Interaction with Dogs Can Improve our Lives, Scientific Study Proves

We know that human-dog interaction brings meaningful emotional support and health advantages. Using electroencephalography. researchers revealed that petting a dog and making eye contact stimulates higher brain activity in the beta and gamma frequency bands compared to touching a stuffed toy dog. Interactions with a dog can improve attention and concentration. 

interactions with dogs can increase brain activity in the beta and gamma power spectra in healthy participants, thereby activating attention and concentration. Additionally, the subjective evaluation of emotions indicated that engagements with dogs elicited positive emotional responses.

The more we break down the human/animal hierarchy, the better for us and the world. 

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-026-45639-2

Can Dolly Parton Give Us a Way to Respond to Being Treated as a Lower Group?

“Dolly,” Barbara Walters asked, “Where I come from, would I have called you a hillbilly? … When I think of hillbillies, am I thinking of your kind of people?” 

“I think you probably are,” Dolly replied. “But we were very proud people, people with a lot of class. It was country class, but it was a great deal of class. And most of my people were not that educated, but they are very, very intelligent. Good common sense — horse sense, we called it.”

Dorie Clark, the author of this article, calls Parton’s move the “label upgrade” strategy, and it’s a way to simultaneously maintain your dignity and disarm the person who’s talking down to you.

Dolly is neither denying she’s a hillbilly, nor getting mad at what could easily be seen as an insult. Instead, she claims the label and revises what it means.

https://www.cnbc.com/2026/08/31/when-someone-talks-down-use-dolly-partons-simple-trick-maintain-dignity-disarm-communication-expert.html

Inclusivity Brings Church Back from the Brink

Glendale United Methodist Church in Nashville, Tennessee has been revised. Nine years ago, only 12-25 people attended weekly services. Now the number is 125. 

Steven Adair, a church leader who has attended the church all his life, knew that changes had to be made or Glendale would eventually close.

“I watched my church die a slow death in front of my eyes for the first 30 years of my life,” said Adair, leads the communications outreach at Glendale among other duties.

A welcome message is read out loud every Sunday:

“We at Glendale United Methodist Church want you to know that no matter where you’ve come from or where you are going; what you believe or what you may doubt; what you are feeling or just not feeling; what you have or don’t have; and no matter the color of your skin, who you love or how you identify — all of you are welcomed into this community of faith by a God who loves you and knows you by name.”

Glendale made itself visible as a friend of LGBTQ people by participating in the annual Nashville Pride parade and festival.

https://www.umnews.org/en/news/inclusivity-brings-church-back-from-the-brink?utm_id=97758_v0_s00_e0_tv4_a1demo0ecs1j8o&fbclid=IwY2xjawTgcO1leHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFPNmVTZmxuMzJzcjU5U2w1c3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHgy8PY_lk7eAtAIk82yZK5WV5dyIesnS0h1q9Wfq-HnC6ylehfPQcGnZuvGq_aem_AzqCkQaK3DSQ479YvHG31g

Mormon Retention Among Young People is Decreasing

From another source: “While Mormon retention looked solid in the early 2000s, in the years since, as Millennial Mormons moved through emerging adulthood, they began exiting the LDS church in dramatic, unprecedented numbers,” according to sociologist Christian Smith. 

In his recent book, Smith stated that “Why Religion Went Obsolete,” the LDS church was once “legendary for its impressive retention rates among young people.” 

As our population is coming to grips with how hierarchies keep people engaged, perhaps this is an example of how more younger people are rejecting hierarchical religions along side other hierarchical institutions. 

https://religionnews.com/2025/12/10/us-gen-zers-and-millennials-are-leaving-the-lds-church-data-confirms/