What if gun control is God's answer to Republican prayers? & Pray, Yes. But Then Act. 3DEZ15

PRAYER SHAMING. I know there are many faithful Christians and people of other faiths who send heartfelt, sincere prayers to God for the victims and families when there is another mass shooting. And I know there are many hypocritical politicians and community leaders who stand in front of the TV cameras and radio mics and declare their horror and sorrow over the mass shooting and publicly offer their prayers. I really doubt most of them actually pray for the victims and families. As soon as news of another mass shooting is out I think they are activating their game plan to quash criticism of their being controlled by the nra and their opposition to any gun control. They are like the pharisee Christ pointed out as a hypocrite because of his loud, public prayers. I think if these people actually prayed for the victims and families of gun violence they might hear God tell them the answer to help prevent these tragedies is gun control. This well written piece from +Daily Kos & +Sojourners ....

What if gun control is God's

 answer to Republican prayers?

By Marty Essen  

Thursday Dec 03, 2015

After each of the recent mass shootings in America, Democratic presidential candidates have called for action to make high-capacity, rapid-fire guns harder to acquire, and Republican presidential candidates (and Republicans in Congress) have prayed for the victims. Since to-date none of the victims has risen from the dead, we can logically assume that one of four things is true.

1) God doesn’t exist.

2) God doesn’t care.

3) God is powerless to do anything.

4) God keeps wondering why Republicans continue to block action that would drastically reduce the number of mass shootings and make the public repetition of prayers for mass shooting victims largely unnecessary in the future. Or to put it another way: God keeps trying to answer their prayers in advance, but the Republicans won’t let him! 

Pray, Yes. But Then Act. 

By Jim Wallis 12-03-2015

Yesterday, two people armed in military-style gear shot and killed 14 people and injured 17 others at a holiday party in California. You’ve no doubt been watching the headlines and reading about people’s “thoughts and prayers,” but what is stunning is that it wasn’t even the only mass shooting yesterday. Four others were shot, one killed, in Savannah, Ga. Add it to the list of more than 350 mass shootings this calendar year.

The epidemic of gun violence in America has become the new normal. We can’t just blame it on the brokenness of the world, pray for peace, and move on, worried that anything more will be seen as politicizing tragedy. What is tragic is that those who have the ability to DO something about this crisis refuse to offer more than simplistic sentiments on Twitter before getting caught in a circular argument about our rights as Americans. It’s time for people of faith to respond out of their faith and work to stop senseless violence. As Nicholas Kristoff wrote in the New York Times today: “It’s not clear what policy, if any, could have prevented the killings in San Bernardino. Not every shooting is preventable. But we’re not even trying.” Common sense measures like universal background checks — which is supported by 85 percent of Americans — would be a good start.

Tell your elected officials that while the NRA may give them a positive rating — and bankroll their campaigns — they’re failing the American people by refusing to offer any semblance of common sense measures that could save lives.

“Thoughts and prayers” are not solutions for the 30,000 people who will be killed by a gun this year – we need sensible gun safety legislation NOW.

Join thousands of others calling for action

- See more at: https://sojo.net/articles/pray-yes-then-act#sthash.qZnI1O6G.dpuf