You’ve all seen the obnoxious headline by now. It showed up in the New York Daily News even as the San Bernardino attacks were still ongoing. In gigantic type, the Daily News informed us all, GOD’S NOT FIXING THIS, then proceeded to rip Rand Paul, Ted Cruz, Lindsey Graham and Paul Ryan for offering “thoughts and prayers” to the victims and their families.
Many of us have known for some time that left-wing media types have little use for prayer or God. Dan tells me that the sentiments on that front page are nothing he didn’t hear many times in newsrooms when he worked as a reporter in the traditional media. But until recently the media didn’t consider it safe to so publicly express their disdain for prayer.
Times are different, and the secular left is feeling emboldened. Even as the attack story was unfolding on Wednesday, writers from far-left sites were taking to Twitter to mock conservatives who were offering “thoughts and prayers” to those in San Bernardino.
It’s hard to think like a liberal, but here’s what I think their intended point is: Since we all know gun control is the answer and conservatives refuse to pass gun control, they offer the nonsense of “thoughts and prayers” to make it sound like they’re doing something, but in reality they are doing nothing. Thus, the expression of thoughts and prayers is – as the front page suggests – a coward’s way of covering up his refusal to act.
Now, aside from the fact that those singled out are surely willing to do something about crime – although probably not what Barack Obama wants because they don’t believe it’s a good idea – there is something the New York Daily News and other media liberals don’t understand about prayer or about God.
Prayer is action. Just as a liberal who pleads with the government to do something can be said to have acted, a person of faith who pleads with God to do something has also acted. Indeed, prayer involves an appeal to a much more powerful problem-solver – one who possesses far more wisdom than an elected official, or even all elected officials put together.
God does not always solve our problems by Friday. And He does not always rescue us from the consequences of human actions. He never guaranteed that we would have no problems, but He did say that if we followed His instructions, He would get us through them.
The Daily News said prayer is a “meaningless platitude,” and called the four Republicans singled out for their tweets “cowards” for offering prayers.
Let me tell you a couple of things:
First, if we are ever going to heal this nation, it has to start with people turning back to God. Evil is the problem, not a lack of gun regulations. And the only way to defeat evil is to submit to God.
Second, it takes courage to submit to God, especially in an age when the culture is rejecting Him and people want to just be free to do their own thing with no moral accountability. Those who pray openly are the farthest thing from cowards. They are standing in the gap against the greatest evil known to man – and we need more people doing that more of the time.
That the New York Daily News considers prayer a meaningless platitude – and is unafraid to say so publicly – just goes to show how far our culture has fallen. It’s high time for someone to pick it back up.
You’ve all seen the obnoxious headline by now. It showed up in the New York Daily News even as the San Bernardino attacks were still ongoing. In gigantic type, the Daily News informed us all, GOD’S NOT FIXING THIS, then proceeded to rip Rand Paul, Ted Cruz, Lindsey Graham and Paul Ryan for offering “thoughts and prayers” to the victims and their families.
