“Last month, almost 1,000 people streamed into a church in San Francisco for an unprecedented event billed as Beyoncé Mass. Most were people of color and members of the LGBTQ community. Many were secular. They used Queen Bey’s songs, which are replete with religious symbolism, as the basis for a communal celebration.” That was a particularly unusual (and particularly excellent) example of a surprisingly common trend towards a new form of a religiosity; one that often excludes god. The Atlantic’s Sigal Samuel digs into the latest Pew survey numbers and finds that Atheists Are Sometimes More Religious Than Christians. (I consider myself an agnostic: I doubt the existence of Beyoncé.)

+ If praying to a pop star seems sacrilegious to you, then maybe The Church of Saint John Coltrane will be more your speed.