As the cover and cover story of today's New York Daily News make clear, the messages about the San Bernardino massacre from Republican politicians seemed strikingly non-spontaneous:
Thoughts & prayers are with #SanBernardino
— Lindsey Graham (@GrahamBlog) December 2, 2015My thoughts and prayers are with the victims, families, and brave first responders during this unspeakable tragedy.
— Dr. Rand Paul (@RandPaul) December 2, 2015My thoughts and prayers are with the shooting victims and their families in San Bernardino.
— Dr. Ben Carson (@RealBenCarson) December 2, 2015And here's another one I spotted yesterday as the incident was still under way -- same message:
My thoughts and prayers are with those impacted by the senseless shooting today in #SanBernadino.
— Darrell Issa (@DarrellIssa) December 2, 2015My response:
Did @FrankLuntz write this boilerplate? Seeing it from every Republican now. https://t.co/MYMGq57gi0
— Steve M. (@nomoremister) December 2, 2015That's still my response. If your genuinely drop to your knees when you hear about something like yesterday's massacre, this atheist won't attack you for that. But if someone in the GOP consultant class has advised you that "thoughts and prayers" is the response to a mass shooting that tests well in focus groups of swing voters and you go out and post that, then, sorry, you're a phony, and I'm insulting you as a politician, not as a Christian, if I call you on your phoniness.
So I don't want to hear that I'm engaged in "prayer shaming." I'm not -- I'm engaged in politician shaming.
Good on ya, but these creeps can also be criticized for being bad Xians. So I'll do it for you: You creeps are also phony Christians engaging in politically motivated displays of piety, and you can get bent.
ReplyDeleteIf I was a Christian I would be heartily ashamed to have these people on my "side." As it is, I am simply ashamed that we they seem to come from my species.
IMO it's not just the preferred choice of battlefield for wingers, it's the only choice left. If you start from a place that says regulation is unconstitutional and wrong, then it's not possible to even contemplate let alone discuss reform of anything by or thru government.
ReplyDeleteIn a country whose people on the whole are at their most vulnerable in terms of catering to ignorance, to biases, & to belief systems which cater to those, going immediately to religion serves to put an immediate halt on discussion, not to encourage it.
The only reasoned defenses for claiming religious belief all require doubt, humility and a sincere effort at empathy towards those who are suffering. Anyone else who resorts to it is doing so to invoke power or to shut down discussion.
You tell 'em, Steve!
ReplyDeleteIf "thought and prayers" were candy and nuts, oh what a Merry Christmas it would be - for the families of the dead.
Fuck your thoughts, and fuck your prayers! How about getting off your knees, GOP's, and stop servicing the NRA!
What's the word I'm looking for, I can't quite remember: doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result is faith, or insanity? Is it a mass psychosis, or just pure stupid?
ReplyDeleteTis moot, naught but a tyranny imposed upon the population at large by a minority of mentally deranged barely literate proto-humans. The Bill of Rights provides relief for this.
The sound you don't hear is this pissed off pistol packing progressive jacking a round into my well oiled AR.
While Ted Cruz is tweeting "thoughts and prayers" the only prayer he's doing is one of thanks because he can exploit this politically.
ReplyDeletePraying isn't just wishing. It's wishing reeeel reeeel hard.
ReplyDeleteYeah, but SAYING you pray for that person or wish for that thing, that costs nothing. You don't even need to toss coinage into a tip jar; and sometimes the jars even tip YOU!
ReplyDelete