‘Thoughts and Prayers’ Will Stop Mass Shootings Says Mike Huckabee, While Baptist Pastor Condemns Leaders Who Say Just That

By Nathan Glover --
07 Aug 2019 --

Huckabee says mass shootings happen because people are disconnected from God.

Many people are demanding justice after the mass shootings in Dayton, Ohio and El Paso, Texas over the weekend. Mike Huckabee has offered his solution to the problem, saying there’s only one way of stopping the violence. Huckabee said “thoughts and prayers” are the solution to the problem of mass shootings.[/tweetit]

Republican Mike Huckabee is a two-time presidential candidate and the former governor of Arkansas. He wrote a blog post on Monday making a case saying the only thing that’s going to help curb the menace of gun violence is “thoughts and prayers.”

‘Thoughts and Prayers’ Will Stop Mass Shootings Says Mike Huckabee, While Baptist Pastor Condemns Leaders Who Say Just That[/tweetthis]

Huckabee also made an appearance on FOX News. He used the opportunity to pin the blame for the mass shootings over the weekend on godlessness.

Mike Huckabee said the weapon cannot be blamed to be the common denominator. Instead, he pinned the blame on evil inside the heart. He went on to say the loss of morality is also to blame. He said the cause for concern is disconnection from a God who loves all and wouldn’t allow his children to commit such atrocities onto other people. He went on to say committing such atrocities would mean the person is doing these things to God as well as to himself to end another person’s life.

Apparently we aren’t thoughting and praying enough. https://t.co/p2RK2dEkKZ
— Taylor Loy ??‍♀️ (@milfbutts) August 6, 2019

He elaborated by saying humans aren’t hardwired by God like this. Huckabee said, “What I believe hurts me the most is that we’ve got a lot of our country that are utterly disconnected from any sense of identity with their Creator and with his love for them and his love for the people that they hate.”

The Friendly Atheist argued against this statement, saying neither of the shooters committed the shootings in the name of Richard Dawkins. They didn’t target any outspoken believers and weren’t acting based on atheism.

Huckabee has made some controversial statements in the past, such as when he criticized Beto O’Rourke, a Democratic presidential candidate, for naming President Trump a “racist.” Huckabee said he doesn’t see how someone who has denied being racist many times can be an open racist. Many people have even accused Huckabee of lying to advance his political agenda. Only time will tell if these accusations are empty or if there is some truth to them.

Meanwhile, Pastor Wendell Griffin penned his own article, titled “I’m a pastor who refuses to offer ‘thoughts and prayers’ for these people”. Griffin blames “Christians” for their support of Donald Trump, opposition to gun control, religious leaders who “refuse to denounce white supremacy,” and says “God is not fooled by the lies and hypocrisies of our time.”

Pastor Wendell Griffin continues to proclaim:

“But when that doesn’t happen there comes another time. When people refuse to repent despite many opportunities, there comes another time. When people choose to praise wickedness and support oppression rather than reject and condemn it, despite strong and long pleas for repentance, there comes another time. That is not a time to pray for blessings. That is the time to pray and wait for condemnation.
The time is coming when people who associate the name, power and love of God with white supremacy; nationalism; bigotry toward immigrants, women, people of color and people without wealth; and hatred of persons of other religions will be judged and damned by God as false prophets.”

Instead of just offering “thoughts and prayers” for victims and their families, Wendell prays for justice against those who allow these horrific events to occur, declaring, “God will deliver righteous judgment against this nation and the political and religious actors responsible for the longstanding and deliberately cultivated wickedness which has been sacralized by so-called ‘evangelical Christians’ and normalized by Donald Trump.”