It really shouldn’t surprise anyone that some Democrats are openly mocking the idea of praying for the victims of the shooting in Sutherland Springs, Texas. I would bet the ones who aren’t doing it openly are doing it behind closed doors. These are people who booed God at their national convention not too long ago.

I am a little surprised that Democrats would choose this particular shooting as their last straw with regard to tolerating Americans’ religious beliefs and the offering of prayers. The victims were engaged in prayer when the atheist murderer started shooting them in the back, so being dismissive of prayer is pretty insensitive, to say the least. But this story shouldn’t be about Democrats’ antipathy toward God and (non-Muslim) religion. It may make for entertaining split screen arguments on television, but it isn’t news.

The news is that pushback on “thoughts and prayers” has been stepped up after the Sutherland Shooting based on the premise that prayer doesn’t work and government is the answer. The facts in Sutherland say otherwise, at least in terms of the latter part of that premise.

They were praying when it happened. They don't need our prayers. They need us to address gun violence crisis & pass sensible regulation. . https://t.co/4VetVeYBzB

— Rep. Pramila Jayapal (@RepJayapal) November 6, 2017

Dear Pres. Trump + V. P. Pence, If prayers were the answer 2 gun violence wouldn’t people at a church service be safe? Please make gun laws.

— Paula Poundstone (@paulapoundstone) November 6, 2017

Perhaps the worst offender has been the Washington Post’s pet pseudo-conservative, Jennifer Rubin.

Imagine how Ryan would react if Ds offered “thoughts and prayers” for unborn, and then voted vs every abortion reghttps://t.co/mehqglijNl

— Jennifer Rubin (@JRubinBlogger) November 7, 2017

“thoughts and prayers” are supposed to show the pious empathy by those who need hall pass from the NRA before acting https://t.co/mehqgl0IoL

— Jennifer Rubin (@JRubinBlogger) November 7, 2017

My intent here isn’t to defend prayer. It is to point out the complete separation from reality Democrats (Jennifer Rubin included) are suffering that allows them to use Sutherland as the battlefield for a fight over the effectiveness of their government solution. I can’t say whether anyone’s prayers affected the events on November 5 at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland.

I can however confidently say that the legislative actions like those the Democrats demand did absolutely nothing to protect anyone. That’s because the laws and regulations that should have stopped Devin Kelley from obtaining a gun were already in place.

Unlike Stephen Paddock, the mass murderer who struck Las Vegas, Devin Kelley had a laundry list of reasons why he should never have passed a background check including domestic violence and a bad conduct discharge from the Air Force after serving 12 months in military prison. He even ESCAPED FROM A MENTAL INSTITUTION in 2012. Paddock showed that preventing evil is next to impossible. Kelley showed that relying on the government to protect you is foolish.

The left bemoans peoples’ faith in God and prayer while vehemently proclaiming that our faith in government should be absolute at precisely the same time when their answer has been proven totally ineffective. The government that the left portrays as the solution to every problem was through sheer incompetence Devin Kelley’s accomplice in each and every murder he committed on November 5.  Meanwhile, Democrats with not even a twinge of shame blame Republicans, the NRA, and prayer. The government even failed to stop the murderer after the fact because it was an NRA instructor who took him down with a gun and kept the killing spree from being much worse.

If we had a real news media with curious and intelligent reporters who were interested in truth instead of a partisan agenda, the Democrats’ temper tantrum over “thoughts and prayers” would be a colossal political embarrassment. Instead, we have a narrative that blames the only people who acted appropriately to stop the violence. The focus of the story should be that the left’s only proposals are to make it harder for the hero to be armed.

If you are a praying person, please pray that Democrats (and Jennifer Rubin) learn to be less stupid about this and other issues. That can only happen if there are consequences to their stupidity, so also pray that the media begins to do its job. And please keep in your thoughts and prayers the countless victims of leftist policies and media deception.