Some People Would Pay to Avoid ‘Thoughts and Prayers’ After a Disaster, Study Finds

Faculty Fellow Thomas Tweed was quoted in The Washington Post's: "Some People Would Pay to Avoid ‘Thoughts and Prayers’ After a Disaster, Study Finds".  

In this Twitter inspired story, the article reviews an experiment on the difference in perspective of a prayer's meaningulness in a sample of predominant religious groups in the United States. Tweed, who studies American religions, said that the words "thoughts and prayers" have become a “ritual or ceremonial phrase” offered at “difficult moments”. However, when the words comes from politicians or celebrities on Twitter, "it takes on a widely disparate meaning.”