Justin Jones condemned offering thoughts and prayers after shootings as theological malpractice and a form of idolatry, citing an African proverb to stress action. Jones invoked his ministerial background to argue that prayer without action is improper when change is possible. Jones and MSNBC host Ali Velshi, joined by Democrat Gregory Jackson, attributed the Minneapolis Catholic school shooting to guns and Republican policies. Jones labeled Republicans as cruel and shameful for opposing his gun policy views and urged lawmakers to stop offering symbolic tweets and prayers and instead confront their own responsibility and take concrete measures.
I want to bring theology into this because you have all these people who want to give thoughts and prayers after a shooting, but I was a minister and that is a form of theological malpractice, said Jones. When you pray for something that you have the power to change there's an African proverb that says, when you pray, you move your hands and feet, he said. You know, what we're seeing is a form of idolatry.
He claimed that Republicans are cruel and shameful for not embracing his views on guns, and with Velshi nodding enthusiastically along, added that he would tell other lawmakers to keep your thoughts and prayers. Keep your tweets. If you wanna address gun violence, you don't need a tweet, what you need is a mirror, he said. VELSHI: There are people who play video games all over the world, and nobody has the problem the way we have it in the United States.
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