# Texas state lawmaker calls for "praying for protection" instead of gun reform...
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-state-lawmaker-calls-for-praying-for-protection-instead-of-gun-reform/839563
**Category:** The BBQ Pit
**Created:** [September 1, 2019, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-state-lawmaker-calls-for-praying-for-protection-instead-of-gun-reform/839563 "2019-09-01T19:36:48Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@skdo23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/skdo23)
#### Post date: [September 1, 2019, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-state-lawmaker-calls-for-praying-for-protection-instead-of-gun-reform/839563/1 "2019-09-01T19:36:48Z")
**…in wake of mass shooting.**
> **[Texas state lawmaker calls for 'praying for protection' instead of gun reform...](https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/01/politics/texas-state-rep-praying-for-protection-shooting/index.html)**
>
> A Texas Republican state representative said he opposes stricter gun laws and that people should instead be "praying for protection" hours after a mass shooting shook West Texas.
There are no words.
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### Author:  [@Locrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Locrian)
#### Post date: [September 1, 2019, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-state-lawmaker-calls-for-praying-for-protection-instead-of-gun-reform/839563/2 "2019-09-01T19:47:38Z")
> [@skdo23](#):
>
> **…in wake of mass shooting.**
> [https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/01/politics/texas-state-rep-praying-for-protection-shooting/index.html](https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/01/politics/texas-state-rep-praying-for-protection-shooting/index.html)
>
> There are no words.
Oh, he’s got plenty of words. He’s saying go with god. Translation: ignore it and read a fairy tale.
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### Author:  [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)
#### Post date: [September 1, 2019, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-state-lawmaker-calls-for-praying-for-protection-instead-of-gun-reform/839563/3 "2019-09-01T19:57:20Z")
I wish I could say that was shocking. I didn’t read the article, but I’m putting my money on: Prayer, rather than action=Republican.
How did I do? Don’t need answer fast.
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### Author:  [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)
#### Post date: [September 1, 2019, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-state-lawmaker-calls-for-praying-for-protection-instead-of-gun-reform/839563/4 "2019-09-01T19:59:28Z")
Studies have shown that the only real difference between the US and other countries which do not have these mass shootings is the number of guns. Weird, huh? I just don’t know what to make of it.
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### Author:  [@Esprise\_Me](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Esprise_Me)
#### Post date: [September 1, 2019, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-state-lawmaker-calls-for-praying-for-protection-instead-of-gun-reform/839563/5 "2019-09-01T20:06:25Z")
I don’t suppose he and his constituents would go in for merely praying to end abortion and leaving us the fuck alone…
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### Author:  [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)
#### Post date: [September 1, 2019, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-state-lawmaker-calls-for-praying-for-protection-instead-of-gun-reform/839563/6 "2019-09-01T20:11:09Z")
> [@skdo23](#):
>
> There are no words.
Sure there are. Here are some:
[Texas loosens firearm laws hours after the state’s latest mass shooting left 7 dead](https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/01/us/texas-new-gun-laws-trnd/index.html)
“The laws will further loosen gun restrictions in a state that’s had four of the 10 deadliest mass shootings in modern US history, including the El Paso shooting last month, when a gunman stormed a Walmart and killed 22 people.”
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### Author:  [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)
#### Post date: [September 1, 2019, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-state-lawmaker-calls-for-praying-for-protection-instead-of-gun-reform/839563/7 "2019-09-01T20:14:37Z")
From the link.
> [@](#):
>
> Later in the post he continues: "What can we do? YES to praying for victims. YES to praying for protection. **YES to praying that God would transform the hearts of people with evil intent."**
For an all powerful being, God has been pretty useless so far.
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### Author:  [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)
#### Post date: [September 1, 2019, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-state-lawmaker-calls-for-praying-for-protection-instead-of-gun-reform/839563/8 "2019-09-01T20:28:55Z")
“Thoughts _and_ prayers? Too much work.”
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### Author:  [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)
#### Post date: [September 1, 2019, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-state-lawmaker-calls-for-praying-for-protection-instead-of-gun-reform/839563/9 "2019-09-01T20:30:17Z")
> [@wolfpup](#):
>
> [Texas loosens firearm laws hours after the state’s latest mass shooting left 7 dead](https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/01/us/texas-new-gun-laws-trnd/index.html)
> “The laws will further loosen gun restrictions in a state that’s had four of the 10 deadliest mass shootings in modern US history, including the El Paso shooting last month, when a gunman stormed a Walmart and killed 22 people.”
Taking proactive steps to assure their place at the top of that dubious record…
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### Author:  [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Try2B_Comprehensive)
#### Post date: [September 1, 2019, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-state-lawmaker-calls-for-praying-for-protection-instead-of-gun-reform/839563/10 "2019-09-01T21:04:23Z")
Um, about that whole God transforming hearts with evil intent bit
> **[Amazon.com: The Holy Reich: Nazi Conceptions of Christianity, 1919–1945:...](https://www.amazon.com/Holy-Reich-Conceptions-Christianity-1919-1945/dp/0521603528)**
>
> Amazon.com: The Holy Reich: Nazi Conceptions of Christianity, 1919–1945: 9780521603522: Steigmann-Gall, Richard: Books
> [@](#):
>
> Analyzing the previously unexplored religious views of the Nazi elite, Richard Steigmann-Gall argues against the consensus that Nazism as a whole was either unrelated to Christianity or actively opposed to it. In contrast, Steigmann-Gall demonstrates that many in the Nazi movement believed the contours of their ideology were based on a Christian understanding of Germany’s ills and their cure. He also explores the struggle the “positive Christians” waged with the party’s paganists and demonstrates that this was not just a conflict over religion, but over the very meaning of Nazi ideology itself.
> [@](#):
>
> “The Holy Reich is a brilliant and provocative work that will recast the whole debate on Christianity and Nazism. We have come to realize that Christianity embraced Nazism more than we used to believe. Now, in a work of deep revisionist import, Richard Steigmann-Gall shows us that the embrace was more than reciprocated.”
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### Author:  [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)
#### Post date: [September 1, 2019, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-state-lawmaker-calls-for-praying-for-protection-instead-of-gun-reform/839563/11 "2019-09-01T21:06:13Z")
> [@](#):
>
> The Texas Republican wrote the “root of the problem” is “Godless, depraved hearts,” in another Facebook post.
I guess the U.S. must be far more depraved than all other First World nations combined, then.
Or maybe, regardless of the **“root”** of the problem, other countries, regardless of how godless and depraved the hearts of their citizens might be, have found effective ways of dealing with the bloody **symptoms**.
Just two more thoughts, as someone who’s known the Lord for just shy of 49 years:
First, as I see it, God has filled us with His spirit so that WE can be His presence in the world. (I’m not always good at that.) Prayer is all well and good, and I’m all for it, but if there’s stuff I can DO, then God expects me to do it.
What this guy is doing is like saying, “I’m not going to buy a pair of eyeglasses, because I’m praying for God to restore my 20-20 vision.” Or maybe closer to “I’m going to outlaw eyeglasses, contact lenses, and laser eye surgery, because everyone needs to pray to God and rely on Him to restore their vision.”
Second:
> [@](#):
>
> “‘Do something!’ is the statement we keep hearing,” he wrote. “As an elected official with a vote in Austin, let me tell you what I am NOT going to do. I am NOT going to use the evil acts of a handful of people to diminish the God-given rights of my fellow Texans. Period. None of these so-called gun-control solutions will work to stop a person with evil intent.”
> \
> Schaefer wrote he supported “discipline in the homes” and “fathers not leaving their wives and children,” while saying he opposes many proposals backed by Democratic presidential candidates – universal background checks, so-called red flag gun laws, bans on AR-15s and high-capacity magazines and a mandatory gun buyback.
So, as an alleged Christian, he believes access to AR-15s and high-capacity magazines, and freedom from background checks and the like, have a greater value in God’s eyes than the lives of the people who get shot and killed.
There’s your **real** taking God’s name in vain AFAIAC - invoking God in defense of evil.
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### Author:  [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)
#### Post date: [September 1, 2019, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-state-lawmaker-calls-for-praying-for-protection-instead-of-gun-reform/839563/12 "2019-09-01T21:06:33Z")
Where does the Bible give people the right to own military weapons? Chapter and verse, please.
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### Author:  [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)
#### Post date: [September 1, 2019, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-state-lawmaker-calls-for-praying-for-protection-instead-of-gun-reform/839563/13 "2019-09-01T21:15:15Z")
> [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](#):
>
> Where does the Bible give people the right to own military weapons? Chapter and verse, please.
I believe it’s in the Book of Armaments.
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### Author:  [@Trancephalic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trancephalic)
#### Post date: [September 1, 2019, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-state-lawmaker-calls-for-praying-for-protection-instead-of-gun-reform/839563/14 "2019-09-01T21:23:31Z")
Are we characters in a satire?
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### Author:  [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)
#### Post date: [September 1, 2019, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-state-lawmaker-calls-for-praying-for-protection-instead-of-gun-reform/839563/15 "2019-09-01T21:25:54Z")
> [@Ike\_Witt](#):
>
> Taking proactive steps to assure their place at the top of that dubious record…
It makes sense, though – when you finally get every last man, woman, and child of 30 million Texans running around armed to the teeth with automatic weapons – plus probably a good percentage of their dogs, too – only good things can happen. Might even be possible to ease off on the prayin’ a bit, what with all those “good guys with guns” shootin’ up the place and keepin’ the peace.
I don’t know whether it was the columnist and famous Texas native Molly Ivins or Dave Barry who said about Texans, “it must be something in the water”. Actually it was probably a whole lot of people who said that over the years.
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### Author:  [@Locrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Locrian)
#### Post date: [September 1, 2019, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-state-lawmaker-calls-for-praying-for-protection-instead-of-gun-reform/839563/16 "2019-09-01T21:27:04Z")
> [@Smapti](#):
>
> I believe it’s in the Book of Armaments.
Somewhere towards the back…
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### Author:  [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)
#### Post date: [September 1, 2019, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-state-lawmaker-calls-for-praying-for-protection-instead-of-gun-reform/839563/17 "2019-09-01T22:12:22Z")
There are thoughts and there are prayers. But they don’t come from the same people.
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### Author:  [@Trafalgar\_Laura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trafalgar_Laura)
#### Post date: [September 1, 2019, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-state-lawmaker-calls-for-praying-for-protection-instead-of-gun-reform/839563/18 "2019-09-01T22:15:16Z")
Can I pray for better gun control?
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### Author:  [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)
#### Post date: [September 1, 2019, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-state-lawmaker-calls-for-praying-for-protection-instead-of-gun-reform/839563/19 "2019-09-01T22:56:43Z")
> [@Smapti](#):
>
> I believe it’s in the Book of Armaments.
Chapter 2, Verses 9-21
“‘And Saint Attila raised the hand grenade up on high, saying, "O Lord, bless this Thy hand grenade that with it Thou mayest blow Thine enemies to tiny bits, in Thy mercy.’ And the Lord did grin, and people did feast upon the lambs, and sloths, and carp, and anchovies, and orangutans, and breakfast cereals, and fruit bats, and large --”
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### Author:  [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)
#### Post date: [September 1, 2019, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-state-lawmaker-calls-for-praying-for-protection-instead-of-gun-reform/839563/20 "2019-09-01T22:58:22Z")
Zardoz your God gave you the gift of the gun! The gun is good! The penis is evil!
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