Oh, but they're not praying hard enough! Maybe my prayer, if I made one, would be the deciding prayer.
-
Welcome to Religious Forums, a friendly forum to discuss all religions in a friendly surrounding.
Your voice is missing! You will need to register to get access to the following site features:- Reply to discussions and create your own threads.
- Our modern chat room. No add-ons or extensions required, just login and start chatting!
- Access to private conversations with other members.
We hope to see you as a part of our community soon!
"Prayer Is The 'Only Thing' That Will Stop Mass Shootings"
- Thread starter Skwim
- Start date
Oh, but they're not praying hard enough! Maybe my prayer, if I made one, would be the deciding prayer.
Altfish
Veteran Member
Yeah maybe; and maybe the moon is made of cheese.
QuestioningMind
Well-Known Member
.
"Former Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee is pushing back against those of us who say “thoughts and prayers” aren’t enough to solve gun violence, claiming, in fact, that appeals to God are the “only thing” that will help.
Huckabee, the father of former White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, wrote that he will continue to pray for victims (as if anyone was stopping him) despite repeated calls for concrete solutions that could prevent shootings, including tightening regulations on assault-style rifles and creating stronger mental health safeguards.
Of course, the Huckster sees it differently:
This is what happens when, instead of fixing a problem, you choose to ignore it. Huckabee says he doesn’t want to “politicize” these deaths, but ignoring potential solutions by pleading to a Higher Power to step in is politicizing them. Doing nothing is a choice. It’s the wrong one.Despite all those who are denouncing the idea of prayers for the victims (do a Google search for “Thoughts and prayers are not enough” and see how many hits you get), I will continue to pray for the victims and their families and for an end to this mindless violence, and I hope you will, too. In fact, amid all the finger-pointing and blame-laying and repulsive attempts to turn these tragedies to political advantage before the bodies are even cold, I would posit that the lack of thought and prayers is probably the single biggest factor in what is behind them.
Huckabee goes on to blame the media and the “left” for the racial divisions in our country — divisions that have always existed but have been exacerbated by Donald Trump. He also engages in “whataboutism” by bringing up unrelated shootings in Chicago by claiming race and gun laws aren’t the issue because there is violence in other cities.
In his conclusion, Huckabee asserts that the only answer is teaching children about the Golden Rule and the Ten Commandments. As if the shooters were unaware of the existence of morality, and as if reading a list of archaic rules that include not taking the Lord’s name in vain will prevent gun deaths in the future.
It’s bad enough when you argue that passing laws is useless compared to hoping some monster in the sky will take care of it all. It’s even worse when those words are coming from a politician whose family has serious influence in GOP politics. Why go into politics if your solution to everything is appealing to God?Until then, passing more laws and pointing more fingers is just rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. That’s why I will keep ignoring the scoffers and saying prayers and urging everyone to join together and do the same.
It’s not a meaningless gesture. It’s the only thing that’s ever really going to help.
Not only is prayer not the “only thing” that’s ever going to help, I’d argue that the mindset that leads to prayer as a solution is exactly why we don’t already have laws to protect us from this type of mass shooting behavior.
source
Like daughter like father.
.
Gosh... if that's true then clearly people in every single country in the world do a better job of praying than the people in the United States. Rather amazing when you consider that many of those other countries are mostly atheists.
Question for American theists? Why are you guys so inept at praying properly?
Bob the Unbeliever
Well-Known Member
My take? Quit making these mass shooters FAMOUS.
Make it POLICY, that their names are ERASED from history. Nobody mentions them. Nobody interviews their relatives, for "he was a good man" baloney.
It's fame that they crave, and they are beyond reason-- they do not make the connect between the FAME they crave, and the fact they'll likely be dead.
It simply doesn't compute in their brains.
Bob the Unbeliever
Well-Known Member
.
"Former Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee is pushing back against those of us who say “thoughts and prayers” aren’t enough to solve gun violence, claiming, in fact, that appeals to God are the “only thing” that will help.
Huckabee, the father of former White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, wrote that he will continue to pray for victims (as if anyone was stopping him) despite repeated calls for concrete solutions that could prevent shootings, including tightening regulations on assault-style rifles and creating stronger mental health safeguards.
Of course, the Huckster sees it differently:
This is what happens when, instead of fixing a problem, you choose to ignore it. Huckabee says he doesn’t want to “politicize” these deaths, but ignoring potential solutions by pleading to a Higher Power to step in is politicizing them. Doing nothing is a choice. It’s the wrong one.Despite all those who are denouncing the idea of prayers for the victims (do a Google search for “Thoughts and prayers are not enough” and see how many hits you get), I will continue to pray for the victims and their families and for an end to this mindless violence, and I hope you will, too. In fact, amid all the finger-pointing and blame-laying and repulsive attempts to turn these tragedies to political advantage before the bodies are even cold, I would posit that the lack of thought and prayers is probably the single biggest factor in what is behind them.
Huckabee goes on to blame the media and the “left” for the racial divisions in our country — divisions that have always existed but have been exacerbated by Donald Trump. He also engages in “whataboutism” by bringing up unrelated shootings in Chicago by claiming race and gun laws aren’t the issue because there is violence in other cities.
In his conclusion, Huckabee asserts that the only answer is teaching children about the Golden Rule and the Ten Commandments. As if the shooters were unaware of the existence of morality, and as if reading a list of archaic rules that include not taking the Lord’s name in vain will prevent gun deaths in the future.
It’s bad enough when you argue that passing laws is useless compared to hoping some monster in the sky will take care of it all. It’s even worse when those words are coming from a politician whose family has serious influence in GOP politics. Why go into politics if your solution to everything is appealing to God?Until then, passing more laws and pointing more fingers is just rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. That’s why I will keep ignoring the scoffers and saying prayers and urging everyone to join together and do the same.
It’s not a meaningless gesture. It’s the only thing that’s ever really going to help.
Not only is prayer not the “only thing” that’s ever going to help, I’d argue that the mindset that leads to prayer as a solution is exactly why we don’t already have laws to protect us from this type of mass shooting behavior.
source
Like daughter like father.
.
Because nobody on earth... has uttered a prayer on this issue up until... now?
What?
Kangaroo Feathers
Yea, it is written in the Book of Cyril...
How about gun restrictions in line with the rest of the developed world? You know, places that don't have a mass shooting every couple of days?
Shadow Wolf
Certified People sTabber
Will prayers stop someone from beating his head in with a baseball bat? Nope (not entirely sure he'd have the same confidence and faith in prayer at that moment, either). It won't help with gun violence either.
.
"Former Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee is pushing back against those of us who say “thoughts and prayers” aren’t enough to solve gun violence, claiming, in fact, that appeals to God are the “only thing” that will help.
Huckabee, the father of former White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, wrote that he will continue to pray for victims (as if anyone was stopping him) despite repeated calls for concrete solutions that could prevent shootings, including tightening regulations on assault-style rifles and creating stronger mental health safeguards.
Of course, the Huckster sees it differently:
This is what happens when, instead of fixing a problem, you choose to ignore it. Huckabee says he doesn’t want to “politicize” these deaths, but ignoring potential solutions by pleading to a Higher Power to step in is politicizing them. Doing nothing is a choice. It’s the wrong one.Despite all those who are denouncing the idea of prayers for the victims (do a Google search for “Thoughts and prayers are not enough” and see how many hits you get), I will continue to pray for the victims and their families and for an end to this mindless violence, and I hope you will, too. In fact, amid all the finger-pointing and blame-laying and repulsive attempts to turn these tragedies to political advantage before the bodies are even cold, I would posit that the lack of thought and prayers is probably the single biggest factor in what is behind them.
Huckabee goes on to blame the media and the “left” for the racial divisions in our country — divisions that have always existed but have been exacerbated by Donald Trump. He also engages in “whataboutism” by bringing up unrelated shootings in Chicago by claiming race and gun laws aren’t the issue because there is violence in other cities.
In his conclusion, Huckabee asserts that the only answer is teaching children about the Golden Rule and the Ten Commandments. As if the shooters were unaware of the existence of morality, and as if reading a list of archaic rules that include not taking the Lord’s name in vain will prevent gun deaths in the future.
It’s bad enough when you argue that passing laws is useless compared to hoping some monster in the sky will take care of it all. It’s even worse when those words are coming from a politician whose family has serious influence in GOP politics. Why go into politics if your solution to everything is appealing to God?Until then, passing more laws and pointing more fingers is just rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. That’s why I will keep ignoring the scoffers and saying prayers and urging everyone to join together and do the same.
It’s not a meaningless gesture. It’s the only thing that’s ever really going to help.
Not only is prayer not the “only thing” that’s ever going to help, I’d argue that the mindset that leads to prayer as a solution is exactly why we don’t already have laws to protect us from this type of mass shooting behavior.
source
Like daughter like father.
.
So, why didn’t he pray? Or did he pray and it did not work?
Ciao
- viole
LilyPhoenix
Member
getting rid of THE GUNS , getting some damn order in the usa maybe even OUTLAW GUNS but NRA are worrying a bout profit not people not life how would they feel if it was there loved one shot to death in such away what if there wife husband daughter or son was shot and left to die in painful way the fear and the suffering of there loved one then would they give a **** about it or ARE THEY SUCH COLD HEARTED PEOPLE THAT MONEY GIVES THEM COMFORT ? THY SHALL NOT KILL ( THAT INCLUDING PEOPLE WHO SIT ON PROFIT AND LET THE DEATHS HAPPEN)
You can't remove the pain that they cause - which is a likely reason for many to carry out such crimes. And I doubt so many are actually motivated by being famous.
Bob the Unbeliever
Well-Known Member
Oh, I absolutely agree-- but. Put the emphasis on the victims. Show their anguish, if you are able-- but don't parade them through the streets, either.
Humanize the victims as much as possible. Emphasize the hurt. But never name the perp, never call out his name, never show his face, dehumanize the shooter(s) into a short phrase, as in "the terrorist shooter" or similar. Don't even specify his gender, race, nationality, religion, or even what his social media says.
If we put these evil terrorists into genuine obscurity? They would not be able to inspire like-minded terrorist-wannabes.
I would not even let them speak in public, ever, if convicted. Public speaking should be a privilege, and reserved for non-terrorists. But that's just me.
The Free Speech amendment? Says nothing about curbing speech in society-- it simply specifies the government may not create Special Favored Status of Speakers. That's it.
If we, as a culture, as a society? Chose to quit elevating these terrorists into Pulp Heroes? Or Pulp Anti-heroes? I think there would be significantly fewer of them..
That is the problem with Profit-driven Media-- it's not "news" and hasn't been in decades. Back when I was young? News was never profit-driven. It was seen as a Sacred Duty.
My, how we have fallen to the greed.
oldbadger
Skanky Old Mongrel!
Oh dear........ So you fancy watching public executions.???
There's not so strange as folks, or so my old Granny would say
Yes, I quite agree about focusing on the victims and not giving too much attention to the perpetrators - we can usually blame the popular media for that, and the profits generated. But we should also study why people do such things and learn as much as we can from these rather than just accepting them as part of life. We still are too willing to depict them solely as monsters when they will have had their origins in the past and often in their interactions with others. And few if any are born evil.