On religious apps, tens of millions of people are confessing to spiritual chatbots their secrets: their petty vanities and deepest worries, gluttonous urges and darkest impulses. Trained on religious texts, the bots are like on-call priests, imams or rabbis, offering comfort and direction at any time. (Jackson, The New York Times)
Read MoreThe existence of animal chaplains, who offer spiritual care for people with pets, for people who work with animals and for animals themselves, is just one example of how Americans are increasingly reexamining the relationship between humans and the natural world, and in the process changing their religious and spiritual beliefs and practices. (Boorstein, The Washington Post)
Read MoreDream Exchange and its leadership team have extensive ties to the Church of Scientology and entities connected to the religious institution, according to financial and other records reviewed by The Wall Street Journal and people familiar with the company’s inner workings. (Dugan & Osipovich, The Wall Street Journal)
Read MoreEven though people across the U.S. are facing difficult times, the state in which you live may have an impact on how happy you are. In this study, WalletHub drew upon the findings of “happiness” research to determine which environmental factors are linked to a person’s overall well-being and satisfaction with life. (McCann, WalletHub)
Read MoreEarly data on deaths in 2024, published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, show that COVID dropped from the list for the first time since the start of the pandemic. It became the third leading cause of death in the U.S. in 2020, and remained among the leading causes until now. (Huang, NPR)
Read MoreThe majority said the state had not met the bar to seek an emergency reversal of a preliminary injunction by a federal judge, who had permitted the teen to use the boys’ restroom while he sues over the state’s bathroom restrictions for transgender students. (Jouvenal, The Washington Post)
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