Member-only story
Thoughts And Prayers Are Worthless
…or are they?
“Thoughts and prayers are worthless!”
It’s a sentiment we see online (and sometimes hear in person) after every tragedy, especially those involving gun violence.
Concerning gun violence in particular, the sentiment has gotten so strong in recent years that people are ridiculed and outright denounced for expressing sympathetic thoughts and prayers to victims and their families.
While it’s understandable that people oriented toward practical, policy-based solutions are frustrated that certain politicians toss out platitudes and hide behind public piety…
It is nothing less than poisonous when people turn against prayer, kindness, sympathy, and compassion.
As mentioned previously, the anti-prayer and anti-expressed-sympathy crowd is loudest when it comes to gun violence. This group views the only acceptable responses to gun violence as legislative actions aimed at curbing the accessibility of firearms in the United States. They argue that public figures who offer prayers, particularly those aligned with pro-gun groups or certain political factions, are engaging in a dismissive gesture — a mere cop-out from addressing what they see as the root causes of gun violence.
Count me as one who believes that a serious look at national, state, and local firearms laws is warranted. I don’t like to see politicians dodge their responsibilities, nor do I appreciate it when such politicians use the language of faith to do it!
But…
Count me also as one who recognizes that gun violence (including assassination attempts and mass shootings) is a problem with no easy solutions.
Anyone with any degree of honesty and sanity will have to admit that the American people had easier access to firearms in the 1950s than they do today. It’s a simple fact that there were fewer regulations on the purchase, ownership, and transfer of firearms in the 1950s than today.
My father was in high school in the 1950s and was on the rifle team at his public high school. It was common for Dad and his buddies to bring their guns to school — with their ammunition — and store them in their lockers during the day until rifle club practice…
