A social experiment has emerged on TikTok: Nikalie Monroe, an Army veteran from Kentucky, has been calling churches to ask if they can spare a can of baby formula. While playing a recording of a crying baby in the background, she asks if they could help someone from their own community. Asking if they would spare a can for her baby, who has not eaten since the night before. She is not doing it for money — rather, to expose religious institutions’ hypocrisy.
Monroe has posted over 40 videos revealing that, out of all the churches she has called, only 10 offered to help. Being a part of the local community apparently means nothing if one is not a church member. Over 30 churches rejected someone presumed to be a member of their own town community. Trinity Baptist Church in Gaffney, South Carolina, refused to help Monroe because she was not a member, stating, “We are a small church, as a result we have limited funds, and we tend to help those that are part of the church or come to the church.” This directly contradicts what they say on their website, “Trinity Baptist Church of Gaffney, SC is a Christ-exalting independent Baptist Church devoted to meeting the needs of the people of Gaffney and surrounding areas.”
Churches are exempt from taxes specifically to help the public. Yet when they hear a mother pleading for help, they turn their backs. Preachers stand on pedestals in front of a cross with a statue of a man mounted onto it — a man historically renowned for unconditionally assisting anyone in need. They stand before him, speaking his words in the name of “God,” and their own congregation would deny a woman and her child in need.
The social experiment did not only involve churches within the Christian faith. Monroe also reached out to the Won Buddhism Temple of North Carolina, the Islamic Center of Charlotte and Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Church. These are three of the very few places of worship that offered their help.
The Buddhist temple extended resources to purchase the food she needed after explaining that they did not carry formula. The mosque, after hearing Monroe’s fake scenario, was more than happy to help. The Catholic church called Monroe back and provided her with food assistance resources to share with anyone who was in need. These institutions are the few that broke from the experiment’s cycle and acted upon what they preach: helping. The fact that the number is so low is crushing after the messages of love these houses of worship portray.
Monroe’s baby may have been fake, but the problem is real. If a mother in this situation called her church for help, she likely would also be turned away. The hypocrisy of these churches is disheartening, given what they preach. Churches are a place of sanctuary, not institutions of fraud. Until the churches that said no change their ways, stop attending their mass, and stop giving up time to listen to their lies.
