“Thoughts and prayers are useless to dead children"

Nashville police: School shooter planned attack for months

AP
By TRAVIS LOLLER, JONATHAN MATTISE and KIMBERLEE KRUESI
April 3, 2023

The crowd outside the Capitol echoed chants such as “thoughts and prayers are not enough” and sang along to songs like “All You Need is Love” – adding to it, “and action!” At one point, they sat for a moment of silence, raising posters above their heads that read, “Thoughts and prayers are useless to dead children,” “Book bags not body bags,” and “2nd graders over 2nd amendment.” Some students wore orange shooting-target stickers on their shirts.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — As students across Nashville walked out of class on Monday to protest gun violence at the Tennessee Capitol following a school shooting last week, police said the person who killed six people, including three 9-year-old children, had been planning the massacre for months.

Police have not established a motive for the shootings at The Covenant School, a small Christian elementary school where the 28-year-old shooter was once a student, according to a Monday news release from the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department. Both Nashville police and FBI agents continue to review writings left behind by Audrey Hale, both in Hale’s vehicle and home, police said.

“It is known that Hale considered the actions of other mass murderers,” police said.

The three children who were killed in the shooting were Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs and William Kinney. The three adults were Katherine Koonce, 60, the head of the school, custodian Mike Hill, 61, and 61-year-old substitute teacher Cynthia Peak.
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When will it ever be enough? When will people understand that doing nothing to prevent children from being killed in school is part of the cause?

We are raising multi-generational survivors of mass murderers who were given the guns to do it. There is absolutely nothing any politician can say, no one else to blame, no other finger to point toward anyone else but themselves. Tennessee just made it easier for them to get more guns!

Thoughts and prayers change nothing when they are not followed by action. The next time you hear one of the lawmakers say thoughts and prayers, try chanting that our thoughts will be known with our votes and we pray you never hold office again! When all those kids walked out of classes to stand up for themselves, they showed more courage than the cowards too afraid of the NRA to take a stand for the sake of the children they claim to care so much about. Remember these are the same freaks screaming about books to fear, drag shows to be horrified by, births they want to force, and words they don't want to hear. Parents have words they don't want to hear too. Like their child will not need to worry about their grades anymore because they didn't make it home from school alive!

GOP Rep. Burchett said, "You can't legislate evil," with serious face?

Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
March 29, 2023

Tennessee congressman says Washington is ‘not going to fix’ school shootings NBC News 

A politician said, "You can't legislate evil." Apparently, he does not understand that is exactly what people are elected to do. If it was not their job, then they wouldn't have a job.

"As per the Constitution, the U.S. House of Representatives makes and passes federal laws. The House is one of Congress’s two chambers (the other is the U.S. Senate), and part of the federal government’s legislative branch. The number of voting representatives in the House is fixed by law at no more than 435, proportionally representing the population of the 50 states."

The fact that there are courts to hold people accountable under the laws they have legislated and punishment under the laws they legislated, seems to have evaporated when they are asked to do something to stop schools from being turned into slaughterhouses. Parents shouldn't have to worry about their kids coming home alive at the end of their classes. Their classes shouldn't have to include active shooter training because legislators refuse to do a damn thing to protect children!

They want to claim that evil people do the shootings. That mentally ill people are the ones using the weapons created to slaughter as many as they can as fast as they can. Why is no one asking them why they feel the need to legislate the ability of the evil and mentally ill to get more guns then? Why would it make sense to them to arm those they point their fingers at?

There would be no prisons if they couldn't legislate evil. There would be no need for law enforcement if the legislators did not legislate and fund them. There would be no lawyers holding the accused people accountable and defending those charged with the crimes that were legislated.

These same people claim to be religious, however, their actions cause them to fail the bite test.

Unraveling the Forbidden Fruit Apple Motif In the next chapter of Genesis in the Old Testament, this stanza describes the temptation of Adam and Eve: "When the woman saw that the tree was good for eating and a delight to the eyes and that the tree was desirable as a source of wisdom, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave some to her husband, and he ate.” These two sentences have been used since they were first written down as a metaphorical reference to any indulgence or pleasure that the dogmas of religion deem illegal or immoral. The Hebrew word used for fruit here is “peri,” a generic term referring to the fruit hanging from the Tree of Knowledge. And they are still heavily referenced today in conversations, novels, and films. Modern scholars and historians believe that a bastardization and possible misinterpretation of Latin might answer the question, “Why the Apple?” The Latin word mălum signifies “ evil,” while the Latin word mālum, from the Greek μῆλον, means “apple.”

Watch the video for yourself and hear what Rep. Burchett said about not being able to legislate guns. He said, "You can't legislate evil." They seem to act that way when it comes to guns but not when it comes to everything else, like the personal freedom of parents to raise their kids as they see fit. The personal freedom to decide the moral code they want to live by. They seek to legislate every day on what matters to them, what will give them the most support/donations from their supporters, but not when it comes to doing anything for the sake of what this country was supposed to stand for.

We hear them say the empty words "thoughts and prayers"

Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
March 28, 2023

Yesterday another school shooting and yet again, politicians offered empty thoughts and prayers. 

Thoughts and prayers without action are as worthless as thinking and praying you'll win the lottery but never buy a ticket!

That's all they did. What is more appalling is that they are the ones passing laws to remove all restrictions. We need to ask ourselves what it will take for them to actually care enough to save the kids. Will it take it happening to one of their children or grandchildren before they decide to value their lives enough to do something?

This is a poll from The Hill taken in February.

Among political party lines, 54 percent of Republican or Republican-leaning Independent respondents said they are satisfied with the nation’s laws and policies on handguns, while 44 percent of those surveyed expressed their dissatisfaction with current law.

On the other side, 84 percent of Democrats and Democratic-leaning Independents expressed their dissatisfaction with the nation’s laws and policies, while 14 percent of those surveyed said they are satisfied with the nation’s current policies.

Around 60 percent of Independent respondents express their dissatisfaction with the nation’s laws and firearm policies, while 36 percent of those surveyed said they are satisfied.

As you just read the majority of people in this country want the laws changed, but Republicans, on the other hand, are satisfied. Seriously? Satisfied with what? Of the results?

Over and over again, we hear them say the empty words "thoughts and prayers" from Republicans but have no desire to do something about proving they care. Why should they when the majority of their party is happy with the results?

Aren't they the same people screaming about moral values? Moral values when it comes to wanting to control what you do in your own private life? Moral values when they want to control what your kids read in schools and in the local library but not the number of bullets that can be shot into their bodies while in those schools? Moral values when they want to prevent your right to free speech when you say things they don't want to hear? Moral values when they want to control what you believe because you don't have the same "faith" they do? Moral values when they want to control who gets to be able to vote and if that vote gets counted should it go against them?

These same politicians seem to have no problem blaming mental illness to explain why mass murders happen but never seem to be able to explain why on earth would they want to expand their ability to purchase weapons created to kill as many as possible as fast as possible. Not that that is an acceptable excuse since mental illness is a human illness and is across the globe but we are the only country that allows our kids to be slaughtered to the point where parents cry dropping them off at school because they don't know if their kid will go home again.

So what do we do? Do we turn our thoughts and prayers into action? Do we flood their offices, emails, and social media accounts with demands they do something about this or do we just toss our hands in the air and say it isn't time to talk about it? Guess they're too busy offering thoughts and prayers while loading their own guns!

The Daily Mail covered this guy's Christmas card and added what he said about the Covenant School shooting. Stunning!

The Covenant School was already full of thoughts and prayers since it is a private Christian School.

This is from NPR

Mayor John Cooper said Nashville was joining the "dreaded, long list" of cities and towns that have suffered school shootings.

"My heart goes out to the families of the victims," Cooper said. "Our entire city stands with you."

Tennessee state Rep. Bob Freeman, whose district includes the school, said it was "an unimaginable tragedy for the victims, all the children, families, teachers, staff and my entire community. I live around the corner from Covenant and pass by it often. I have friends who attend both church and school there. I have also visited the church in the past. It tears my heart apart to see this," WPLN reported.

State Sen. Jeff Yarbro, who represents Nashville, said on Twitter: "My heart breaks for the families at Covenant. As a parent, I both ache for them and rage with them that fear of this kind of tragedy is just accepted as just part of what it means to raise kids these days."

Tennessee more afraid of books than bullets in schools?

Feel free to use this!

Consider this!

Pulitzer Prize-winning novel banned:'Maus' sales soar after book is banned by Tennessee school board

On April 28, the Tennessee House and Senate passed legislation that gives Tennessee control over what books are offered in schools. This gives school boards the power to veto and alter curriculum decisions.

That was from USA Today about when libraries were fighting back against the school board banning books they didn't like.

Think about how much time they took to review the books they didn't want anyone else to read. Now think about how much time they didn't use to protect kids in schools from being shot to death!

It happened again today in Nashville Tennessee. This time it was an elementary school. Not just a school for little kids, but a private Christian school. The same people use their "moral values" to attack personal choices and then say the problem in schools today is God was kicked out of public schools can no longer use that as something to hide behind.

The fact that we are supposed to be free from any politician pushing their own faith over everyone else has no longer dawned on them they not only have no right to control the faith of anyone else, but God also gave all of us the free will to decide for ourselves.

When they are so afraid of words in books but not bullets in guns, they have no moral values!

Now consider this, Gun bill that allows for long gun carrying, lowers permit age to 18 passes House committee was reported on March 16, 2023 by WKRN News!

This week House Bill 1005 by Rep. Rusty Grills (R—Newbern) would allow Tennesseans with an enhanced or a concealed carry permit to carry long guns, including AR-15 rifles or shotguns. Currently, state law prohibits people with those permits from carrying anything more than handguns. The proposed bill would replace all instances of “handguns” in the code to “firearms.”

6 killed in Nashville Christian grade school shooting; police believe suspect was former student

WCBV
NASHVILLE, Tenn. —
A female shooter wielding two “assault-style” rifles and a pistol killed three students and three adults at a private Christian school in Nashville on Monday in the latest in a series of mass shootings in a country growing increasingly unnerved by bloodshed in schools.

Police said they believe the 28-year-old female shooter was a former student at The Covenant School, a Presbyterian school founded in 2001. Police shot and killed her. Investigators were searching her Nashville-area home.

The attack at The Covenant School — which has about 200 students from preschool through sixth grade, as well as roughly 50 staff members — comes as communities around the nation are reeling from a spate of school violence, including the massacre at elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, last year; a first grader who shot his teacher in Virginia; and a shooting last week in Denver that wounded two administrators.
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Don't repeat the "court of oyer and terminer"

Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
March 27, 2023

My head exploded when I saw images of a rally for Trump with signs behind him in red with the words "Witch Hunt." The Witchcraft Trials were the foundation for the laws this nation has had since we became free of such nonsense committed by people claiming religious superiority whilst lying and making false accusations. 

No one is above the law and the law requires evidence. Evidence is gathered and consideration is given to the evidence, not the power or the position of those who are being investigated. With enough evidence given, the person is charged proportionately and appropriately to charges the investigation discovers were committed. Evidence is presented to a jury by the defense as well as the prosecution. Witnesses are called, and questioned by both sides and a jury decides guilt or innocence.

The witch hunts were about accusing people with no evidence, thereby ending their freedom and life as they knew it. If the accused confessed, they spared their lives but were held in jail. They confessed to end the tortures they had to endure simply because they crossed the wrong person. If they would not confess, they were executed. 

THE DEADLY RULES OF MASSACHUSETTS’ COURT OF OYER AND TERMINER "to hear and to determine" New England Historical Society

One of Stoughton’s earliest, and most significant, decisions was to allow the admission of ‘spectral’ evidence (i.e. acts carried out by demons that only an accuser can see). With spectral evidence allowed, Stoughton’s court set about trying and executing witches with astonishing speed.

Stoughton also implemented another rule that moved things along, one that encouraged (or tortured) the accused into confessing that they practiced witchcraft. The court spared those who confessed. Those who would not confess risked death at trial.

And finally, Stoughton sent the jury back to reconsider even when it found an accused witch innocent. The jury, for example, exonerated Rebecca Nourse, Stoughton sent the jurymen back to reconsider, they convicted Nourse and she died on the gallows.

Within two weeks of the court’s establishment, it killed the first alleged witch. Stoughton’s efficiency dovetailed perfectly with the religious leaders’ fervent belief that the devil was attacking the colony. These forces combined to create a powerful killing machine, executing 20 people in just four months with more than 100 prisoners still to try.

End to the Slaughter
The slaughter might have continued had Governor Phips not returned to his senses and put a stop to the lunacy. The bloodshed had finally grown too much for the ministers of the day. They conceded that perhaps innocents were being killed.

The ministers urged Phips to act as the allegations continued to fly, including charges against Phips’ own wife.

In September 1692, Phips ended the court of oyer and terminer, stopping the trials and eventually freeing all the prisoners.

In the aftermath, Phips, as did many of those involved, apologized for his actions. Stoughton, however, never publicly admitted any wrongdoing. A life-long political operator, he continued accumulating wealth and political power until his death in 1701. He willed his estate to Harvard College.

The judges ended up being condemned throughout history however, as we know now, they were not held accountable for all the harm they did. As with the life of Stoughton, he never apologized but was rewarded with power and wealth. He even had a town named after him!

One must wonder how he was so richly rewarded for all the evil acts he committed against innocent people while claiming religious superiority. Since it is Satan himself who is the father of lies, the evidence points to him rewarding Stoughton and not God. If he ever claimed to be blessed or rewarded by god, one should wonder which God he was referring to. Was it in fact God, the same God "who loved the world so much He gave His only begotten Son" or the one so jealous of the Father-God he led a rebellion in Heaven against God?

While it seems all so acceptable for people to use what happened in Salem for their own gains, wealth, power, fame, and attention, the truth is, still the truth. 

Kathie Costos author of Ministers Of The Mystery Series. What happened in Salem is one of the reasons why it was written.