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AMERICA'S MASS DELUSION Scott Gilmore June 14, 2017 Is America’s national Thoughts and Prayers Strategy (TAPS) no longer working? This is a troubling possibility to consider, but it may be time to ask the question. Politicians, members of the media, and of course the public, quickly responded to the recent horrific shooting of several people during a baseball game in Alexandria, Va., including U.S. Congressman Steve Scalise, with a flurry of “thoughts & prayers”. President Donald Trump himself immediately assisted in TAPS efforts with his own tweet indicating that he too was doing his part by thinking about the victims and mentioning them in any communications he had with God. Unfortunately, there is growing evidence that TAPS may not be delivering the results we would expect from appealing to an omniscient and all-powerful deity. For example, in spite of the well-executed TAPS implementation following the Alexandria incident, there was almost immediately afterwards another tragic shooting in a San Francisco UPS facility, killing two. Cleary something is amiss. In a typical year, over 13,000 Americans will be killed by guns. To put that into perspective, that is six times more than the total number of American troops killed in Afghanistan over the last 16 years. America’s gun homicide rate is 25 times the average of other developed countries. There is now, typically, one mass shooting per day in the United States. Over the course of the year, 45 of those will be school shootings. READ: Something is broken in the United States This data is very surprising when you consider the power of beseeching God. You would think parting the Red Sea, or smiting the Egyptians with a plague of frogs, would be far more difficult than just reducing gun violence. It is worth noting, however, that most well-known examples of successful celestial intervention in earthly affairs are over two millennia old. This marked drop-off has gone largely unnoticed in American political circles and may be worth exploring in more depth. The problem, if indeed there is one, could be denominational. Are Jewish prayers as effective as Protestant prayers when it comes to preventing future shootings, or healing existing victims? For obvious reasons, we know that the prayers of a southern Baptist will have no prophylactic effects on a Muslim in New Jersey. But will they protect Catholics? These are questions we should possibly start asking. Perhaps we are not praying enough. Church attendance is down considerably in the United States. This presumably has a direct impact on both the frequency and quality of prayers. If this turns out to be the issue, the government could look at improving public transit links to places of worship, or perhaps even subsidizing sermons as a means to end gun violence. The other issue that should be considered is whether the wrong people are praying. For example, when a notoriously adulterous politician tweets out his “thoughts and prayers”, does that carry more or less weight than a nun who silently mouths the same words over her rosary? There really should be better metrics to track this. Is it possible we are saying the wrong prayers or in the wrong way? Not enough effort has been made to determine if TAPS is equally effective when tacked on to a press release as it would be as an addendum to the Lord’s Prayer. And, have you noticed that you rarely hear a politician implement TAPS in Greek (Σκέψεις και προσευχές) or even Hebrew (מחשבות ותפילות)? Could that be the reason 93 Americans are still dying every day from gun violence? There are so many factors that need to be taken into account if we want to get to the bottom of this. Kneeling or not? Eyes open or closed? Does incense make a difference? Out of respect for the hundreds of who are shot and killed every year in the U.S., we must answer these questions. The White House, perhaps in co-operation with some of America’s leading research centres like MIT or Stanford, should launch an urgent nationwide investigation into why TAPS is not working. A series of randomized control trials in various states would be easy to organize and may produce invaluable data. Likewise, the government could test the TAPS methodology against other pressing issues. Does it help fix America’s crumbling infrastructure? Can it reduce the deficit? Will it fix Obamacare? Has the Pentagon considered a robust prayer response to the North Korean missile program? With so many daily deaths, so many unnecessary tragedies, America’s leaders must do whatever is necessary to fix TAPS. If they fail at this, the United States would be forced to consider some very dire alternatives. In the United Kingdom, for example, when they decided thoughts and prayers were no longer working, they had to implement handgun laws that reduced shooting deaths by over 50 per cent. Likewise, Canada, Australia and Europe neglected TAPS and as result are forced to rely on firearm controls and background checks to keep their gun violence levels at 1/25th those in the United States. If America doesn’t address the TAPS problem soon, this might happen to them too. |
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I love the humour of this Sparkle! Every time a mass murder occurs people waste time debating where the fault lies. Anyone with half a brain could tell them where it lies. The only thing that makes one human being kill another, is hatred. That is a basic fact...one that nobody wants to face. Another fact is that guns DO kill when they are in the wrong hands. So, since none of us can read what is in another person's mind, everyone who dies not advocate gun control is aiding and abetting the murderers they outwardly condemn. They have totally ignored their responsibilities as human beings...and in that case their prayers mean nothing at all...because they do not care about anyone but themselves.
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Maybe you should consult your therapist about your tenuous grasp on reality. Confusing the use of an emoji with an actual person is a telling symptom ........You probably think the emoji movie is a depiction of actual people cavorting.......Using your "logic", what do we think your wife using the "shit-eating grin" emoji so often?...... ......Oh, and when I read your post I get down on the floor on my back and kick my feet..........
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We all noticed that Trump's Teleprompter found Jesus.......
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Trudeau was responding to an incident in another country.....he obviously doesn't rely on TAPS to prevent gun deaths in his own country...... Canada, as every other developed country except the US, use the occasional TAPS message as a social and/or diplomatic lubricant,but don't actually rely on it to solve or even ameliorate situations that cost many innocent lives every day in their own countries....... It's fascinating though, isn't it, that Donald Trump, the epitome of effete, sees himself as an Alpha male........
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I obviously don't believe there is a God. see no evidence for such a being........I don't belittle "God", I belittle an idea......I don't, for one minute, believe that faith in an invisible despot is a virtue.....This idea you call God means nothing to me.......I don't do magical thinking.......I don't believe in things for which there is no evidence. .....Anyways, I know you really want it to be true and you really believe i'm belittling "God".....but from my point of view, I'm not belittling God, because from my point of view, there is no such thing.
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Right back atcha Sport.......
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I'm very sorry for you too Debora.......living a life of delusion......basing your life on your emotional response to hearsay.
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I haven't seen any evidence that the Wrinkly Scrotum Society has any new ideas either......things are looking bleak indeed.....I blame the new -fangled light bulbs........
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You can say all the prayers and think all the thoughts you want until hell freezes over, that won't change the situation one iota. The laws have to be changed, it's as simple as that, no one should be able to possess assault weapons except the police and military.
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10/6/2017 6:29 am |
Its quite concerning to see how some react banalizing so so serious matters. Which resolves absolutely nothing. Great blog!!
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This is an article in a popular magazine.......It isn't my concoction, though I think it's right on..... Who am I to say it doesn't help?......You think I'm cruel?.......You have got to be kidding........The cruelty.....the kicking of crutches comes from those who mouth meaningless cliches instead of taking action and making actual changes.........Who are you do say that TAPS does help?.......Maybe the death count is too high for you to process.....you ran out of fingers AND toes......Whose paying for the PTSD therapy?......or do you think TAPS will help with that problem as well? The cruelty lies with those who deny the reality and refuse to work on solving the problem instead of pretending that TAPS is enough........Or maybe you think that without TAPS, the death toll would be even higher........and the shootings more frequent......so let's not change anything.
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You can say all the prayers and think all the thoughts you want until hell freezes over, that won't change the situation one iota. The laws have to be changed, it's as simple as that, no one should be able to possess assault weapons except the police and military.
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Its quite concerning to see how some react banalizing so so serious matters. Which resolves absolutely nothing. Great blog!!
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It was started in 1909 by Joshua Scrotum, the first man to sail around the World single handed.....He also talked to spiders.
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