Religion

Liz Wolfe | 8.28.2025 9:30 AM

The "thoughts and prayers" breaking point: Yesterday morning, as schoolchildren in Minneapolis were attending Mass to usher in the new school year, a gunman shot through the stained glass windows, killing 2 (an 8-year-old and a 10-year-old) and injuring 17—mostly children.

The shooter was 23-year-old Robin Westman, a transgender former student at the school who filed for a name change in 2017 (from "Robert" to "Robin"). Westman's mother had been a longtime employee at the school before her retirement back in 2021, and Westman appears to have been very familiar with the Annunciation Catholic Church, which serves pre-K through eighth grade, drawing the church layout from memory in preparation for the shooting.

"You cannot put into words the gravity, tragedy or absolute pain of the situation," said Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, an advocate for stricter gun laws, in the immediate aftermath. "Don't just say this is about thoughts and prayers right now. These kids were literally praying."

Striking a similar note, former President Joe Biden flack Jen Psaki took to X to proclaim that "Prayer is not freaking enough. Prayers does not end school shootings. Prayers do not make parents feel safe sending their kids to school. Prayer does not bring these kids back. Enough with the thoughts and prayers."

"These children were probably praying when they were shot to death at catholic school," wrote Rep. Maxwell Frost (D–Fla.) on X. "Don't give us your fucking thoughts and prayers." Well then.

But prayer is not fake to roughly half the population. It's not just a nice thing you're obligated to say in the wake of a tragedy. The devoutly religious portion of the country—somewhere between 32 and 45........

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