It is not for us to say when God and prayer do not matter

Almost as if on cue, Mark Shea rushes in to put some theological heft into the whole 'your prayers and your God are useless to us' push-back from the modern Left.  This has arisen, as we have seen, in response to the mass shootings that garner media attention.

Of course, just the fact that the only time we seem to care are when there are certain mass shootings that garner media attention should give us pause.  Nonetheless, if we assume for a moment that the media's attention should be ours, and the shootings it focuses on should define the debate, it still remains that most of the solutions demanded are just not solutions at all.

In fact, when one runs the numbers, one realizes that most of the solutions that Mark equates to doing the will of Jesus simply don't matter.  They're nothing.  They are, you might say, those filthy rags.  They sound good.  They make it look like we care.  But they typically would not prevent the actual shootings that are being used to promote the solutions, if they make any sense at all.

There is nothing wrong with looking at the problem to find solutions.  The problem most gun owners have is that those who insist on solutions seem to avoid looking at all of the problems, much less all of the gun violence.  They seem rather selective and picky as to what we focus on, what solutions we propose, and usually end up admitting that all of their pomp and righteousness wouldn't solve the problem at hand.

No, as Christians we should do something about this.  We can have a talk about meaningful legislation regarding gun ownership.  We can look at mental health in America.  And we  can look at America, the country we've built, the hate and anger and void of meaning that we've endorsed.  We can do all these things.  But the minute we stand hand in hand with forces that gleefully mock the notion that God and prayer have any worth, it might be time to jump ship before we begin equating God's will to our own political horses and chariots.