Social Experiments

I know I’m a bit nerdy and absolutely love hearing about social experiments. Well…I read with great interest about this woman who decided to do a social experiment during these trying times to see which churches put their money/aid where their preaching mouth is supposed to be. She recorded the experiment and brought those receipts to TikTok. And oh what a glorious lesson it was. Here is the Buzzfeed article for those who wish to read it: https://www.buzzfeed.com/morgansloss1/tiktoker-calls-churches-to-see-if-theyd-help-feed-a-baby. It is so worth reading! Anyway, here’s a summary of what happened. Sadly, I was not surprised by the results. For all those hard-right pro-life purists who claim that life, all life, including a fetus, is sacred according to their religious beliefs, it appears as though their concern for that life ends at birth.

NiKalie Monroe decided to conduct a social experience where she would test local churches’ willingness to help somebody in need during these difficult times (specifically a woman who had run out of baby formula). As of November 13th, she had contacted 42 churches.Nikalie got very clever with her experiment and included a baby crying in the background to ratchet up the realism of her hypothetical scenario.Of the 42 churches, 33 said nope. Many directed her to other resources and organizations. Reality check: Since SNAP benefits were cruelly stopped by the Trump Administration, many of those resources were taxed beyond what they could provide, and those safety net organizations had to turn away people in need.No big surprise that when she revealed that what she was doing was a social experiment (only after hearing a yes or no), some were none too pleased. Oops, I guess some of those good religious establishments don’t like having the hypocrisy mirror in front of them. Some even called this experiment “spiritual warfare.” While not a surprise to me, an Islamic Center was one of the few that readily said yes. That video definitely ruffled a few feathers. It was a fan favorite with millions of views. The man responded by stating, “I think every church or mosque, they’re only as good as the people who work there…When people come to us for help, I don’t see it as a burden; I see an opportunity to help people.”And to really drive home the point, the ones that did say yes were predominantly black churches, a Buddhist temple, and an Islamic center. I went searching for the list and found this link on Facebook for a listing of all the churches that said yes or no: https://www.facebook.com/nosyforreal/posts/-nikaliemonroe-doing-the-lords-work-here-the-full-list-of-churches-who-said-they/122144159054926155/

Personally, I am not terribly religious, but I respect those who have a deep faith, especially those who follow a kind and loving path. In my books, there are times when I specifically do not capitalize god because my beliefs tend more toward spirituality versus organized religion and the concept of one god. Although I do have characters who are deeply religious, and in those instances, it makes sense to honor their beliefs by capitalizing god. I suspect that when I don’t capitalize god, readers think it’s a typo. Alas, it was not. It was by design. Religion is a tricky issue to navigate because there are so many different belief systems out there that should be honored. I suppose I feel compelled to represent all views in my books. If you’re interested in checking that out, you know the drill; feel free to click the links below.

The Invisible Woman: A Lesbian Superhero Story

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