On Tuesday, dozens of pro-reality demonstrators gathered outside the Church of the Metaverse to protest its growing influence over today’s youth—citing “excessive hype” and “cult-like tactics” as primary concerns. 

The event is part of a larger campaign effort by Mothers Against the Metaverse, a non-profit watchdog organization committed to protecting and preserving the sanctity of reality for kids around the globe. Among the crowd of chanting protesters and parent activists was Karen Blitzer, the organization’s founder and vocal skeptic of the metaverse. 

Screen addiction, social isolation, and unsupervised activities are key criticisms that Mothers Against the Metaverse aim to amplify. Carrying signs scrolled with slogans like “Not my kids, not my reality” and “Don’t talk to avatars!”, the protesters purport that the Church of the Metaverse isn’t a church…but a portal into worlds where kids are converted into disciples of a digital dystopia, detached from real reality.

“As parents, we need to ask ourselves: when our kids go into the metaverse…do they come out better or worse? What are they building in there, who are these ‘friends’ they’re talking to, and how do we know they’re not being brainwashed by a bunch of bad avatars??”

When asked to comment, the Church of the Metaverse responded with a cryptic statement on social media, stating (yet again): “reality is what you make it.”