Thoughts, Prayers, and Policy Failure

Well bless their hearts.

They’re out here sending thoughts and prayers again.
Which is Southern for, “We’re gonna look concerned while doing absolutely nothing to change a damn thing.”

Let’s call it like it is,
because in Minnesota last week, thoughts and prayers didn’t stop a man with a gun
and a grudge wrapped in Bible verses
from killing a beloved progressive lawmaker, her husband, and wounding a sitting state senator.

Melissa Hortman is dead.
So is her partner.

And what did we get?
The usual.

Politicians clutching pearls, not policy.
Preachers preaching peace, not justice.

And a whole lot of nothing from the people who could’ve stopped it.

When “Faith” Covers for Fascism

The shooter didn’t come out of nowhere.

He came out of a swamp of Christian nationalism and MAGA vengeance.
He voted for Trump.
He bragged about his born-again status.
He kept a kill list.

That’s not a lone wolf.
That’s a symptom of a system that’s sick with holy-sounding hate.

And still,
they offer up prayers,
like it’s incense for the dead
instead of fuel for the fire they started.

If your theology leads to silence in the face of political murder,
your religion is useless.
Your prayers are performative.
And your hands?
They’re stained.

Thoughts and Prayers Won’t Raise the Dead

You know what thoughts and prayers don’t do?

• They don’t stop bullets.

• They don’t disarm radicals.

• They don’t dismantle white supremacy.

• They don’t write policy that protects people.

• They don’t resurrect the lives you let slip through your legislative fingers.

If your response to assassination is a prayer circle and a tweet,
you’re not comforting the grieving,
you’re complicit.

Don’t You Dare Quote Jesus

Jesus didn’t stand around offering “thoughts and prayers” while Rome ran roughshod over the poor.

He flipped tables.
He confronted power.
He put his body on the line.

The prophets didn’t pray away injustice,
they shouted it down until the kings shook in their boots.

But here in America?
The only thing shaking is our resolve
when it’s time to choose between action and approval ratings.

Grief Without Justice Is Just Theater

Let’s be blunt:
If you won’t vote for change,
if you won’t stand up to extremists in your base,
if you’re too scared to say the NRA’s name in public,
then keep your prayers.

They mean nothing.

Melissa Hortman deserved more than memorial flowers.
She deserved safety.
She deserved a country where standing up for the vulnerable didn’t get you killed.

Final Benediction (for the ones still breathing)

If your faith can’t stop a bullet,
but it can stop a drag show,
you’re doing it wrong.

If your church lights candles after a shooting
but fights school lunch funding and background checks,
those candles are just for show.

If you mourn the dead
but won’t protect the living,
then your grief is just the smoke that rises from your cowardice.

Real prayer gets loud.
Real faith takes risks.
Real love votes, legislates, and refuses to back down.

So keep your empty rituals.
We’re done dying for your comfort.