Human Behavior

Stephen Lewis: A meditation on what spring portends – Traverse City Record Eagle

On the north side of my house, so close I can almost open the window and reach their branches, are ancient lilacs trees.

As I sit here looking at them this last week of May, they have started to show off their fragrant purple blossoms. Each spring as those blossoms emerge, I am first reminded how spring comes here later than it does in my native New York, and then the opening line of Walt Whitmans lament about the assassination of Lincoln, unbidden, pops into my mind:

When lilacs last in the dooryard bloomd.

That would be on April 14, 1865, when lilacs on the east coast were in bloom,and John Wilkes Booth shot Abraham Lincoln. Reacting to that event and the emerging season, Whitman, consciously or not, yoked together the unchanging regularity of natures cycle, and in contrast the unpredictable and disruptive vagaries of human behavior.

Other poets have observed the same contrast. The opening lines of Geoffrey Chaucers Canterbury Tales, salute the arrival of spring, again specifically in April, with that months warming breezes and showers waking up nature, and in sync with this regular occurrence, longen folk to goon on pilgrimages. Chaucer sees how the natural movement from the end of winter to the revival of spring leads to a religious impulse to celebrate the souls victory over death in its hoped-for resurrection. How genuine and heartfelt that feeling is among those joining the imagined pilgrimage to Canterbury is revealed in the wide variety of tales, from bawdy to pious in the tales the pilgrims tell, all set against the steady backdrop of the natural world in springtime.

Fast forward from Chaucers 14th century to the early 20th for another poets view of the winter to spring transition. In his The Wasteland, T. S. Eliot begins by stating, April is the cruellest month. The poem goes on to explain the cruelty of the springs return to life promising an accompanying spiritual rebirth that is not realized, in depressing contrast to natures annual revival.

Whitman, Chaucer, and Eliot, each in his own way explores how natures annual spring awakening encourages us to look for a corollary in people. Whitman feels devastated that Lincoln, a beacon of human aspiration, is felled by very human hatred. Chaucer delights in the variety of human behaviors against the background of, and in contrast to, natures unchanging pattern.

In a sense, though, Eliot might be the most apt window into our current experience. Eliot was writing not only after the carnage World War I but the great influenza pandemic of 1918 as well. I also note the similar sources of both the Spanish flu and our pandemic. The Spanish flu is said to have entered humanity in the spring from an avian source: our coronavirus is thought to have crossed into the human bloodstream from a bat.

I am struck with how both pandemics remind us that as uplifting as springs revival is, nature, in the form of a virus carried by creatures of the natural world, can offer a counter narrative and remind us that it is neither friend nor foe, neither supportive nor hostile.

Rather, it just is. No doubt, human activity influences the natural environment, and disrupts natural patterns. But human nature, as opposed to Nature with a capital letter, has its own consistency in its seemingly unquenchable appetite for outbursts of mindless violence as we have seen in the recent civil unrest in response to an unspeakable act.

On the one hand, my lilacs will, as they do, bloom on schedule. And on the other, people, sadly, will do as they do.

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Stephen Lewis, originally from Brooklyn, New York is a retired college English professor and writer whose novels include three mysteries set in northern Michigan. Contact stevelew@charter.net.

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Stephen Lewis: A meditation on what spring portends - Traverse City Record Eagle

Human Behavior

Aggressive rodents not issue in LR, experts say – Arkansas Online

Despite federal public health officials' warnings of "unusual or aggressive behavior" by starved rodents in cities shut down by the coronavirus, exterminators say Little Rock-area rats and mice have kept their usual routines.

The lack of a stay-at-home order likely helped the state's whiskered, string-tailed residents, according to pest professionals and experts.

Ongoing business activity kept rats in apple cores, chicken bones and ketchup packets, said Richard Sims, a pest control manager for Curry's Termite, Pest and Animal Control.

Some cities that did close a little bit more "had more of a larger [rodent] presence felt, just because of the absence of the food," he said. "[But] I am not observing anything here in Central Arkansas."

Jim Fredericks, chief entomologist with the National Pest Management Association, agreed. "Many of the rats in these metro areas are under food stress right now, and part of that is due to the shelter-in-place restrictions and the quarantine restrictions," he said.

[CORONAVIRUS: Click here for our complete coverage arkansasonline.com/coronavirus]

In May, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on its website urged health regulators to watch for upticks in rodent activity, drawing comparisons with behavioral changes seen after natural disasters. Industry webinars emphasized the same issue, Sims said.

But thus far, the Arkansas Department of Health hasn't received reports of newly mobilized vermin, said that agency's public health veterinarian, Dr. Laura Rothfeldt.

She surmised that could be because of grass and fields in close proximity to the capital city, as well as fewer business interruptions amid the outbreak.

"We don't have that big concrete jungle. They have options," she said of rats, mice and other rodents. "We do have concerns about it, of course, if that were to happen, because they are vectors of certain diseases."

In Arkansas, environmental health officials look into rodent complaints to monitor for leptospirosis and salmonella, bacterial infections that spread via animal urine and feces. Tularemia, another infection, comes from the rodents' ticks and fleas.

The illness most popularly associated with rats -- plague -- hasn't been seen in Arkansas since at least 1970, according to CDC data. (Research published in the journal PNAS in 2018 also questions a connection between rats and the Black Death pandemic, which killed millions of people but actually may have spread through body lice and human fleas, scientists wrote.)

Broadly, it isn't as if Central Arkansas lacks for rodents, exterminators say. Since January, Sims said, he has had more than 80 commercial calls to attend to house mice, roof rats and Norway rats, often in the downtown area where sewers and structures are older and to their liking.

"The Heights is probably one of the most expensive real estate [locations] in Little Rock, but it has almost as much rodent activity as downtown, just because it's an older neighborhood," he said. Plentiful bird feeders in that area don't help.

Though he's seen few changes in rodent activity levels this spring, recent heavy rains are the sort of weather that leads to more rat, mouse and ant calls, said John Clark, an owner of Clark Exterminating in North Little Rock.

Sightings also surge in the fall, in his experience. When the weather turns, rodents scout places to nest, squeaking through air-conditioning units, holes in gas lines or dryer vents -- "anything the size of a dime," he said.

NO 'APOCALYPSE'

Nationally, the CDC's rat alert sparked a rash of lurid headlines, including reports of possible cannibalism among rats in New York City. But experts said most people shouldn't worry -- much -- about four-footed intruders.

"What we aren't going to see are hordes of angry rats leaving the downtown area," Fredericks said.

People should work to control any infestations as they usually would, he said, in part because mice are thought to contribute to allergies and, via chewing of electrical cords, to house fires.

Hendrix College biology professor Maureen McClung, whose research studies how human activity affects animal behavior, said she found the CDC's choice of words "kind of vague," adding that people shouldn't feel anxious about "aggressive" rodents.

"I would not imagine by this term that folks have thrown around -- 'aggression' -- that we should expect rats to be attacking us in our beds at night," she said. "This isn't the rat apocalypse."

Rats and mice are shy by nature and most active at night, so unusual behavior could mean being out during the day or being more bold, she said. More signs of their activity -- droppings, nests, a growing urine smell -- also can suggest strain as they fan out in search of food.

While rodent stress or, in the worst case, population collapse might sound tolerable, even agreeable, to some, McClung said it would cause problems for owls, hawks and larger mammals, all of which eat rats and mice.

For that reason, she suggests avoiding the use of rat poison and glue-style traps, so as not to inadvertently hurt backyard birds and other animals. Many people enjoy and want to support that wildlife, she said, even if they're not too concerned about rodents.

"No one's got their binoculars out to look at the rats," she said.

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Aggressive rodents not issue in LR, experts say - Arkansas Online

Human Behavior

Why clients leave (and what to do about it) – dvm360

It hurts when a client chooses to leave your veterinary practice. Customer attrition not only can make you feel like failure, it threatens the viability and growth of your business.

When we study why clients leave veterinary practices, we tend to focus on the clients themselves, butdoing so treats only the symptoms, not the disease. Customer churn is usually the end result of a long chain of events, the root cause of which is almost always leadership and culture. Lets approach this topic from a different angleone rooted in biology and psychology.

Much of human behavior can be understood from the perspective of chasing or avoiding hormones and neurotransmitters:

At the core of every behavior, every action, every goal, we are looking to amplify some of these chemicals and minimize others.

What hormones and neurotransmitters are dominant in your workplace? If you motivate employees through serotonin and dopamine, you have probably found them to be capable motivators. People like chasing rewards, and they will always work to avoid cortisol. But this comes at a costeven if its largely hidden. Cortisol and dopamine are meant for short bursts and are unsustainable. Oxytocin and serotonin are the hormones that we should be artfully employing to create happier, more productive and more fulfilling environments.

The primary source of discontent among staff and clients alike in veterinary practices is failed leadership. The hospitals leaders aren't incapable or bad people, but they absolutely need to change their approach. A leader has two primary responsibilities: to ensure the physical and emotional safety of their tribe, and to provide clear guidance on where the tribe needs to go.

Consider the following scenario: A technician administers the wrong medication to a dog. The dog has a bad reaction and almost dies. The technician is in distraught. Her supervisor can structure the ensuing conversation using one of two contrasting styles of leadership: correcting mistakes versus providing safety.

Listen, Becky, we just cant have this. That was a serious mistake. And its become a pattern. I need you to figure this out, or we just cant have you here. Do you understand?

I guarantee you that Becky will be motivated to correct her mistakes after this conversation, but I doubt shell be successful. She will have a high baseline of cortisol when working. Nobody does their best work that way. Shell be thinking about her fears and insecurities instead of the task at hand.

Hey Becky, please sit down. You know, when I was your age, I misplaced an IV line in a dog that was recovering from surgery. The dog almost died. I was devastated. I felt like a failure, like I just wasnt cut out for this. I almost quit that evening. But I wasnt a failure, and you arent either. Now, how can I help you?

This conversation provides Becky with what she truly needs to course correct: emotional safety. Most of us are afraid that we arent good enoughthat there is something lacking within us, and maybe that something is intrinsically wrong. But it isnt true. What real leadership does is help us to believe in ourselves. This is the most powerful gift you can give someoneand we all deserve it.

Downstream of leadership is culture. When you work to prioritize the emotional safety of your team, their self-confidence and their feelings of connectedness to the larger mission, you create the necessary conditions for exceptional culture, one in which people lift each other up, are attentive to each others emotional needs and self-actualize.

When a team is constantly worried about messing up, they inevitably underperform and self-isolate. Cortisol haunts their every action. But a team whose psychological needs are met can develop their talents and serve the deeper needs of your customers.

Once the practice leadership is effective and the culture is empowering, you can forcefully address the last link in the chain: how you are making your customers feel. This is the sole determinant of why clients stay or leave, and their needs are actually the same as those of your staff: They want to avoid cortisol. They love genuine bonds and feelings of self-worth, and you and your team should strategize about how to create these neurochemical experiences at every possible stage of the veterinary visit.

How are you reducing cortisol during their time in the waiting room and exam room? How are you encouraging feelings of self-worth and status when they walk through your door? How about when you speak with them? How do your interactions encourage the release of oxytocin?

Once you are here, I would encourage you to become fanatical about reverse-engineering a customer visit from the perspective of how youre making someone feel. Its hard work, but you now have the right questions to ask.

Luckily for them, they have you.

Robert Sanchez is the founder and CEO of Digital Empathy, an award-winning web design and marketing firm for veterinary practices. He frequently lectures at national conferences, leads a team of wonderful employees, sits on the board of VetPartners and shares his home with two very spoiled dogsCole and Lula.

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Why clients leave (and what to do about it) - dvm360

Human Behavior

Try this app to avoid ticks this summer – Futurity: Research News

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A new app could help you avoid ticks and the risk of contracting Lyme disease.

We dont want people to be afraid. We just want them to take a few precautions so they can still enjoy being outside, says Jean Tsao, an associate professor in the fisheries and wildlife department at Michigan State University who researches ticks and tick-borne illness and helped develop The Tick App.

More than 300,000 people contract Lyme disease each year, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control.

dont panic. Just be aware, take proper precautions and enjoy being outside this summer.

We know being in nature is good for peoples health, but we just dont want them to have a bad experience with ticks or tick-borne diseases, Tsao says.

Tsao worked with scientists at Columbia University and the University of Wisconsin to develop the smartphone app, The Tick App. It provides information on ways to prevent tick exposure. The app also shows how to identify different kinds of ticks and the diseases they transmit.

In addition, app users have the opportunity to be citizen scientists and help researchers understand how human behavior influences the risk of contracting ticks. Close to 3,000 people used the app in 2019, Tsao says.

Were interested in knowing if people use prevention methods, which prevention methods are used and what factors might influence the prevention methods used, Tsao says. These data will aid the development of more effective prevention strategies.

Tsao says one of the best ways to prevent contact ticks is to avoid their habitat.

When hiking, its important to remember to not stray from the trail, she says. This is particularly relevant now during the coronavirus crisis since people need to social distance by staying six feet away from others, even on trails.

If you start feeling ill, go to a doctor and show him or her your tick.

Also, people should do a thorough tick check after being in tick habitat and take a shower or bath to reduce the chances of getting Lyme disease.

Lastly, Tsao says if you do get bitten by a tick, carefully grab it with tweezers at the point closest to your skin to remove it. Then, take a clear photo and submit it to The Tick App so the team can identify the species.

Afterward, put the tick in a plastic bag labeled with the date and geographic location where you think you may have contacted it, then store it in your freezer.

If you start feeling ill, go to a doctor and show him or her your tick, Tsao says. The species and degree of swelling can help with diagnosis and treatment. But dont panic. Just be aware, take proper precautions, and enjoy being outside this summer.

Download The Tick App for free here or find it on Google Play or the App Store.

For more on ticks and tick-borne disease, visit the CDC.

Source: Michigan State University

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Try this app to avoid ticks this summer - Futurity: Research News

Human Behavior

Clumsy baby elephant looks embarrassed after falling face first into the mud – Yahoo Singapore News

With self-drive safaris now allowed again in Kruger National Park after seven weeks of lockdown in South Africa, I didnt waste any time and took the opportunity to visit the Park for a day. It did not take too long before I came across a small herd of elephants standing around a mud wallow. It was a hot morning in the African bush and the elephants took the opportunity to cool down, splashing mud all over their bodies. While keeping their bodies cool with the mud, the elephants also get the opportunity later on to clean their rugged skins by scratching of the dry mud, using a tree or rock to scratch against.

In the process the elephants get rid of ticks and parasites trapped in the dry caked mud on their bodies. Majority of the herd finished their mud bath and slowly moved on. At the mud wallow remained a male baby elephant and his mother. The mother elephant casually continued splashing herself with mud while her calf was already covered in mud. The calf caught my attention when he stopped splashing mud over himself and started leaning forward slowly. It looked like the baby elephant was attempting to rub his forehead in the mud. That idea did not go so well for the baby elephant. While leaning forward to get his forehead in the mud, the elephant calf suddenly slipped and fell, face first into the mud. Like lightning the baby elephant got back onto his legs, looking a little flustered and embarrassed at the same time.

The elephant calf immediately turned around, slowly climbed up the bank and went to hide in the nearby bushes. Again, this behavior gave me the impression that the elephant calf felt a little embarrassed by his face plant into the mud. I felt sorry for the little one but at the same time found the whole incident funny. Immediately I could relate the incident back to the scenario when you fall flat on your face in public, quickly jump with the hope that no one saw you, then slowly making an effort to disappear while acting as if nothing happened. I left the scene with a smile on my face and I was filled with the greatest admiration for how much of the behavior of the baby elephant could be related back to our own human behavior.

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Clumsy baby elephant looks embarrassed after falling face first into the mud - Yahoo Singapore News

Human Behavior

Life, disease and fear across the years – Abilene Reporter-News

Arthur Cyr Published 1:45 p.m. CT June 12, 2020

The media'sfocus on COVID-19 continues, even as we begin to reopen and return to a more normal existence. To provide context, media talking heads often mention the devastating Spanish Flu pandemic 0f 1918.

The reference ignores health challenges over the intervening decades.

This is strikingly similar to superficial discussion of the international financial crisis of 2007-08, often described as the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s.

Arthur Cyr(Photo: Contributed Photo)

In both the economic crash of a decade ago and the current public health challenges, descriptions of the past often ignore important developments between the earlier time cited and the present. That is revealing.

Consider the decades between the onset of the Great Depression and the financial crash early in the current century, which resulted from casino-capitalism style speculation.

In the 1970s, a destructive threat faced the international economy stagflation, meaning high inflation combined with high unemployment. Earlier, professional economists especially in the academic world had confidently predicted this devastating combination could not occur.

A belief based on the Phillips Curve, which indicated historically there was a direct tradeoff between inflation and unemployment, turned out to be mistaken regarding future developments. Once again, as through history, collective human behavior undermined assumptions based on selective evidence drawn from the relatively recent past.

During the 1960s, rapidly escalating U.S. federal spending and fiscal deficits brought on the curse of relentlessly rising prices, and the OPEC (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) oil embargo and extreme price increases of 1973 and 1979 fueled the financial flames. High and rising unemployment failed to provide the sort of relief expected by acolytes of the Phillips Curve.

High oil costs rapidly spread through other parts of the economies of industrialized nations generally, and growth stagnated. This continued through the decade. Paul Volcker, nominated by President Jimmy Carter to head the Federal Reserve Board, finally broke the back of the inflation beast with restrictive monetary policy and high interest rates. Significant strong economic growth followed.

Before the stagflation decade, flu pandemics plagued the United States and many other nations. During 1957-58, the Asian Flu was a major public health problem. The pandemic originated in China, as the misnamed Spanish Flu of 1918 probably did as well.

The Hong Kong flu came to the United States in September 1968 and spread rapidly. Troops returning home from service in the Vietnam War in Southeast Asia introduced the virus. President Lyndon B. Johnson was among the many who became severely ill as a result.

Approximately 100,000 Americans and an estimated 1million people worldwide died from the Hong Kong flu. This was far less than the estimated 675,000 Americans and 50 million people worldwide who perished from the 1918 flu.

The 1968-69 U.S. flu illness and death rates were roughly comparable to what is occurring now. Mercifully, young people appear to be relatively immune to COVID-19. That was not the case with these earlier pandemics.

Yet there were no mass isolations, government restrictions or media obsessions. People generally viewed disease as a part of life. The scourge of polio, which devastated children, only was defeated in 1955 with the Salk vaccine. The last case of smallpox in the U.S. was in 1949.

The good news is collectively we are so secure that anything less is a shock. The bad news is that we are extremely vulnerable to fear.

Fear can kill an individual, institutions, and eventually a society.

Email Arthur I. Cyr is Clausen Distinguished Professor at Carthage College, acyr@carthage.edu.

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Life, disease and fear across the years - Abilene Reporter-News

Human Behavior

Returning to work: But what about the dog? – The Topsail Advertiser

Time at home together for the past few months has provided a wonderful opportunity for many families to add four-legged buddies to their homes. They have either adopted or volunteered to foster a pet in need.

As the COVID-19 directives move through new phases, many of these adopters and foster folks are now able to return to work. This also means routines are disrupted which affects not only the humans but the dogs, too.

An important function of the Blue Ridge Humane Society is not only to find homes for pets, but to help keep pets in those homes. A suddenly misbehaving dog can unfortunately lead an owner or foster to think the only solution is returning the pet to the shelter.

So lets look at the Rule of Threes, first, to understand how your new dog has adapted to his home initially, and then why you may see undesirable behaviors as things change.

For the first three days after you bring a new dog home, they feel overwhelmed, scared, or unsure. They may not eat or drink for a while, they may shut down - their personalities are repressed.

Some dogs may test new boundaries by trying to escape. Give the new pal both patience and time; it gets way better.

After about three weeks in their new environment, dogs will start to settle in, feel more comfortable because by now they have figured things out. As they get more into a routine, they start to show their true personalities.

But along with this growing confidence, new behavior issues may also arise that should be addressed with consistent training.

Finally the first three months have passed and most (not all) dogs by this time are pretty comfortable because they have forged trusted bonds with their humans. Their routine is set by now, and along with that comes a sense of security within this new family.

One unexpected positive of the COVID-19 stay-at-home order has been that entire families have remained at home with their new pets. The dog has provided welcome company for the family. In return, the pup has received affection and playtime.

There is an established routine with everyone present to participate, and dog and family have created strong bonds. Many foster families have actually adopted their foster dogs; they have fallen in love and now have new family members.

All good, right? For the most part, yes. As the COVID-19 guidelines progress into new phases, big changes happen. Adults start to return to work and childcare resumes in limited capacities.

What does this mean to the dog that enjoyed being the center of attention 24/7 with their humans? As their people become less available, dogs will experience disruption in their routines just as they were feeling settled in.

Even dogs that have been longtime family members, not recent adoptees or fosters, will have their routines disrupted. Behavior issues in the once calm dog can surface now, like stress or separation anxiety.

To alleviate stress, its a good idea for families going back to work to develop a plan to make their dogs alone hours more interesting. Enrichment activities could include interactive puzzle toys to leave out for the dog. Dog TV is an app on television. Leaving music on while youre gone may help. For techies, there is even a smart phone app that allows you to operate a treat dispenser remotely.

Maybe a trusted neighbor who knows your dog well could provide an outdoor break with playtime. Rotate these enrichment techniques to stave off boredom dogs can lose interest in often-repeated activities.

Arriving home from work, you should anticipate that your dogs energy level will surge. Time for exercise then, maybe an extended walk - but even this activity could uncover new issues. Being sequestered, families and their dogs havent routinely been to dog parks or socialized with other people, including other children.

Be aware that having spent so much time with only your family, your pup could have become very protective of you. Closely supervised socialization may be needed now when meeting other people and dogs.

During these unusual times, dogs certainly feel stress, but humans do, too. Adopting a dog, especially an adult dog, is stressful. Add to that the stress of being sequestered for weeks and weeks, being laid off work whatever your situation may be. Now add the stress of going back to work and the new challenges of your dogs changed behavior.

You could be thinking this dog is just not a good fit; returning the dog to the shelter appears to be a difficult but necessary solution. Please consider that it might be your own stressors that have understandably exceeded anyones normal limits under these abnormal circumstances.

Maybe we can try to accept that stress is a human normal reaction to these times. But we can manage, one issue at a time, with help.

Blue Ridge Humane Society can help you relieve one of these stressors: behavioral issues your dog may be experiencing. Let us partner with you and your dog to manage your new routine.Your dog needs his new home, and he is still the dog you adopted and love.

For advice and counseling on pet behavior issues, reach out to the BRHS Pet Helpline at 828-393-5832 and leave a message with your contact info and questions. Our staff will get back to you with advice, ideas, and possible resources.

The Blue Ridge Humane Society, Inc., is a 501(c)3 animal welfare organization providing animal rescue and adoption services; low-cost vaccine clinics; education programs and training classes; pet food assistance; emergency vet assistance; and the Spay/Neuter Incentive Program (SNIP), which is a collaboration with Henderson County, the City of Hendersonville, and the Henderson County Animal Services Center.

Learn more by visiting http://www.blueridgehumane.org or call (828) 692-2639.

Gail Buzby is a member of the Board of Directors for the Blue Ridge Humane Society.

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Returning to work: But what about the dog? - The Topsail Advertiser

Human Behavior

Four Ways to Tell a Prophet From a Political Puppet – Word&Way – Word and Way

Strasbourg Cathedral in Strasbourg, Alsace, France. Image by Guy Dugas from Pixabay

(RNS) In the streets of Washington, D.C., we have seen religion used as a political prop and we have seen it exercise its prophetic voice.

On June 1, President Donald Trump infamously had the street in front of the White House cleared of protesters so he could use St. Johns Episcopal Church on Lafayette Square as a photo backdrop. Not only were peaceful demonstrators tear-gassed, clergy were chased away from the church, which was turned into a political prop without the permission of its pastor or bishop.

The crassness of this photo-op was transparent to all but the president, who is used to being blessed by obsequious clerics in the Oval Office. If this were done in China, it would be denounced by the U.S. State Department as a violation of human rights and religious freedom.

Meanwhile, many of the demonstrators who had been pushed aside were responding to the prophetic call of their religious leaders. Racism was denounced as a sin, and police violence condemned as an assault on the life and human dignity of Gods children. This prophetic voice was heard especially from black clergy, but white clergy and white believers also responded to the call.

Religion and politics have been locked in relationship since the dawn of humanity. Sometimes that relationship is healthy and sometimes its exploitative. Working together in a positive way, the two forces have created community and fostered the common good. With the blessing of the gods, political leaders could rule without brute force. With the help of political leaders, great temples and works of art were created that enriched the religious and cultural life of the community.

Conflict between the religious and political leaders could also be healthy. Before there were elections, independent courts and the rule of law, religion often provided the only check on political power. There was a higher law than the law of the king, and the prophet could challenge the despot with the voice of God.

President Donald Trump holds a Bible as he visits outside St. Johns Church across Lafayette Park from the White House Monday, June 1, 2020, in Washington. Park of the church was set on fire during protests on Sunday night. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

On the other hand, rulers sometimes became the only ones powerful enough to reform religious institutions that had become corrupt.

Over the course of history, prophets and reformers have only succeeded when the people supported them.

But when religion and politics were in an incestuous relationship, religion turned rulers into gods and political leaders corrupted religious leaders with wealth and gave them power to impose religious beliefs on unbelievers. Temples and churches became not houses of God but monuments to clerical power and privilege.

The history of the United States has seen these themes play out. Political and religious leaders supported slavery and racism in an incestuous relationship where religious institutions even owned slaves. On U.S. soil, religion too often became part of the establishment and turned against new immigrants, whether Catholic or Muslim, Irish or Chinese.

Too often religion stood on the side of the status quo against workers, blacks, women, gays and social reformers. It too frequently used its political influence to protect criminal clergy and hush up scandals. It tried to impose its views about human behavior long after it had lost the support of the public.

But religion in America also had a prophetic voice, whether it was Catholic clergy defending Irish immigrants against the WASP establishment or black clergy leading the civil rights movement against racism.

Today, there are prophetic voices on almost every issue, sometimes on both sides. There are pro-life prophets and feminist prophets. How can we judge true prophets from false prophets?

Here are four ways to test a prophet:

1. Follow the money. No prophet in the Scriptures was ever rich. What did you go out to the desert to see? asks Jesus about John the Baptist in Lukes Gospel. Someone dressed in fine garments? Those who dress luxuriously and live sumptuously are found in royal palaces. A true prophet does not get rich speaking for God.

2. Who are the prophets friends? A true prophet is friends with the poor and the powerless. A false prophet keeps company with the rich and powerful. Jesus was criticized for keeping company with tax collectors and sinners. Put no trust in princes, says the psalmist in Psalm 146. Prophets should not get in bed with politicians.

3. For whom does the prophet speak? The job of the prophet is to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable. False prophets tell their congregations what they want to hear. We can see some clergy fawning over political leaders as others challenge them to protect the marginalized and serve the common good. A prophet who ignores the sins of his friends is a prophet for a party, not for God.

4. How does he speak? The words of a prophet can ring with righteous anger but not with hate. The prophet must condemn exploitation but have compassion for sinners. If there is no love in the prophets voice, then he does not speak with the voice of God. A true prophet speaks only after listening and praying.

Religion can be a political prop or a prophetic voice. History should teach religious leaders not to get in bed with political leaders. Religious and political leaders can work together for the common good, but they should be enriching the community, not each other. A prophet can speak courageously about issues, but when he starts endorsing political parties and candidates, he is no longer speaking for God.

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Human Behavior

Devoted to Salivary Bioscience: International Journal of Behavioral Medicine Publishes First Special Issue Focused on Saliva-Based Research – PR Web

This issue of IJBM illustrates the innovative use of salivary bioscience to answer important behavioral medicine questions.

CARLSBAD, Calif. (PRWEB) June 15, 2020

For researchers in biobehavioral science, Salimetrics has been a reliable partner for over 25 years, providing needed support to navigate research opportunities in the multidisciplinary field of Salivary Bioscience. Utilizing knowledge gained from saliva and oral fluids, Salimetrics continues to facilitate new milestones through an expanding line of high-quality collection devices and assays. Recently, the field has passed several milestones, including saliva-based assays for COVID-19, the release of a foundational reference guide, Salivary Bioscience Foundations of Interdisciplinary Saliva Research and Applications, and the first special issue of an international journal devoted to Salivary Bisocience from the IJBM.

The International Journal of Behavioral Medicine (IJBM) is the official scientific journal of the International Society for Behavioral Medicine (ISBM) which aims to present the best theoretically driven, evidence-based work in the field of behavioral medicine from around the globe. The recently published IJBM Special Issue emphasizes saliva-based research utilizing varied research designs (i.e., experimental, longitudinal, dyadic), incorporating a broad array of salivary analytes, and investigating the influence of psychological and social factors on human health. This issue of IJBM illustrates the innovative use of salivary bioscience to answer important behavioral medicine questions, says Michael Hoyt, Ph.D., of the Population Health and Disease Prevention and the Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of California, Irvine and article contributor. The interdisciplinary nature of behavioral medicine has expanded and so has its basic scientific and clinical practice missions. Its distinguished history in understanding behavioral influences on the onset, prevention, and management of disease and on the promotion of well-being and health points the way toward a future of continued innovation and discovery.

The special issue also features an overview of the use of salivary measures in behavioral medicine with original salivary bioscience studies, reviews of two prominent salivary markers (estradiol and alpha-amylase), and guidance on the physiometrics of salivary data. Several of the studies, supported by Salimetrics tools, were selected as representative of expanding critical mass in behavioral medicine. Specific highlights include:

Hoyt et al., Salivary Bioscience and the Future of Behavioral Medicine. This article introduces Salivary Bioscience in Behavioral Medicine and chronicles the overarching aims by translating saliva specimen data to identify mechanisms, decode moderating processes that turn adversity into risk, and verify the impact of clinical intervention.

Segerstrom et al., Physiometrics in Salivary Bioscience. This article highlights how studies depend on accurate estimation in statistical models through sample size but also, critically, reliability of the measure itself, and explores which study designs call for stable and generalizable measures.

Riis et al., Long-Term Associations Between Prenatal Maternal Cortisol and Child Neuroendocrine-Immune Regulation. This study investigates the relationship of prenatal factors and neuroendocrine-immune dynamics over time. The findings suggest prenatal maternal HPA activity moderates child neuroendocrine-immune functioning.

Eiden et al., Prenatal Tobacco & Cannabis Exposure: Associations With Cortisol Reactivity in Early School Age Children. This study lends insight into the potential impact of prenatal tobacco and cannabis exposure and physiological stress responses in later development. Results suggest that prenatal polysubstance exposure is associated with greater risk for lower cortisol response in children.

As Salivary Bioscience continues to expand into new disciplines, Salimetrics is well positioned to provide new, high-quality tools that further advance the field. Weve been collaborating with infectious disease researchers for over five years and began our infectious disease initiative about one year ago. This shift in focus made it possible for Salimetrics to have the needed salivary bioscience tools for researchers to monitor inflammation and infectious diseases using oral fluids, says Supriya Gaitonde, Ph.D., Salimetrics Senior Applications Scientist. Who is on your research team matters, and Salimetrics has acquired the unique knowledge to get the science right. Our knowledge serves the scientific community, and we give researchers the most effective tools to complete their study.

Researchers can Contact Salimetrics for more information or review the International Journal for Behavioral Medicine Special Issue on the Springer Website. For more detailed information and examples of the application of salivary bioscience tools in a diverse range of disciplines, readers can refer to; Salivary Bioscience Foundations of Interdisciplinary Saliva Research and Applications.

About SalimetricsSalimetrics assay kits and CLIA-certified testing services are used to measure salivary analytes related to stress, behavior and development, inflammation, sleep, reproduction, health and immune function. Founded in 1998 by Douglas A. Granger, Ph.D., Salimetrics, LLC support CROs, pharmaceuticals, academic researchers and the immunodiagnostic industry around the world with innovative immunoassay products, non-invasive saliva collection methods, and laboratory testing services.

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Devoted to Salivary Bioscience: International Journal of Behavioral Medicine Publishes First Special Issue Focused on Saliva-Based Research - PR Web

Biochemistry

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