Bryan Fischer, an evangelical radio host with the American Family Association said Friday that God did not stop the tragic shootings in Connecticut because America has told Him to “get lost.”
“Where was God when all of this went down?” he asked. “Here’s the bottom line: God is not going to go where he is not wanted.”
“We’ve spent 50 years telling God to get lost. Telling God we do not want you in our schools. We do not want to pray to in our schools. We do not want to pray to you before football games. We do not want to pray to you before graduation…. We don’t want your word read in our schools,” he added.
Fischer said that God is a gentleman who will not go where He is not wanted.
“God would be glad to say to us, ‘Hey, I’d be glad to protect your children, but you’ve got to invite me back into your world first,'” he added.
He went on to reminisce about his time in school.
“Back when we had prayer — the Bible and the Ten Commandments — in schools, we didn’t need guns,” he said.
Since the deadly shootings that saw some 27 killed — including some 20 young children, a number of people have blamed the NRA and demanded immediate gun control legislation. Fischer, however, says that the solution to incidents like these is a reinvigorated First Amendment that protects prayer in schools, not restrictions on the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms.
Franklin Graham, president and CEO of Samaritan's Purse and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, says that tragedies like the Connecticut shooting leaves people searching for answers.
“The Bible tells us the human heart is 'wicked' and 'who can know it?' My heart aches for the victims, their families and the entire community,” he said.
“One thing we can be absolutely sure of is that God loves each one of the victims and all those who are suffering right now as a result of this vicious act,” he added.
Greg Laurie, evangelist and pastor of Harvest Christian Fellowship in Riverside, Calif., knows the pain of losing a child after his son, Christopher, died in 2008.
“The experts will opine on why this happened. All I can say is this was pure evil,” he wrote. “The heartlessness and wickedness of this man that did the shooting is really unimaginable.”
Laurie said that the man who committed the crime, “Will have to face God,” and encouraged others to have what he called an “eternal perspective.”
“We need to remember this life on earth is not all there is. There is an afterlife and there earthy wrongs are righted,” he wrote.
“I know God is there ready to bring His comfort to those grieving right now in Connecticut. I know He is here right now to bring comfort to all of us who are heartbroken to hear such news,” Laurie added.
Watch the video for yourself, and tell us what you think in the comments below.
Of course. How predictable. This tragedy is the non-Christian community’s fault.
With Respect, sir, I see such an encapsulation of the causes of that tragedy as congruent to whether we (the public) “fit” the behavior patterns that—to them—are clearly wrong. I will simply argue that making such an “explanations” for that tragedy is a bit simplistic and “somewhat,” avoidant. You are reducing highly complex social issues into the correct length sound-byte to distract people from your real purpose, and that is your desire deeply influence the behavior patterns in others into what you approve of. You people offer such simplistic “insights,” yet fail to acknowledge the package of social changes you would want. You know what they are, sir. An example of such disingenuousness conduct is that Senator DeMint who just resigned to devote more time “Conservative Causes,” and is at the same time the very one who argues against same-sex marriage, and anyone who is LGBT not allowed to be allowed to adopt or become teachers. Point is, that there is a whole program of social “interests,” behind the chant of “Fiscal Responsibility” and the like the “conservatives” argue. Have you wondered, sir, Wonder why you have frustrations in trying to argue into general acceptance successfully views you advocate? Try realizing that we are no longer easily fooled, we see you for what you are: Those who advocate intolerance.
And, with regard to this tragedy, will it turn out that religion was a factor in what happened? What if that occurs, sir? Who you going to blame then? Like it or not, some of us, tragically, simply go “postal.” It happens; it has happened in the past, and not just in our culture, but have you noticed in China the same type of crime recently occurred there? Why? Because they didn’t vote for Romney? I see your currently stated “explanations” as what you’ve offered as avoidant, overly simplistic, and an act of intellectual laziness. The answers to the “why” of this event will take some time to discern, but clearly, someone “lost” it. The question will be, “How did we miss this?” Moreover, in the process, we will have to look at ourselves for the answers, and then at some point, we might realize with greater clarity that it is far more difficult to gain access to mental health care in our society, than it is to buy a gun.
Go figure…
Alice
Alice, you are the fool!!! When is tolerated the intolerable a positive thing. China is a nation that has taken God out of their society, too. You promote the murder of the innocent, and promote the choices of others as if they were born that way. You and those who believe like you are the fools in our society, because no one is as smart as you, and you have all the answers because you don’t believe there is a God. So you believe everyone should do what they want, and no one is to blame for their problems. Health care was easier to obtain before liberal ideas came into the picture. They wanted to give responsibility for health care to the government instead of the charitable organizations. Who created the first hospitals, and doctors and nurses use to give care for what people could afford, but people like you want to have your cake and eat it to. With expecting the government to take care of our problems, there is little compassion to go around. When we have to take the money from our own pockets, instead of it being taken out as tax, then you realize that people are needing your help, not the governments.
I certainly don’t agree with the viewpoint of the American Family Association above, but neither can we provide a good explanation of why these horrific acts keep happening. The idea that people just “go postal sometimes” isn’t good enough to rationalize the horrific shooting and lives of 27 people.
I’m wondering if the fundamentalism of the AFA and the killers in these mass shootings really have the same cause, that is, there are some people who have a difficult time functioning in a secular society. Obviously some people become atheists and live good lives without a problem, but does that work for everybody? As our country moves towards a more secular society where religion is viewed more as an unimportant personal endeavor, how does that impact individuals? What if some people just don’t function very well that way?
This might literally be the dumbest, most arrogant, wrong headed and offensive thing I’ve ever read in my life, and that’s really saying something. This is some Westboro Baptist kind of crap.
“Here’s the bottom line: God is not going to go where he is not wanted.”
SERIOUSLY??? Remember all the places Jesus went and preached that his followers should go? Or the places Paul went, even returning after being jailed and/or run out of town? Have you ever even read the New Testament? You should check it out sometime; it’s pretty cool.
Bruce –
” Obviously some people become atheists and live good lives without a problem, but does that work for everybody?”
I think it is safe to say that *most* atheists live good lives without a problem, just as most religious people do. I don’t think a secular society is to blame. Religious societies can produce equally terrible results, if not more so (see radical Islam).
@Ryan- Radical Islam has more in common with fundamentalist Christianity than with Islam. Religious societies have produced terrible results just as science has produced terrible results, but I don’t accept your example of radical Islam as an example of a religious society.
Actually, both radical Islam and Evangelical fundamentalism demonstrate my point that some people have trouble living in a world without God. This is Karen Armstrong’s point in her book “Battle for God”. She argues that the cause of fundamentalism (both Islamic and Christian) is that many people look into the abyss of life without God (Satyr’s God-shaped vacuum) and are are so terrified that they would rather accept irrationality than cold scientific rationalism.