Prayer And Hope Thread For The Students at Stoneman Douglas High School

[DemocratSinceBirth]

[Hekate]

1. Let me say it first: No more moments of silence. None.

[forgotmylogin]

2. We can barely have a moment of silence...

before it's broken by gunfire again!

[hlthe2b]

3. I wish comfort for the families, but for me, it is all anger, sadness, helplessness, & frustration

I'm not devoid of hope, but .... the kind of sanity that would make a true difference is in short supply and I, like the others here, don't know how to change that.




Support and hope for a better day, a better time, for the families, the wounded, the friends.

[handmade34]

4. no more prayers!

write a letter, donate some money, protest outside a legislators office, etc... but no more worthless prayers

[malaise]

5. I pass

Send the video of screaming kids to the NRA and the politicians they own starting with the Con

[Ligyron]

8. As I said in another post

If graphic photos of dead, innocent children were widely disseminated in a timely manner - maybe, just maybe we'd see some type of action.

But I don't see that happening.

[malaise]

9. You are correct

Enough with the thoughts and prayers

[msongs]

6. if prayer worked we wouldnt need doctors and this sort of thing would never happen nt

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

7. No. Prayer doesn't do a goddam thing except make the one who prays

feel virtuous.

How about something more substantial.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

10. Fuck prayers and hope. How about sane gun control?

Which will never happen because every time this kind of thing happens, all anybody ever does is offer meaningless, useless prayers that do nothing but make you feel better because you think you're doing something.

[Bad Thoughts]

11. Some words from Martin Buber

"There is a famous story told in Chassidic literature that addresses this very question. The Master [teacher] teaches the student that God created everything in the world to be appreciated, since everything is here to teach us a lesson.

One cleaver student asks: 'What lesson can we learn from atheists? Why did God create them?'

The Master responds: 'God created atheists to teach us the most important lesson of them all -- the lesson of true compassion. You see, when an atheist performs an act of charity, visits someone who is sick, helps someone in need, and cares for the world, he is not doing so because of some religious teaching. He does not believe that God commanded him to perform this act. In fact, he does not believe in God at all, so his acts are based on an inner sense of morality. And look at the kindness he can bestow upon others simply because he feels it to be right.'

'This means,' the Master continued, 'that when someone reaches out to you for help, you should never say 'I pray that God will help you.' Instead for the moment, you should become an atheist, imagine that there is no God who can help, and say: 'I will help you'.

[Hekate]

12. That made me choke up