When was the last time a thought or a prayer stopped a bullet?

[NNadir]

When was the last time a thought or a prayer brought back a child - or anyone else - blown away by a bullet?

They roll out "thoughts and prayers" it seems like once or twice a month.

What, exactly, does it do?

[delisen]

1. without the prayers millions would have been killed.

Prayer has stopped WWIII many times. can you prove me wrong?
God works in mysterious ways and all that.

[lindysalsagal]

8. It's your obligation to prove your statement. Show me god and I'll believe. You can't.

[delisen]

33. No one has an obligation to prove a statement of belief.

[lindysalsagal]

38. Belief is not fact, and so is irrelevant.

[delisen]

45. Of course belief is not fact, but it may be relevant.

[lindysalsagal]

48. Not to me.

[Codeine]

13. One cannot prove a negative.

You've made an assertion. It is upon you to make any necessary proofs.

And it's an absolutely ridiculous assertion, btw.

[delisen]

34. No one has an obligation to prove a statement of belief.

You are stating opinion which is your right.

[3catwoman3]

2. "What, exactly, does it do?"

Diddly squat.

[NurseJackie]

3. ###

[Ms. Toad]

4. To be fair, though, it is just as effective as his "extreme vetting" - called for

in the wake of then NYC attack with a car.

[NurseJackie]

5. ***

[rickford66]

6. It's Texas. At least one person in the church had to be carrying.

I've spent lots of time in Texas and most of the South. I have relatives down there. I bet in a group of three, at least one person has a gun close by. My Dad was on a business trip in Louisiana in the 60's. He and another manager at the factory randomly asked an employee to open his trunk. Told him they were interested in how much storage space there was. Several guns. Rifles and handguns.

[CatMor]

26. What kind of a country do we live in when you carry a gun

in to church. If you're going to church I would think you follow the commandment that says thou shall not kill. It all seems so hypocritical.

[LeftInTX]

31. Some people carry their handgun everywhere

[Codeine]

7. There are none more useless than those

who seek answers on their knees, with their eyes closed.

[NurseJackie]

10. Damn.

Excellent.

[Angry Dragon]

14. good point

[cwydro]

42. I am not religious.

Mom was agnostic and Dad an atheist.

However, NEVER would I sneer at another person’s faith.

[NurseJackie]

9. !!!

[Angry Dragon]

11. Only in the movies

[doc03]

12. That is because they were not true beleivers.

[Codeine]

15. If only they had let Jesus into their lives. nt

[Snake Plissken]

16. I guarantee you almost all of the survivors in that church believe God saved them

and will never question why God did nothing to save those who died.

[Horse with no Name]

20. Lots of truth in this statement. n/t

[cwydro]

43. You will guarantee that, will you?

Do you know anyone at that church?

Smh. What an awful thing to say, especially with no standing to say it.

[Snake Plissken]

46. Yes I not only guarantee it, I offer 100% of your money back if you're not satisfied

[Doodley]

17. I'm an atheist, but I can see the benefit in prayer. Prayer is an expression of love. Politics and

assholes take the positive that can be found in prayer and belief and corrupt it.

[NNadir]

18. My point wasn't actually about prayer itself; to each his or her own: It was about the rote...

...an ineffective response that has become a set of code words for "Don't bother me."

The big lie is that nothing can be done. Something can be done, but we live in a culture of withered ethics.

[Doodley]

35. I see. Yes, I agree. Prayer is no substitute for empathy and action.

[fescuerescue]

19. It's as effective as talking about things on an Internet Chat board

We talk all the time about impeaching Trump, (or Bush back in the day), we talk about banning guns, talk about who we think should be a candidate etc. Sometimes we make rules and agree to NOT talk about things, in hopes that not talking about things will have an affect too. Lots and lots of talk.

It's almost a form of prayer. Doesn't really have an impact on the outside world, but it sure makes us feel better.

[NNadir]

21. I really don't find political discourse quite as ineffective as handing out preprinted cards...

...after each mass murder reading "thoughts and prayers."

Sorry, but there is a difference.

[fescuerescue]

22. Of course it's different

But real political discourse is active face to face discussions and demonstrations. People who change their mind over the Internet are as rare as hens teeth.

In general, internet forums attribute to themselves a FAR FAR higher level of importance than they actually have. We do the same thing with our "hopes". I've even caught myself saying "I know I should noy hope for XYZ"...before realizing that my simple hope doesn't matter a whit.

Internet forums can be extremely entertaining, and they self assuring, but have pretty much zero impact on the things that trouble us. Much like prayer.

[NNadir]

23. I don't buy what you say for a New York second. The written word, no matter what format, has...

...always been a powerful force for change.

Your argument sounds like "The Federalist Papers were wishful thinking..." etc.

I will admit that there are some people who are barely literate even if they can spell and sound out words. But there still are a large number of people who can and do think.

My mind has been changed by many things I read on electronic media, and I hardly expect that I'm alone.

[fescuerescue]

24. That's fine

But I don't think we are writing the Federalist papers here. Ultimately I believe that our discussions have about the same impact as a good prayer.

But opinions vary.

[madville]

25. When was the last time a law stopped a bullet?

Sounds like the shooter was already prohibited from owning firearms due to domestic violence convictions.

[NNadir]

30. From traveling or from being fired?

A nonsensical person of the "guns don't kill people" ilk, mindless, sound bite twitter types might focus on the former and think that they're being cute or even clever.

they're not. They're asses.

As for the latter, a bright person with a ounce of intelligence and insight might look at the gun murder rates of any of 50 or 60 nations with intelligent gun laws and easily discern the answer.

Have a nice workweek.

[Mackey208]

27. Thoughts and prayers

It helps the NRA and Repubs to clear their conscious. They have the blood of every gun victim on their hands.

[better]

28. When people are getting gunned down IN CHURCH

It's reasonable to assume that they weren't suffering from a lack of prayer.
A lack of effective gun control, however...

[Glamrock]

29. Jules in Pulp Fiction maybe?

[LeftInTX]

32. I wonder what Pat Robinson will say?

"Las Vegas happened cuz it was Sin City".....

I guess he could say, "Sutherland Springs happened because it was a little rickety wooden church and not the home of a televangelist"

[pintobean]

36. It's more productive than bitching on the internet

as it gives some comfort to believers who are grieving.

[liquid diamond]

41. Im an atheist, and I agree.

This thread shows how low people can stoop by making fun of shooting victims.

[cwydro]

44. Thank you.

I’ve learned a lot about how cold some people’s hearts are here, just in the last couple days.

[NCTraveler]

39. It helps many of the living.

Few, outside of real crazies, say a thought or prayer will stop a bullet. Though it would be correct to say that tomorrow’s killings will only stop with honest thoughts today.

It’s also why it’s often followed up by “for the friends and family of...” It’s a statement directed at the living with thoughts of healing in mind.

[calendargirl]

40. It is as effective as healing white light and positive vibes nt

[Alea]

47. Sometimes the hate on this forum rivals the most hateful forums on the web

Democrats are suppose to be more compassionate than their rivals but you wouldn't know it by reading some of the threads and comments made over the past 2 days, or even since Nov 8, 2016

I'm a young democrat and I admit I don't know all the ins and outs of politics, but I know hate when I see it.

[NNadir]

49. I personally apologize to you if my anger comes across as hate but as an old...

...democrat I feel great anger, certainly sometimes bordering, frankly, on hatred, for the idea of hiding immorality behind professions of faith.

Faith can be a very beautiful thing; I have seen it in my own family.

But indifference disguised as faith can be an ugly thing, a very dangerous thing.

Surely we must have compassion for the dead; and I believe that there are sometimes - much more rare - that we owe some measure of compassion for the killers.

We have mass shootings in this country as often now as we have new moons. I confess I do hate that. It's almost, as I noted elsewhere, as if our politicians have preprinted cards they hand out at every new moon reading "thoughts and prayers."

As you age, you may find that not all republicans are represented by the likes of Trump, nor, to be honest, are all Democrats sensible and kind and intelligent like, say, Obama.

You sound like a lovely person in just these brief words. I certainly hope we value people like yourself. Forgive us when we're at our worst.