From Fox News: A Tennessee Democratic state representative on Saturday condemned the customary expression of “thoughts and prayers” after a mass shooting, calling it “theological malpractice,” and likened America’s relationship with gun manufacturers to idolatry.
“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,” Tennessee state Rep. Justin Jones told MSNBC’s Ali Velshi.
The two were discussing the recent mass shooting at the church at the Annunciation Catholic School in Minnesota that killed an 8-year-old boy and 10-year-old girl on Wednesday, Aug. 27. The children were killed by transgender woman Robin Westman, 23, according to local police and the Department of Homeland Security. Westman’s gun featured antisemitic messages, including “6 million wasn’t enough” and “extra thicc Jew gas.” His mother worked at the church until 2021.
Jones further criticized the nation’s posture toward gun makers as a form of idolatry. “When you pray for something that you have the power to change… What we’re seeing is a form of idolatry, where we’re willing to worship the lives of our children to appease the prophets of the gun industry,” he said.
Jones is one of the three state House Democrats who staged a massive protest in the Tennessee state house, demanding more gun control, after a transgender person committed a deadly mass shooting at a Christian school in Nashville two years ago.
He and another Democrat were expelled from their seats, but Jones later won his seat back in an election.
‘Thoughts and prayers’ is a ‘form of idolatry’???? https://t.co/ei8JxuH9ny
— DMLNewsApp (@DMLNewsApp) September 1, 2025
READ MORE from Fox News.
Follow us on X (Formerly Twitter.)
The DML News App: www.X.com/DMLNewsApp
