Thoughts and prayers? Exactly what we need

Another school shooting. Another incomprehensible loss of life. Another round of misguided “solutions.”

In the aftermath of a mass shooting, the timeline is set in stone. Right on cue, we first hear about candlelight vigils, protests, demands for “change,” and thoughts and prayers. Next, the hardcore anti-gun crowd takes to social media to excoriate any Republican who dares offer condolences, blaming them for the killings. Soon after, the victims and their families are relegated to the back burner as the tragedy becomes ultra-politicized. Despite reports of “new bipartisan efforts” to enact meaningful reforms, such an outcome seems unlikely.

Finally, the country moves on, saddened (but increasingly desensitized) at yet another senseless massacre. And then the wait is on, as the nation subconsciously prepares for the next inevitable shooting — and the cycle repeats itself. First, those slamming “thoughts and prayers” as superficial are totally misguided. Keeping victims and the tragedy in our thoughts is the best way to chip away at why these killings are occurring, and what, if anything, can be done to help prevent them. Second, prayers are, above all, what this nation needs.

America’s surge in violence and disrespect, combined with ever-waning empathy, corresponds to our drive toward secularism. These massacres almost never occurred when civility, packed churches and the lack of political correctness were the norms, yet are now commonplace as those values have all but disappeared. Coincidence? Not a chance.

But remember something about prayer. As the saying goes, “The Lord helps those who help themselves.” We can pray all day, but God isn’t going to magically solve this problem. That’s up to us, as rational human beings with the unique ability to think and reason.

In Philadelphia alone, there were 14 murders over Memorial Day weekend, with at least 40 shot. (And multiple teens have been shot over the last week). In Chicago, 10 were killed and 52 shot. Ditto for other cities. And no, not all of the victims were “just criminals and drug dealers killing each other.” Some were attending a funeral, and

others were mere children. Unsurprisingly, many guns in such crimes are illegally obtained.

Every life lost is one too many. But in a purely quantitative sense, why are we not talking about the thousands killed each year in America’s cities, and instead giving the majority of attention to the relatively few random mass shootings — horrendous and gut-wrenching as they are? The focus should be equally on both, because many of the reasons

for such violence are the same.

Several years, back, this author stood in the exact spot in Jerusalem where, just a short time later, four Israeli soldiers were run over and killed by a terrorist. What of the attack in Manhattan (2017) where a terrorist killed eight by mowing them down in his pickup? The truck attacks in London (multiple), Berlin, Barcelona, and Edmonton? And the vehicle attacks at the University of North Carolina (2006) and Ohio State (2016)? Worst

was the 86 people killed and a staggering 485 injured when a terrorist plowed a truck through a crowd in Nice, France.

And lest we forget, the worst attacks on America were executed without firing a single bullet: 9/11, Oklahoma City, the Madison bombing, etc. The bottom line, hard as it is to grasp, is that when someone turns to the dark side, content to never see another sunrise by committing himself to mass murder, he is, save for fortuitous

advance intelligence and luck, virtually impossible to stop. The key is identifying these people before their killing spree. But one thing is certain: bans won’t stop people who have gone over the edge, since people determined to kill are not deterred by rules.

It’s important not to pass laws based on emotion, since legislating in haste virtually never addresses the root cause of the problem. Banning firearms is no different. Guns

haven’t changed. People and our culture have.

The lack of a quicker police response remains a burning question. It is unimaginable to lose a child, spouse or parent in a shooting, but living with the thought that they may have survived had police acted differently is, without a doubt, a nightmare from which there is no awakening. And that is something laws and bans cannot fix.

God bless the victims and their families.