A surprising number of young adults in real-life romantic relationships are simultaneously maintaining secret romantic interactions with AI chatbot companions.

Today, 80% of Americans say religion is losing influence in American life. Sociologist Christian Smith’s book-length study Why Religion Went Obsolete: The Decline of Traditional Religion (2025) provides data that support this perception. One international study in the last decade that examined national levels of religiosity found that the United States ranked 14% lower in religiosity than formerly communist Russia. Many Americans have replaced religious commitments and identity with devotion to aspects of politics, popular culture, science, or all three.

After nearly two centuries, the promise of U.S. public schools to foster effective and meaningful learning opportunities for all children across race and social class remains unfulfilled. In this report, we examine the potential for religious faith to help bridge student learning opportunity gaps—given that seven in ten Americans identify with a faith tradition and that religious faith plays a significant role in various dimensions of human flourishing. We define religious faith as including both (a) personal spiritual beliefs and practices and (b) participation in religious organizations that structure shared beliefs, values, and rituals that guide personal and community conduct.

In a collaborative event between Wheatley Institute and BYU's McKay School of Education, leading scholars and educators from across the country discussed the potential for religious faith to help bridge America's widening student learning opportunity gaps.

In honor of America's 250th anniversary, BYU history professor Tyson Reeder, with support from the Wheatley Institute, taught a semester-long history course on the Declaration of Independence. As a culminating learning experience, the entire class, which included several Wheatley Scholars, traveled to key historical sites associated with the Declaration in Virginia, Washington D.C., and Philadelphia.

"The marital horizon functions as a behavioral organizer. It shapes what young men pay attention to, how they invest their time and energy, and how they weigh short-term pleasures against long-term flourishing."

Arthur C. Brooks— Harvard professor, New York Times best-selling author, and research expert on the science of happiness— recently cited "State of Our Unions 2026: The Dating Recession" in his national column "The Pursuit of Happiness" as he discussed modern dating myths and behaviors.

AI is an incredible tool. But what happens when people start using it as a virtual relationship?

The Church of Jesus Christ isn’t about the percentage of the U.S. population; it’s about a people doing their best to love and worship God. The data does its real work when it is in the service of that much loftier goal.