Monday's News & Ideas - 1/22/2024

Most UMC disaffiliations in the South: New report outlines latest in ongoing split*
The Tennessean: Twenty United Methodist Church regional conferences saw at least 30% of their churches leave the denomination in the past five years. Chief among those regional authorities was the Northwest Texas Conference at 81% of churches disaffiliated.

Ohio city targets pastor who helped homeless stay warm in freezing weather. What's the crime?
The Columbus Dispatch: Being homeless is not a crime. Helping the homeless should not be a crime. The real crime is that we do not do nearly enough to help those in need.

An atheist chaplain and a death row inmate’s final hours*
The New York Times: Devin Moss spent a year ministering to convicted killer Phillip Hancock. Together, they wrestled with one question: How to face death without God.

Modi inaugurates Hindu temple on site of razed mosque in India
The Guardian: Narendra Modi hailed the controversial opening as the fulfilment of a “dream that many have cherished for years.”

William Barber on recruiting low-wage voters, Biden’s record on poverty
Religion News Service: “If you leave this many people in poverty and low wealth, you open up the door for demagogues and people who will use people’s fears and hurts against them,” said the Rev. William Barber.

The Spark

An American girlhood in the Ozempic era 
Adults are divided about giving children new drugs* for weight loss. At 13, Maggie Ervie decided to take them, The Cut says.

*access is limited for nonsubscribers