9 Reactions to the San Bernardino Terror Rampage
While there were requests for prayers after the shooting in San Bernardino, California, many responded by attacking God and Christianity and calling for gun control.
In what is an increasing trend of the immediate politicization of tragedies, calls for gun control were rampant. And with the increasing secularization and anger toward God within the culture, some media outlets and public figures even tried to shame those calling for prayer, suggesting it would not solve any problems of violence.
Republican candidates calling for prayers in the wake of the shooting were routinely harassed and harangued on social media.
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Below are some of the diverse, sometimes absurd, and solemn reactions to the tragedy in San Bernardino.
1. New York Daily News with the front page title "God Isn't Fixing This."
The headline has received condemnation from many Christians. The sub-headline sprinkled in with pictures of Republican leaders offering prayers to the victims reads: "As latest batch of innocent Americans are left lying in pools of blood, cowards who could truly end gun scourge continue to hide behind meaningless platitudes."
2. Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., raged against those who were calling for prayer but not gun control.
"Your 'thoughts' should be about steps to take to stop this carnage. Your 'prayers' should be for forgiveness if you do nothing — again," Murphy wrote.
3. Russell Moore condemned the "prayer shame" directed at politicians.
Moore, president of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, called the New York Daily News headline "cynical" and "exploitive" in The Washington Post on Thursday.
"The vicious back-and-forth on social media did more than simply question the sincerity of politicians' prayer messages," declared Moore. "The debate threatened to communicate that prayer accomplishes nothing."
4. Following the shooting, Fox News reporter Geraldo Rivera called the Second Amendment "stupid."
"Mass shooting in San Bernadino California at a Center for the Developmentally Disabled WTF! The 2d Amendment is Stupid!!! Don't rationalize," tweeted Rivera. Minutes later he declared, "The NRA is full of [expletive]."
5. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump praised law enforcement.
Trump, who also held a moment of silence at a campaign rally in Manassas, Virginia, sent out a message to followers on Twitter: "Police and law enforcement seem to have killed one of the California shooters and are in a shootout with the others. Go police."
6. Daily Kos founder and publisher Markos Moulitsas was quick to get in on the prayer shaming.
Moulitsas asked Republican National Chairman Reince Priebus on Twitter Wednesday, "How many dead people did those thoughts and prayers bring back to the life?"
Priebus simply sent out a message offering prayers and thoughts for San Bernardino.
7. Conservative Princeton professor Robert P. George called for reason.
"Attributing guilt by association is unjust and therefore sinful. It matters not whether those tarred are Muslims or pro-lifers. It must end," wrote George.
8. Like many Christians, Roman Catholic Archbishop Charles J. Chaput of Philadelphia called for prayer.
"Pursuing justice in this matter is in the hands of law enforcement. Our task as Christians is to pray for those persons whose lives were ended by the inexcusable cruelty of others," the Archbishop declared in a statement.
9. President Obama led the chorus for tighter restrictions on firearms.
Obama told reporters Thursday "that we have to search ourselves as a society to take basic steps to make it harder, not impossible, but harder for individuals to get access to weapons.
