A CNN report on a recent study about the perceived values of “thoughts and prayers” in the wake of a disaster questions the moral value and efficacy of praying for suffering strangers.

The study, published by Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, surveyed both religious and non-religious people who had been personally affected by Hurricane Florence in 2018. The methodology used in the study, led by Linda Thunström and Shiri Noy, included assigning monetary value to thoughts and prayers from religious officials and “Christian strangers.”