In Defense of 'Thoughts and Prayers'

My debut piece at Crisis Magazine, in response to the angry dismissals of people who claim sending “thoughts and prayers” in the wake of a tragedy is useless.

The country was horrified on Monday by another mass shooting, this time at a Christian grade school in Nashville, Tennessee where three nine-year-olds were among the six innocent victims.

As with all such tragedies, the all-too-familiar chorus of “thoughts and prayers” sent to the survivors subsequently swelled across social media and in official stateme…