Don’t worry everyone. Yes, a psychopath was allowed to buy a semi-automatic weapon despite multiple red flags from the FBI and a gun store owner with enough experience to pick up a weird vibe from Omar Mateen shortly before he killed fifty people. But seriously, don’t worry, because our elected officials have deployed their secret weapon.
They’ve offered their thoughts and prayers.
If you would like to know how it feels to possess such powers, you too can simulate the experience with this game:
This isn’t about mocking prayer. I’m a Christian, and I don’t deny the power of prayer and would never mock a person’s belief in that power. But I also know that offering prayer in order to avoid action is not the point of prayer. It brings to mind the old joke about the man in the flood:
“A fellow was stuck on his rooftop in a flood. He was praying to God for help.
Soon a man in a rowboat came by and the fellow shouted to the man on the roof, ‘Jump in, I can save you.’
The stranded fellow shouted back, ‘No, it’s OK, I’m praying to God and he is going to save me.’
So the rowboat went on.
Then a motorboat came by. The fellow in the motorboat shouted, ‘Jump in, I can save you.’
To this the stranded man said, ‘No thanks, I’m praying to God and he is going to save me. I have faith.’
So the motorboat went on.
Then a helicopter came by and the pilot shouted down, ‘Grab this rope and I will lift you to safety.’
To this the stranded man again replied, ‘No thanks, I’m praying to God and he is going to save me. I have faith.’
So the helicopter reluctantly flew away.
Soon the water rose above the rooftop and the man drowned. He went to Heaven. He finally got his chance to discuss this whole situation with God, at which point he exclaimed, ‘I had faith in you but you didn’t save me, you let me drown. I don’t understand why!’
To this God replied, ‘I sent you a rowboat and a motorboat and a helicopter, what more did you expect?'”
Every time a congressman took to Twitter or Facebook, we got more thoughts and prayers, and still no action. Too often, in any kind of crisis, our leaders are too afraid to take a stand on anything; too afraid to address real issues. Instead, when a gunman walks into a classroom of 1st graders and kills them all, we get more thoughts and prayers.
If you believe in any kind of god, I suggest no longer letting our leaders use your god as a scapegoat.
Watch Will McAvoy on HBO’s The Newsroom (played by Jeff Daniels) call out a Halliburton spokesman trying to escape responsibility for the BP oil spill by offering his thoughts and prayers:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DZd1GV_0WA
Featured image screenshot of Thoughts & Prayers: The Game by GOP Arcade
