We need more God in church or church shootings wouldn't happen: the fallacy of the "no prayer in school" argument

When the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary school occurred, it shook the nation.  Immediately afterwards, prominent "men of God" Mike Huckabee, James Dobson, and the AFA's Bryan Fischer immediately, and without regard for the families pronounced it as fact that the reason why this school shooting had occurred was because God was not allowed in school–a reference to  the myth that prayer is not allowed in schools, which many Americans believe and were echoing after the incident.

Using their logic, I have compiled a list of church shootings, and have come to the conclusion that God was not allowed in the following churches.  Stay away from them, and only go to church where no shootings have occurred because that's where God will be.  Unfortunately, there might be a problem, because shootings have happened in nearly every faith:  Catholic, Lutheran, Protestant, Amish, Greek Orthodox, Evangelical, Unitarian,Mormon,  the list goes on.  Interestingly, shootings in evangelical churches seem to take up most of the list.  Pray harder, evangelicals, because apparently God isn't in your church enough. Maybe we should legislate prayer in churches, in order to force God to be there!  Or maybe……God doesn't like you?  Hey. Just using your logic there.  Don't shoot the messenger.

There's even Scriptural back up for having guns in church.  Just like evangelicals want teachers to pack a gun.  Priests and pastors with guns!  What fun!

 Bob Unruh of World Net Daily said in 2007 that churches ought to arm themselves, so I want to see pastors packing those guns like you want teachers to pack weapons!  Bryan Fischer of the AFA says that AR15's  are just a "fancy pants hunting rifle " so if  he as a man of God approves, you better follow Scripture and make your pastor get one!   The below list is what happens when you don't follow God's advice on the subject because after all, as Unruh says:

“Self-defense is not just a right, but a Christian duty. Jesus told his followers, ‘if you don’t have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one,’” said Cass. “Christians are not to be a soft target for the hateful and deranged. Church leaders have a duty not to allow a crazed gunman to come and shoot up their congregation.

The following list is attributed to this site, with recent additions of my own:

December 26, 2012:  A “Christmas party” at a Greek Orthodox Church of St. Anthony in Philadelphia, PA. Around 1:17 a.m. on Dec. 26th, one person was shot inside, and two others were shot in the parking lot outside. (Although the party had nothing to do with the church other than it being rented out for the occasion, shouldn't God have been there?  It's a church, right?)  

December 21, 2012:  Woman decorating church at Juniata Gospel Church is killed when a man fired shots through the window. Gunman was shot by police.

October 24, 2012:  Multiple gunshots rang out in the chapel of the World Changers Church International in College Park, Georgia, around 10 a.m.  The suspected gunman was identified as Floyd Palmer, a 52-year-old former church maintenance worker who resigned from his job in August, said Fulton County Police Corporal Kay Lester.  One man leading a prayer service was killed.

Palmer was arrested in an Atlanta shopping mall, nearly six hours after the shooting, said Jeff Foley, a spokesman for the U.S. Marshals Service.

February 14, 2010 – Richmond, California -Three hooded men walk into Gethsemane Church of God in Christ and opened fire and then fled the scene, as the singing of the choir was replaced by frightened screams. The two victims, a 14-year-old boy and a 19-year-old man, were hospitalized.

March 8, 2009 – Maryville, Illinois -Suspect Terry Joe Sedlacek, 27, of Troy, walks into the First Baptist Church, and shoots pastor Fred Winters dead, point blank. Several church members are injured by a knife in the struggle to capture after the attack, The suspect also had stabbed himself, but survived, when his gun jams.

July 27, 2008 – Knoxville, Tennessee – A gunman opens fire in a church during a youth performance, killing two people and injuring seven.

Dec. 9, 2007 – Colorado – Three people are killed and five wounded in two shooting rampages, one at a missionary school in suburban Denver and one at a church in Colorado Springs. The gunman in the second incident is killed by a guard.

May 20, 2007 – Moscow, Idaho – A standoff between police and a suspect in the shootings of three people in a Presbyterian Church ended with three dead, including one police officer.

Aug. 12, 2007 – Neosho, Missouri -First Congregational Church – 3 killed – Eiken Elam Saimon shot and killed the pastor and two deacons and wounded five others.

October 2, 2006–Nickel Mines, PA–Amish school. (I've put this one in here because Amish schools are religious schools run by church district).  Non-Amish gunman Charles Roberts IV took hostages and shot ten girls, ages 6-13, before turning the gun on himself. Two girls had died at the school house, one was pronounced dead on arrival at Lancaster General Hospital, and two sisters survived until the early hours of October 3 when they were taken off of life support.

May 21, 2006 – Baton Rouge, Louisiana – The Ministry of Jesus Christ Church – 4 killed – The four at the church who were shot were members of Erica Bell's family; she was abducted and murdered elsewhere; Bell's mother, church pastor Claudia Brown, was seriously wounded – Anthony Bell, 25, was the shooter.

Feb. 26, 2006 – Detroit, Michigan -Zion Hope Missionary Baptist Church – 2 killed + shooter – Kevin L. Collins, who reportedly went to the church looking for his girlfriend, later killed himself.

April 9, 2005 – College Park, Georgia -A 27-year-old airman died after being shot at a church, where he had once worked as a security guard.

March 12, 2005 – Brookfield, Wisconsin -Living Church of God – 7 killed + shooter – Terry Ratzmann opened fire on the congregation, killing seven and wounding four before taking his own life.

July 30, 2005 – College Park, Georgia – World Changers Church International – shooter killed – Air Force Staff Sgt. John Givens was shot five times by a police officer after charging the officer, following violent behavior.

Dec. 17, 2004, Garden Grove, Calif.: A veteran musician at the Crystal Cathedral shoots himself to death after a nine -hour standoff.

Oct. 5, 2003 – Atlanta, Georgia -Turner Monumental AME Church – 2 killed + shooter – Shelia Wilson walked into the church while preparations are being made for service and shot the pastor, her mother and then herself. June 10, 2002 – Conception, Missouri -Benedictine monastery – 2 killed + shooter – Lloyd Robert Jeffress shot four monks in the monastery killing two and wounding two, before killing himself.

March 12, 2002 – Lynbrook, New York – Our Lady of Peace Catholic Church – 2 killed – Peter Troy, a former mental patient, opens fire during Mass, killing the priest and a parishioner. He later receives a life sentence.

May 18, 2001 – Hopkinsville, Kentucky -Greater Oak Missionary Baptist Church – 2 killed – Frederick Radford stood up in the middle of a revival service and began shooting at his estranged wife, Nicole Radford, killing her and a woman trying to help her.

Sept. 15, 1999 – Fort Worth, Texas -Wedgewood Baptist Church – 7 killed + shooter – Larry Gene Ashbrook shot dead seven people and injured a further seven at a concert by Christian rock group Forty Days in Fort Worth, Texas before killing himself.

April 15, 1999 – Salt Lake City, Utah -LDS Church Family History Library -2 killed + shooter – Sergei Babarin, 70, with a history of mental illness, entered the library, killed two people and wounded four others before he was gunned down by police.

OK….discuss this among you.   Obey God, pray every day, read your Bible,  and you won't get shot up in church.  Right?

Dakota O'Leary

Dakota O'Leary is a freethinker, and often sassy, scholar of theology and literature. She got her Bachelor of Arts degree in English and Theology from the State University of New York College at Buffalo, and her Master of Arts degree in Theology and Literature from Antioch University-Midwest. She is a contributing writer focusing on eschatology, biblical prophecy, and general religious news. Dakota is a co-host of the God Discussion radio show, offering insight to the news stories of the week. We like to call her "our in-house Biblical prophecy expert" as her articles on eschatology have received over 200,000 views on God Discussion.

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