bible riots of 1844. In addition to Catholic churches being burned, dozens of homes were destroyed and at least 20 people were killed. In 1963, a church in Birmingham, Alabama was actively promoting civil rights when one Sunday morning, as four young girls were getting their choir robes in the basement, a bomb exploded, killing them. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. accurately predicted the tragedy would affect the consciences of whites to end segregation. Our government was designed to uphold the highest level of religious freedom. Some have disagreed with that notion, trading violence for understanding but that freedom allows for change, growth and journey. Plenty of which still affect us today. When I die and they lay me to rest Gonna go to the place that's the best When I lay me down to die Goin' up to the spirit in the sky Goin' up to the spirit in the sk y That's where I'm gonna go when I die When I die and they lay me to rest I'm gonna go to the place that's the best Prepare yourself, you know it's a must Gotta have a friend in Jesus So you know that when you die He's gonna recommend you to the spirit in the sky We recommend you to the spirit in the sky America has been the birthplace of several new churches and religious organizations over the past six generations as well, ushering in groups like the Latter Day Saints, Jehovah Witnesses, Adventists, Church of Christ Scientists and even churches that don't worship a god, like the Church of Scientology. The impact of churches as the predominant force of spiritual development has also changed. One indicator of this is the rising number of 'nones' no not those nuns. 'Nones' that is the number of people whose religious identity is 'none.' 30 years ago about seven percent of Americans claim to be 'nones' This would include Atheists, Agnostics and also those with no particular religion. (organ playing) Since that time, the percentage has more than tripled, but that's also because many nondenominational and unaffiliated religious identify as 'nones' while the 78% identifying as Christians has decreased in the past ten years to 71%. This also indicates how America's views on God have divided over the last 150 years. Friday July 10th, today the trial of John T. Scopes begins. The year 1925 would change the way we talked about religion and science, when a renowned defense lawyer sparred with a preacher turned prosecutor over a science teacher who introduced to his classroom the study of evolution. The trial was inconsequential, as the ruling against the defendant was overturned on a technicality. But the effects of its spectacle are still present. The general public allowed matters of faith and science to intermingle before the monkey trial reframed the debate pitting science against religion in terms of rationalism versus superstition and demonstrating the dangers of a church unseparated from state. America's preachers were losing their shine as people seeking enlightenment valued evidence over fate. And churches would be the ones to suffer loss. This type of exodus from churches is a scandal all its own. A nation like ours needs the institution of moral authority to maintain her integrity. Look at history of the church, an organization like ours is too big to fail. It's the devil filling their's heads with the high fallutin scientific Senate talk. So they pay no mind to the oracles of God first Peter verse seven. People just don't know how to hold on the faith because they've been burned in the past. But brothers and sisters look deeply into your own hearts and ask yourself the question, when your hurt, when you're confused, when you meet someone to lift you up, someone whose intentions you know are true to character who are you going to trust? (laughing on TV) (static) (Steam) Where churches were once a fixture of the town square as a vocal movement that's brewing to push any religion out of the public square, even from coffee cups. whether it's a prayer in school, a display in a government building or an elected official with outspoken beliefs, lines in the sand seem to be shifting as to how much religious liberty is acceptable and where people are allowed to practice their faith. Liberty is pitted against liberty in a conflict between freedom of religion and freedom from religion. But in the system governed by 'We the People' can you truly be free from religion when our democracy is populated with a majority of religious people. And on the flip side can you enforce freedom from religion without establishing no religion as the state religion. Merry Christmas? That'd be me. Thanks. Out smarted them. The state of churches today leaves a lot to be desired. When churches aren't continually splitting apart, they shut out any influence with people unlike themselves. Denominationalism becomes tribalism. The similar phenomenon is Christian nationalism that would enshrine stricter Christian ideals as law. It was Protestant nativists that revived the KKK whose members included some of their ministers. Other groups target people to protest using freedom of religion as their excuse to do so. Where churches in America were once instrumental in bringing people together and building communities, today a broad diversity of American communities already brought together are now building churches. If you're someone who doesn't like to leave home, or leave your car, holy cowboy or a heaven's angel it says something about the needs of the human heart to want to come together to find fellowship and meaning. This is even true among the most ardent non believers. So what we've done is basically taken the best bits out of church and just got rid of the God bit. By best bits Evans means creating a community with a focus on good and gratitude. We know that when people sing together, dance together, laugh together they seem wonderful experience and shouldn't be monopolized by the religious. If it looks like a church, talks like a church and acts like a church, but believes the opposite of a church it still shows the divine wisdom in human beings coming together in the spirit of compassion. Anyway's ladies and gentleman I want to welcome you to Central City Community Church of the Nazarene. We have services every Sunday morning. Wednesday night is what night? (people yelling in background) The city that brought karaoke bars to popularity nearly four decades ago has a special ministry. Not for singers hoping to be discovered, but for those who have abandoned their hopes in the mires of poverty and abuse. Out of the 88,000 souls living on the streets of LA the largest homeless population in the country, 6,000 live here in Skid Row. I met Pastor Scott and Pastor Tony to see how secular music could do the Lord's work. (man singing a James Brown song) We thought there wasn't a lot of fun things to do in Skid Row except get high and drunk and so every Wednesday night for about twenty years, we've had a place of hospitality, of grace, a place of welcome that hopefully draws them in a relationship for them to then thrive and get their life back together. I keep forgetting about your love... On the surface, this doesn't look like religion. In this area, a lot of individuals are struggling with mental illness and addiction. The government is only gonna be able to deal with mental health issues. The churches can come along side to help to get people housed and the sense of relationally walk them through that process because it's very difficult or to provide emotional support for someone with mental illness to be able to make sure to keep their job. My friends wonder what is wrong with me. To me the karaoke is a good break from really what goes down in Skid Row. It's kind of a hard place to be. It's a lot of opportunities if you're trying to turn your life around. All right. All right. You remind me of myself when I first came here so don't worry about it. We touch wounds in the community that nobody else seems to be able to touch. Because one, we've been there. We know. What would this area be like if there wasn't religious institutions like you guys providing this ministry. The cops try to do what they can do. Without the church here, without somebody stepping in, we step in to the gap you know that this place would just be over ran and be overrun run by drugs and alcohol and prostitution and everything else that goes along with it. So, we're aware we just keep praying for it. We pray that your might hand will touch the hearts of every person that's here tonight. That we would all become fast friends and then rebuild to talk to one another and have camaraderie between each other. America is blessed to have a culture concerned with spiritual pursuits and equally blessed to have a system that doesn't dictate what we must think or feel. But what really makes things special is our ability to freely associate with one another to find community, to build community and encourage a more perfect union with our fellow man. Thanks for watching. Shine. This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine let it shine, let it shine, let it Shine. Shine. All around the world, I'm gonna let it shine. All around the world, I'm gonna let it shine. All around the world, I'm gonna let it shine. Let it shine. Let it shine. Let it... Shine Shine Don't let nobody, it up, I'm going to let it shine. Don't let nobody, it up, I'm going to let it shine. Don't let nobody, it up, I'm going to let it shine. Let it shine, let it shine, let it... Shine. one, two, three, four, (guitar solo) (closing song) Reconnect with us at reconnectingroots.tv where you can check out blogs, extra videos, behind the scenes, a podcast and the album from season two. And don't forget, follow us here. Support for Reconnecting Roots and public television is provided by Taylor Stitch, Taylor Stitch is responsibly built for the long haul and is proud to partner with brands that inspire hope for a more sustainable future. Muletown Coffee Roasters is honored to be a part of Reconnecting Roots and it's hope to inspire the future through lessons of the past. Muletown Coffee Roasters is all about slowing things down digging into community and encouraging good for goodness sake. Music Ranch Montana sharing a common passion for music and community in beautiful paradise valley. Music Ranch Montana's mission to support musicians and provide a place to enjoy it together is reflected in Reconnecting Roots. At TowHaul, we value the creativity and hard work that built this country and improves our lives, by supporting education towards careers in manufacturing and the trades. TowHaul proud sponsor of Reconnecting Roots and public television.