Thursday's News & Ideas - 3/30/2023

Pope Francis spends ‘calm’ night in hospital
BBC: Pope Francis spent a calm night in hospital after being admitted for a respiratory infection and is expected to remain there for a few days for treatment, a Vatican source has said.

Study: Religious attendance dips slightly after pandemic
Religion News Service: The study found the share of U.S. adults who generally say they attend religious services at least once a month dropped from 33% in 2019, before the COVID-19 outbreak, to 30% in 2022.
Pew Research Center: How the pandemic has affected attendance at U.S. religious services

Baptist church jumps into service as reunion point for Covenant School children and parents
Baptist News Global: Woodmont’s sanctuary was transformed into a place of service throughout the day, with staffers handing out water bottles and snacks to waiting parents as city officials took names and everyone waited for students to arrive by bus.

MLK’s vision of social justice included religious pluralism – a house of many faiths
The Conversation: In an age of polarization, it is worth remembering that one of the pillars of King’s philosophy was pluralism: the idea of multiple communities engaging one another, acknowledging their differences and shared bonds and striving to create what King called a “Beloved Community.”

The problem with artificial intelligence is us*
The Christian Century: As long as AI is trained on human behavior, it will tend to replicate our worst flaws.

The Spark

Serial’s Adnan Syed was finally free. Zoom got his conviction reinstated.
A wildly rare appeal is sending Adnan Syed back to court — this time with Hae Min Lee’s family in the room, says Vox.

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