Why "Thoughts and Prayers" After a Mass Shooting Can Ring Hollow
Mass shooting are disturbingly common in the United States for a variety of reasons. They occur more here than anywhere in the world, and Americans are ten times more likely to die from a gun than in other developed countries. This isn’t new information.
On Sunday, a mass shooter entered a Baptist church in Sutherland Springs, Texas; the death toll was at 26 by Sunday night. It’s the 377th mass shooting in the United States in 2017 alone, which has seen a particularly violent year
WH: "Our thoughts and prayers are with all of the friends and families affected. May God comfort them all in this time of tragedy."
— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) November 5, 2017
After mass shootings, public figures have fallen into a predictable pattern of behavior: Politicians offer their thoughts and prayers on social media, as a placative measure. It gives them plausible deniability against charges that they aren’t sympathetic enough when criticized for lack of concrete policy solutions against gun violence.
