Friday's News & Ideas - 10/6/2023

The nones
The Associated Press: In many countries around the world, there has been a dramatic increase in the number of people who are nonbelievers or unaffiliated with any organized religion. These so-called “nones” comprise 30% or more of the adult population in the United States and Canada. Japan, Israel and Uruguay are among other nations where large numbers of people are secular.

Pandemic restrictions had no lasting effect on churches, study finds*
Christianity Today: The data doesn’t show any adverse effects from COVID-related government regulations.

Mark Driscoll’s safe space: How the embattled pastor built a new church
Religion Unplugged: After the dramatic implosion of Seattle’s Mars Hill Church in 2014, its co-founder and pastor — Mark Driscoll, an unapologetically confrontational preacher who resigned when church leaders accused him of abusive leadership — decamped with his family to Arizona.

Columbus Day celebrates a Christian doctrine that authorized centuries of violence — and continues to threaten American democracy
Religion Dispatches: Although many of us were erroneously taught that “Columbus discovered America,” he never set foot on soil within our national borders and famously didn’t comprehend that he had encountered lands unknown to Europeans until his third voyage in 1498.

Pope urges rich world to make profound changes to tackle climate crisis
The Guardian: Pope Francis defends climate protesters and calls on governments to make Cop28 in Dubai a turning point.

The Spark

Walkers in the city — and everywhere
In psychogeography, the journey is key. Each step a person takes helps them reshape and better understand the role the space around them plays in their life, JSTOR says.

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