Motivated Spirituality

bugler2goodDirectly after a mass shooting, in the minutes or hours or days between the first trickle of news and when police find a suspect or make arrests, it is very difficult to know what to do.
Some people demand political action, like greater gun control; others call for prayer. In the aftermath of a violent shooting spree in San Bernardino, California, on Wednesday, in which at least 14 victims are reported to have died, people with those differing reactions quickly turned against one another.
 
For example, here’s the Washington editor at the liberal publication The Nation, George Zornick, on reactions from the 2016 presidential candidates:
 
 
There’s a clear claim being made here, and one with an edge: Democrats care about doing something and taking action while Republicans waste time offering meaningless prayers. These two reactions, policy-making and praying, are portrayed as mutually exclusive, coming from totally contrasting worldviews. Elsewhere on Twitter, full-on prayer shaming set in: Many turned their anger about the shooting not at the perpetrator or perpetrators, whose identities are still unknown, but at those who offered their prayers.
 
 
This is not the first time this idea—that prayer is not enough—has come up in the Twittersphere, or in politics. “As I said just a few months ago, and I said a few months before that, and I said each time we see one of these mass shootings, our thoughts and prayers are not enough,” said President Obama following the October shootings at Umpqua Community College in Oregon. He was not denigrating prayer—in the same speech, he went on to ask God for strength and courage for the victims.
 
  
A Day After the San Bernardino Shooting
 
Others have been less nuanced. After Wednesday’s shootings, The Huffington Post quickly rounded up a list of tweets from politicians offering their prayers. “In short, basically anyone with a Twitter account shared thoughts and prayers in the immediate aftermath of the latest shooting,” the reporters wrote. “Which is kind of them to do, of course, but probably not enough to stop the next one.”
 
This cynicism offers a view into just how much religion and politics have changed in the United States. Prayer and political action have a deeply entwined history in America. From civil rights to women’s suffrage, nearly every social-justice movement has had strong supporters from religious communities—U.S. history is littered with images like the one of pastors and rabbis marching on Selma, side by side with political activists.
 
For more on this story, follow the link below:
 
 
 

Motivated Audio & Video

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Reflections to Consider

  • Warfare Spirituality

    The Trinity function as farmers of our souls, actively caring for God’s creation: an ongoing, radical reclamation of His creation. Read More
  • Corporate Spirituality

    Encouragement, Accountability, and Worship Solitude, community and ministry are three areas requiring balance and integration in the Christian walk. The Read More
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Motivated Publications

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Publications

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Motivated Music

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Music

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Motivated Reflection

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Audio & Video

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Favorites

  • Praise Adonai by Paul Baloche +

    Who is like Him The Lion and the Lamb Seated on the throne Mountains bow down Every ocean roars To the Lord of hosts  Read More
  • An Interview with Paul Washer by Tim Challies +

    You probably know Paul Washer as the man who preached the infamous "Shocking Youth Message," a sermon that has tallied Read More
  • Glorious by Paul Baloche +

    Look inside the mysterySee the empty crossSee the risen SaviorVictorious and strong Read More
  • Paul's Prayers +

    How do we pray? What should we pray for? Yes, there is the Lord's prayer--Jesus teaching his disciples, and us, Read More
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Hidden Blessings

  • Joy Will Find A Way: Bruce Cockburn +

    Bruce Cockburn’s song Joy Will Find A Way describes the way joy from love can transform one’s life. make me Read More
  • Shepherd's Joy by Luther Jackson Middle School Advanced Chorus +

    Read More
  • Joy to the World! by Surfjan Stevens +

    Joy to the World , the Lord is come!Let earth receive her King;Let every heart prepare Him room,And Heaven and nature Read More
  • The joy of the Lord is my strength by Douglas Miller +

    The joy of the LORD is my strengthThe joy of the LORD is my strengthThe joy of the LORD is Read More
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