TikTok user Nikalie Monroe is conducting what she describes as a social experiment to find out if churches around the country are living up to their biblical values.
In a series racking up millions of views, she’s calling houses of worship big and small asking if they would help feed her starving baby. With fake baby crying noises playing in the background, Monroe – who is pretending to be a new mother – explains that she ran out of baby formula, and asks churches if they can help feed her starving newborn.
Monroe records the calls and posts them on TikTok, and keeps a spreadsheet of which houses of worship offered a helping hand to a desperate mother and her hungry child.
The results? Not many.
Testing Your Church
The series, “Testing Your Church,” began earlier this month, but has already racked up millions of views. And if it’s a test, most of the churches flunk.
So far, only about 20% of the houses of worship Monroe contacted have offered to assist her in getting formula for her baby. Some refer to her other churches or food pantries in the area, some ask her if she’s a member of the church before offering help, some simply say they’re unable to help at all.
And when she tells them she’s conducting a social experiment, some even hang up on her.
While the majority of churches Monroe’s contacted have been small, rural churches, she has contacted a few megachurches. One of her most popular videos was when she contacted Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas – the home church of Joel Osteen (net worth: $100 million). They told her that feeding her baby could take several days to weeks, and that’s only after she passes some sort of approval process.
Dream City Church in Phoenix, home of the late political activist and speaker Charlie Kirk? They transferred her to a number that never picked up.
Not every house of worship has turned her down, however. Among those who have offered to help are some of the Catholic churches she contacted, a handful of small rural churches, a pro-life clinic, a Buddhist temple, and an Islamic Center.
Is This a Wake Up Call?
In the comments, many of Monroe’s followers describe the series as a wake-up call. They say that she’s exposing the hypocrisy and moral bankruptcy of American Christianity one phone call at a time.
Some of the churches are megachurches with hundreds of millions in assets. Others are local churches which are part of a network worth hundreds of billions, including one Mormon church. Surely they could spare a few bucks to help a hungry baby?
As one disillusioned commenter put it, “you might be better off calling Church’s Chicken.”
The Godly Gotcha?
Not everyone is a fan of the series, however. Some commenters have decried the series as nothing more than a “gotcha” intended to paint Christianity negatively.
They say Monroe unfairly considers a church as failing her test if they try to refer to other local resources like a food bank or sister church, when those are the resources the church itself uses for their community outreach.
And some of the houses of worship who turned Monroe down have been critical of her methods. In a Facebook post, Pastor Daron Brown of Waverly Church of the Nazarene in Waverly, Tennessee, alleged they were “targeted” victims of a charlatan, claiming that they hung up on Monroe because they could tell she was lying. The post has since been deleted.
"Spirit of a "Witch"
Other critics have gone further. One church that made the list of those that refused to help was Living Faith Christian Center in Baton Rouge.
Its pastor, Bishop Raymond W. Johnson, responded publicly in a sermon by calling Monroe "the devil" and a "witch."
"The person who goes around calling churches and putting the voice of a baby crying in the background. And I say, really the person is low. So, you know, like I teach these men over here, folk wanna apologize. I don't apologize to the devil."
Johnson continued: "And I say, we in the middle of feeding people, how you gone do your little dirty deed? And you know, it's just the spirit of a witch. It's a witch. And my Bible say he do not allow that thing to live. So, you have to watch when you fooling with God."
Hope Shines Through
Nevertheless, some have found hope in Monroe’s series. Many physical church congregations collect tithes from their members (sometimes a flat amount, sometimes a percentage of household income). This money goes into a fund that can be tapped to provide such services for those in need – and some congregations stepped up immediately to offer assistance.
In one call with Heritage Hope Church of God in Somerset, Kentucky, Pastor Johnny Dunbar offered immediate and unconditional assistance, and even asked Monroe if there was a specific flavor of formula she needed.
“He didn’t even ask if you are a member of his church. He heard a baby needed food and was ready to go to Walmart himself,” said one commenter. “THIS is the real America.”
What is your response? If this is a test, most of these churches aren’t getting a passing grade – but is cold calling a church asking for baby formula a true appraisal of a church’s values?
60 comments
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We live in a world where sometimes we need some validation from different ministries. That they just dont take all the money and put in the pocket. I think its Okey to call and do this experiment. Why not? Is it anything to hide? Lots of love from Norway 🙏
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There are better ways if facing an issue that don't involve deception or deceptive cold calls. Of course, deception is going to be sensed by many, and so any good intentions of an "investigation" are automatically cancelled out by the deception. ~ rev. James
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Really sad at what passes for a Christian church these days.
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The following is not an attempt to answer this question one way or the other, but as soon as I heard about these incidents, I was taken back to an experience I had nearly 50 years ago... Back then, I was still a teen and fortunate enough to travel by car quite a bit, and I "always" made sure I had enough money for my return trip back home - until the time I didn't.
I don't remember why I found myself short of enough gas money for my return trip, but I was in California - about 500 miles from home - it was late at night, and I had a couple dimes in my pocket so I stopped at a phone booth to make a call. I was hoping to find the number of a church or minister who might answer late at night, but the phone book was missing so I asked God to guide my fingers as I randomly punched in seven numbers - Three rings later, a gentleman answered and I told him how I found his number and why... He confirmed he was indeed the pastor of the (name long forgotten) church, but instead of helping me himself he referred me to the police department whom he said had a petty cash fund specifically for this purpose. He was absolutely right, and to my surprise the police gave me more than enough money to get back home.
Times allowed for a lot more trust back then, but I was certainly aware of how dubious someone might be when receiving a call like this from a total stranger, and - even though he lead me to the solution I needed - I felt and feel like he really missed out on a blessing from God by not helping me himself. Perhaps I'm way off base thinking that, but of all the numbers I could have randomly dialed, to have dialed a minister on my first attempt seemed quite miraculous to me, and I felt like the full blessing of that miracle was just kind of tossed away.
As I said, my comment does not address the question at hand, but I'd personally rather err on the side of giving too much, possibly even to the wrong person/people and let God sort out the consequences. Blessings to one and all❣️
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She asked organizations which, more times than not, claim the moral high-ground, if they would help feed a hungry baby. She didn't ask for money. She didn't ask for a week's worth of formula. She asked for 1 can of formula. I've shopped for people. Maybe $15? The mega-churches, with millions to waste on mansions for their pastor, refused. Fake crying baby in the background or not, those that refused for reasons other than they barely have funds to heat the building on Sundays do not have the moral high-ground. Anyone who can help children and do not are morally bankrupt, sort of like the god of the bible.
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Amy,
Nor trying to make excuses for the Mega-churches, but even they would go bankrupt if they provided everyone who asked for help, exactly what they asked for, without any proof of need? There's a reason why there is a grilling of 1,000 questions for a simple can of formula. It's because of the tens of thousands of people out there running scams against churches and agencies who help. Let me explain. When I worked for an agency, we typically did not help people who needed out-of-town transportation. One day we got this request from someone whose mother had died and needed a bus ticket to get to the funeral. We called the funeral home, and sure enough, the mother in question had a funeral on the day the guy needed to get there. We had enough money in petty cash to buy the man a bus ticket, so we took him down to the bus station, bought him the bus ticket. For the next two months you would be surprised how many people had lost their mothers out of state, and needed to get there for the funeral. (At least one a day for the first week). Because we didn't wait for him to get on the bus, he turned around and sold the bus ticket for cash to someone else who was trying to get to the same place, and proceeded to tell everyone he knew how to do the same thing. Word gets around when someone helps with something out of the ordinary and especially out of the scope of the usual offerings. Lesson learned, and unfortunately for those who followed who really needed help with that sort of transportation, we no longer helped anyone with transportation outside of the local bus routes.
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Glad I find it easy to keep my thoughts to myself in this place... OK, so I just expressed an opinion. Fine. People sometimes love to bicker and be at odds, and I'll bet a five-dollar dog hide that someone takes issue with this comment. Rev.(enant) James
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Amazing how someone fully and knowingly dishonest and fraudulent feels she has the moral high ground to criticize others.
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It’s a scam. Jesus, being who He is, would know this. He would not fall for the scam, but would counsel the woman about her deceit.
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I believe that the woman testing churches for this assistance was doing a good deed but acted wrongly in the manner in which she carried it out. She should have said she was calling area churches to see who has supplies including baby formula (and what types) for those in need and what the process is. This would not be lying saying you have a two month old in need who has not eaten. She manipulated the emotions and the people in these churches by being dishonest and insincere. Intent does not negate impact.
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Are you more upset that she asked in this way, or are you upset that many of the churches based on Jesus' teachings refused to help, even if they could?
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Fun thing to ask people: "Would you help a baby who is starving?" - "Yes? Then you are better than your God! ❤️
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It depends on who you consider God. Some people consider Jesus as god and I would argue that he would help feed the hungry. I don't consider Jesus the same as God. So I can understand your post.
For those about to argue with me that Jesus is God consider this: would you sacrifice yourself for your children, likely yes. Would you sacrifice your child for strangers? likely not. Demanding that Jesus be God cheapens the sacrifice into something anyone could/would do.-
Cheryl,
While I do not agree with your position on God, Jesus or the Trinity-this is not the question and I respect your beliefs and your right to have them. What I do agree with you is that God/ Jesus would in fact feed the hungry. This factually is not the issue with what the woman did. The woman used deceit to manipulate emotions of churches and those in service to help a baby that was non-existent. She should have simply stated she was calling to determine services geared at serving infant needs and what is needed to get help. She lied. That is the issue. The issue is not about feeding an infant because there was no infant to feed at the time.
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You nailed it!!!!
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Also to answer your question "For those about to argue with me that Jesus is God consider this: would you sacrifice yourself for your children, likely yes. Would you sacrifice your child for strangers? likely not. Demanding that Jesus be God cheapens the sacrifice into something anyone could/would do." Thank you for this thoughtful question...
In Genesis 22:1-14 Abraham was obedient to God and God asked him to sacrifice his own son Isaac and Abraham did so, in spite of the pain. In spite of it feeling morally wrong, God asked for this sacrifice and Abraham was obedient. He attempted to follow through- God stopped him. God was testing his obedience. SO yes. We will as parents sacrifice ourselves for our children. But parents also sacrifice their children daily by placing them on the Throne of the Lord. By allowing natural consequences to take place for children that make bad choices and speak truth over them. Sacrifice may look different now. But it is not less extreme than death. Living near a child who refuses relationship with a parent because the parent told the truth and allowed consequence for the child's bad choices is sacrifice- as it is effort to uphold the desires of GOD and at the same time respect for society and law. You may be dead to that child and be two blocks away. I consider this in thinking about your valid questions. My view on this is: WE are God's creation. HIS children. HE presented himself in human and divine within Jesus to save US. He saw that we continued to be misled, he destroyed the world a multitude of times in an effort to start over and create a different outcome. Even deeper. Adam is of GOD and we are of Adam (Supported by Biblical scripture in Genesis 5 describing generations of Adam listing Adams's father as GOD). So HIS human incarnation of himself, in a divinely created being of Jesus was the lamb sacrifice needed to save all of humanity. Matthew 19:26 scripturally states that some things are impossible with Man but ALL things are possible with God. If God is omnipresent, omnipotent, and the impossible is possible with him- why not a fractured portion of his self breathed divinely to life in the womb of a virgin so that he can have a human experience in human form with divine gifts to sacrifice himself for his children (us).
The fact that God chose to come through his HOLY Spirit and divine power in the embodiment of Jesus Christ, have a human experience, know and understand suffering through his time here, did not faulter with all the harm and pain inflicted on his human form of Jesus and still give himself for our Grace. This does not cheapen it. It demonstrates the highest, purest and most extreme form of love. God shaped animals of clay and breathed the breath of life into them and they lived. God shaped Adam from clay and breathed the breath of life into him and he lived. Why could he not, as God, breathe the breath of life into a womb of a virgin, and sever a part of himself into human form that is him and not him all at once? The ultimate act of love.
Your question assumes Jesus was simply man. Human creation. He was not human. He had human form, and human experience while present but was divine. Jesus died to the human experience and form but rose again. He is NOT DEAD! He lives. This is how God can sacrifice his son for the rest of his children.
In love and Kindness, (Thanks for the question!! :) )
Sam
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My only problem with her method is that not all members of a church may represent that church well. Every group has people in it who are just perks, and it's impossible to know if she just had the misfortune to reach a jerk on the phone, and if that person might be admonished by church elders for their attitude. Aside from that, though, I find this to be a good test. And it certainly isn't an anti-religion "gotcha" as she is reporting those churches that were instantly compassionate and caring, and they are genuinely heartening to hear about. If churches that turned her away are mad that people might think less of them knowing about it, that's on them, not her, because churches that did right are looking great now, and they had the exact same opportunity.
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Exactly 100% correct.
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Ari,
I'm sorry, but an anti-religiion "gotcha" was exactly what this was, and all to boost her TikTok ratings. I've mentioned it several times here, but churches often are only able to help them navigate the help systems, because they don't have the finances or the volunteers (with deep pockets) that can service every request for help. Many churches now partner with community organizations because of this very problem (i.e. people lying about what they need to gain something they can sell (many times, in order to buy drugs). I worked for an agency that partnered with 150 or so local churches, synagogues, and mosques where we vetted requests to determine if the need was real (i.e. they had too bring us an electric bill or a crying baby). What I don't get is why someone would lie to a church or agency in order to see who would help or who would not. Considering she was lying about the baby, what was she doing with all the formula that the churches who fell for her "scam" gave her? Did she donate them to a local food bank or DV shelter, or did they all end up in the trasn?
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Sadly, too often, the rich and prosperous do not follow Jesus' example. He fed people for free.
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I expected no less of church "leaders". The so-called christian right are standing up and supporting their chosen one,Trump, while he leads the removal of affordable health care for millions and tried to remove food from the tables of Jesus' needy by stopping Snap and school lunch programs. Murdering "suspected" drug smugglers who may be innocent fishermen does not appear to me, at least, to be a Christian Act either. Has anyone heard the hordes of christian ministers standing up to protest these actions? NO!
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I do agree with you. The exceptions are standing out and giving hope.
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Donald,
The problem with your response is, that the churches she was demonizing wasn't the right-wing evangelicals you're talking about. She is purposefully running a scam on ANY church, even those who cannot help due to funding (likely because they have run dry from other scammers), or those that don't offer those services. Many churches have partnered with community agencies that vet out the scammers because of this very problem. Gone is the day when you can walk into a church and out with cash. It don't happen anymore, and for good reason.
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Christian churches would.
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Whether she did this to gain followers or to highlight hypocrisy in some churches doesn’t matter. You can call it unethical or a valuable collection of statistics. Right or wrong, these churches could have referred her to a place that could have helped her, but they didn’t.
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Expect a lot more of this as TikTokers and social media personalities have found they can get the clicks by exposing the fraud of Christians saying they follow the teaching of Jesus and help those who need help and are in need of help.
Now the funny thing is the TikTokers and YouTubers who are exposing the fraud of Christians and Christian church have millions to tens of millions of views and followers. Now what's even crazier is these social medial influencers are being paid by the Christian churches and Christians who they are exposing for the lies and fraud they are committing on their members. Which the TikTok and YouTube influencers then share with there follower to show how silly the Christians and the Christian church really is.
Viewers of these videos are quickly realize the Christian religion and Christian church is a cult.
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Douglas,
While you're passing judgement on the rest of us, explain to me: What did this girl do that in any way resembled Christian values?
First of all, she lied about having a starving baby.
Second, she did it to boost her "clicks" or whatever TikTok uses to rate people's posts (I don't know because I don't subscribe).
Third her objective in this "social experiment" was to "expose" churches who don't follow Christian values. What makes her the judge of all that? If I was unable to help because my funds had dried up but could help her next week after an influx of funding, would I fail her test? If I sent her to an agency or a food bank I knew could help would I have failed her test, even if my funds had dried up, and they had what she needed?
Fourth, baby formula is a specialty item that carries such liability due to things like ingredient (soy, dairy) allergies that many food banks don't distribute it. Considering her baby was fake, this obviously wasn't a consideration, but I digress... Her better social experiment would have been needing something else rather than baby formula. How about insulin for her diabetic child or husband?
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As one who has pastored a church which participated in a community program that vetted requests and provided help to those truly in need, this girl would have failed, because if help was offered and she didn't want to do what was required to get the help, then that's not the church's fault. We could have had someone pick her and the "baby" up to take her to the center that would provide the help. There are those so many people that run scams or "church hop" to pay their bills as a full-time job, because most would limit the amounts and and interval between when they would help. I worked for an agency that would help people once a year with electric bills, and there were people that had us on their calendar, because they sent in request every year within the same week.
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Patricia Ann Gross who are you to determine who needs help and who doesn't. That is so un-Christian and is DEFFINLTY NOT WHAT JESUS TEACHES or the way Christian should behave. What you are doing is terrible. You should be helping this people, not judging them.
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That's absolutely what Jesus taught. Ya've got to believe it to comprehend it Douglas. Sorry but that's what the document says. Apparently true.
In no wise did Jesus ever give anything to a rich person who didn't need help beyond salvation.
People scam churches all the time like the ticktocker did. They're a target for scams. That's why many little churches focus on their own members in need, they know the people.
When people donate their hard earned money to a church they expect the church to use it wisely with due diligence, not just empty the bank on the first stranger that shows up with his hand out.
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Douglas,
SOJ said it well. If we gave everything to everybody who asked for it, two things would happen:
1) We would be bankrupt within a year.
2) The word would get out and people would line up for a mile at our door, and that year would then be bankrupt within a month.
If you've ever worked within a comunity service agency you know how fast word spreads about give-aways of food and clothes, a place getting a grant for utility or housing help, and how quickly those showing up convert from being those who really need it to those who just don't want to pay for it themselves. We had people show up at clothing give-aways that unloaded tables into trash bags, and then sold them in yard sales. For this reason, we had to limit the number of items people could take, leaving those with large families without being able to provide for everyone. People who take advantage of and take away from those who are poor and desparate are the worst sort of evil.
Neither the government nor the non-profit agencies/churches have infinite deep pockets, so there has to be a way to vet the need and prioritize how help is distributed, It's called stewardship of the kindness and generosity of those who support these organiztions.
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The Church is "The Body of Christ" and composed of many members, not some organized entity with a building that was made by hand and serves as a gathering place for its members!
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As a former Church Secretary whose job included managing the church pantry I can tell you that there are many people who will call asking for help when they do not need it. After awhile you become jaded and don't believe anyone. This experiment using a fake baby is wrong. She doesn't sound authentic. And a new mother would not accept any old formula. From experience I can tell you that formula leads to canned goods leads to full on meals. I would have sent her to the county.
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Colleen McAllister who are you to determine who needs help and who doesn't. That is so un-Christian and is DEFFINLTY NOT WHAT JESUS TEACHES or the way Christian should behave. That's terrible.
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Douglas Robert Spindler - I did have the right to determine who was eligible as I was in charge of the handouts. When the same woman calls every month on the same day at the same time, and uses the same words it becomes obvious. I sent someone out with bags of food the first time but when she kept calling after we had done so we stopped and referred her to a sister church who had a small warehouse of food. Her children turned out to be a grown son. Helping is one thing, but enabling is another.
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I agree Colleen, this tick tocker lied for her own ratings. If she begged for cash and churches gave her cash, which churches will do, now she's running a scam.
Churches are targeted by scammers like old people are, like this lady kinda is. They have to be responsible with people donations.
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I agree it's all fake if she truly had a baby then she would turn up in person with said baby to ask for food and not go on social media Surely this is a crime against humanity
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Crime against humanity? She called to see if the churches would truly help a mother in need. The crime would be if she accepted the help. You could say this is unethical, but it is not a crime. She didn’t take anything from them.
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So what happened to the formula that the churches gave her, or did she just come clean when they agreed to help, and end up on her "bad church" list when they couldn't or asked her to provide some sort of proof of need (besides a recording of a baby crying in the backgorund)?
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I’m sure she came clean with those who offered to help and with those who required proof. According to the article, only the churches that outright declined participation were added to the naughty list. I’m sure if they offered information on where to go for help, she would consider them helpful.
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Well, we now know a) who you voted for and b) that you wouldn't have offered help.
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It’s designed to increase her ‘influencer status’ and make religious organizations look bad. At least one of those things is commendable.
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It is disconcerting that Pastor Bishop Johnson felt the need to respond to this woman's actions by making a veiled death threat toward her from the pulpit.
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Isn't that what Christians do?
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Not the good ones.
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Extremely disturbing concerning for those of any denomination, branch, version of Christian Christianity, Catholic, Catholicism, Protestant, Baptist, Angelicism, Non Denominational, and non Abrahamic, any and all, really. Showing yet more more that all should proceed with extreme alertiveness and using extreme caution with for to all for all interactions believings or disbelivings of any all things persons, etc for obvious reasons.
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I think the whole experiment is shady. Church's may have sensed her deviousness. I believe that if she was actually a member of the church or appeared in person with the crying infant in her arms, then I would anticipate a better result. Thus, in my opinion, her test was flawed.
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It sounds to me as if you’re blaming the test for the results… it seems like a very simple test; call a church. Ask for help. If they give help, they pass the test. If they don’t, they don’t… It doesn’t get any easier than that.
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Yeah, most xtians won’t admit the hypocrisy between their beliefs and their own daily lives. When absolutely forced to face it a standard fallback is ‘we are all sinners and imperfect.’
Religiously delusional people are more often than not very hypocritical.
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Most people won't admit their hypocrisy Dr Z. Take the loving and inclusive left that calls for violence and dead people. I suppose you guys are willing to love people to death.
The ultimate Truth came from Jesus when he spoke on the matter.
Jesus the creator said we all judge in hypocrisy. That's me, that's you. If we believe him and are aware then we can avoid it. If we don't believe him we'll continue down the gutter the way we are.
Ahhh, delivery from ignorance is bliss.
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Both ‘Jesus the creator said..’, and ‘Thus spoke Zarathustra…’ are warning signs that some religious nonsense is about to flow. Ignorance due to a lack of belief in Bronze Age mythology? Really?
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Really SoJ?
It is the Left that opposes the death penalty, while the Right supports it.
Other concepts from the Christian Nationals: preemptive war, setting up resurections in other countries, and other modes of death and mass death.
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Their religious beliefs includes a god that commands and/or supports such hateful behavior. So if you will accept that religious delusions justifies such behavior then they're covered.
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Paula,
Your logic is flawed. Most people needing something tangible like food or clothing don't call, they show up. I know because I worked in a non-profit for 8 years who helped in many ways to fill the gaps that state social services couldn't. I don't remember anyone ever calling to ask for food or baby formula, and if they did they were referred to the food pantries or the agencies that helped with newborn/infant needs. Almost all of the time, they just showed up asking for something to eat or a coat. If the church offered to take the person somewhere she could get what she needed rather than handing her a can of formula, she would have probably failed the church, because how was she going to explain the absence of the baby? If they showed up with a baby in a stroller, we did everything in our power to give her whatever she and the child needed for the next few days and advocate for priority placement in a shelter (if required).
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Patricia, I can’t believe you worked for a non-profit that didn’t take calls asking for help. You also implied that if you did get such a call, you would refer them to someone who could help. The churches just said NO.
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James,
I just meant that people rarely called asking for food or clothes or stuff they would expect to walk away with, and if they did we would refer them to places who could help if we couldn't. We were afilliated with 150 or so local churches that would refer to us for services to vet the need and distribute or refer as required. We had a clothing bank, provided financial assistance for rent and utilities, and often provided meals and other food items. We also served as a day center where people without housing or living in shelters could go during the day when the shelters were closed. For social service issues, we supplied transportation to the person's home office. We also helped finance people who needed vital records, which in the day of needing tons of documentation for the RealID, can be very pricey and complicated. Not every agency or church can help with every need out there, and mosts churches and agencies refer to each other when they can't.
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Patricia, your church did beautiful things for your community. That is what Christians everywhere should try to do.
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Thank you, James.
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I was at the Agape Center in ‘16 who hosts Oprah,Taylor Swift etc. I asked V, at welcoming desk if Agape had a community service or group that hosts spiritual travelers; I was given a business card for the homeless shelter after I told him that I had the funds to pay for a room. “Walk the Talk” plz.
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In short, tell the truth and everyone walks away without a scratch!