Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez asks “What good are your thoughts and prayers?” after 49 people were killed and 20 seriously injured in a terror attack targeting two mosques in New Zealand.
After the devastating terrorist attack conducted by anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim, white supremacists in the New Zealand city of Christchurch, Ocasio-Cortez tweeted:
At 1st I thought of saying, “Imagine being told your house of faith isn’t safe anymore.”
But I couldn’t say “imagine.”
Because of Charleston.
Pittsburgh.
Sutherland Springs.What good are your thoughts & prayers when they don’t even keep the pews safe?pic.twitter.com/2mSw0azDN8
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) March 15, 2019
At 1st I thought of saying, “Imagine being told your house of faith isn’t safe anymore.”
But I couldn’t say “imagine.”
Because of Charleston.
Pittsburgh.
Sutherland Springs.
What good are your thoughts & prayers when they don’t even keep the pews safe?
Expanding on her tweet Ocasio-Cortez opined:
This is a time of great vulnerability for our communities.
We must come together, fight for each other, & stand up for neighbors.
Isolation, dehumanizing stereotypes, hysterical conspiracy theories, & hatred ultimately lead to the anarchy of violence.
We cannot stand for it.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) March 15, 2019
This is a time of great vulnerability for our communities.
We must come together, fight for each other, & stand up for neighbors.
Isolation, dehumanizing stereotypes, hysterical conspiracy theories, & hatred ultimately lead to the anarchy of violence.
We cannot stand for it.
Ocasio-Cortez noted that her condemnation of the expression “thoughts and prayers” was aimed at the NRA:
(“Thoughts and prayers” is reference to the NRA’s phrase used to deflect conversation away from policy change during tragedies. Not directed to PM Ardern, who I greatly admire.)
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) March 15, 2019
(“Thoughts and prayers” is reference to the NRA’s phrase used to deflect conversation away from policy change during tragedies. Not directed to PM Ardern, who I greatly admire.)
While Ocasio-Cortez was right to question the value of the common but ultimately meaningless act of offering “thoughts and prayers” after a terror attack, some did not appreciate her pointed observation.
For example, on Fox and Friends, GOP Rep. Adam Kinzinger condemned Ocasio-Cortez for questioning the value of thoughts and prayers, while insisting that “thoughts and prayers are impactful.”
On Fox & Friends, Rep. Adam Kinzinger insists that “thoughts and prayers are impactful.” pic.twitter.com/wJDNMkn6zA
— Bobby Lewis (@revrrlewis) March 15, 2019
Kinzinger is wrong; Ocasio-Cortez is right. In fact, everyone should question the value of thoughts and prayers. Indeed, prayers are not enough. Prayers are never enough.
Prayers are nothing but spiritual masturbation: they might make the person doing the praying feel a little better, but prayers do nothing to effect change in the real world.
Bottom line: Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez questions the validity of “thoughts and prayers” after a deadly terrorist attack in New Zealand.
