Friday's News & Ideas - 3/22/2019

'Nones' now as big as evangelicals, Catholics in the US
Religion News Service: In a shift that stands to impact both religion and politics, survey data suggests that the percentage of Americans who don't affiliate with any specific religious tradition is now roughly the same as those who identify as evangelical or Catholic.
Christianity Today: Evangelicals show no decline, despite Trump and Nones

Being a gay Christian can be hurtful and grueling. But I refuse to lose faith
The (London) Guardian: "So why do we bother going back to these churches and people that have hurt us?" Lucy Knight asks. "The simple answer is that I still believe in a loving God, and I still have faith that views will change, and things will get better."

When loving your neighbor means fighting hookworm in Alabama
Christianity Today: In the Black Belt -- once cleared for cotton plantations -- rural black communities suffer the consequences of poor land stewardship.

The student strike that changed higher ed forever
NPR: 50 years ago, studying the history and culture of any people who were not white and Western was considered radical. Then came the longest student strike in U.S. history, at San Francisco State College, which changed everything.

The thoughtful pastor: After 12 years, it's time for 'other voices to be heard'
The Denton (Texas) Record-Chronicle: After 12 years writing for the Record-Chronicle, retired UMC pastor Christy Thomas reflects in her last regular column.

The Spark

How podcasts learned to speak: The once useless-seeming medium that became essential
With 660,000 shows and 62 million listeners, writes Vulture, the century's first new art form enters its corporate stage.

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