This Sociology Experiment Will Forever Change How You Look at “Standing in Holy Places”

[Third Hour]

"Stand ye in holy places, and be not moved." We've read the scripture, we've heard the talks, and we've filed it away somewhere in the "pithy religious one-liners to remember" section of our brains. That's all well and good, but when we revisit the phrase through the lens of sociology, something eye-opening happens. You and I both know you read this GIF in Dexter's voice. The experiment I first read about this experiment in a social psychology class during my first semester as an undergrad at Brigham Young University, and I've never forgotten it. Let's paint a quick picture of what happened in the experiment: Scenario A: It's a nice day outside, and you decide to take a little bike ride down to the local park. You arrive. The sun is shining, the grass is green, and you lock your bike up on a public rack near the park. Behind the rack now full of bikes is a blank concrete wall decorated only with a "No Graffiti" sign. You skip off happily to...

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