This reads like someone finally transcribed the GOP group chat and just slapped a “Dear Lord” at the top.
It’s the same prayer every cycle: Please God, let the shooter be literally anyone else so we don’t have to look in the mirror. And when He doesn’t answer? They grab the hymnal of excuses: lone wolf, mental illness, too much Fortnite.
Meanwhile, the rest of us are stuck living inside their “thoughts and prayers” reality show, where the only thing that changes after a massacre is the font on the campaign merch.
Bravo, Dr. Patton! I believe some version of this prayer actually does go through the minds of the conservative white christian collective with each mass shooting.
As a white liberal woman, my own prayer is much shorter. Please don't let the shooter be Black/brown/LGBTQ, please don't let the shooter be a white lib. Amen.
99/100 my prayer is answered favoritively.
I'm a fan of your work, thank you. Please stay safe.
How I wish for a Congress that would sit down and work together for mental health funds and common sense laws and studies on the how's and why's and how to stop. It's soul crushing to live in a Groundhog Day world where the same words and inaction follow every school shooting or church shooting or wherever they've murdered and maimed innocent people that day.
Until then I say my short, silent prayer to the universe, in hope that it was "their side" so that they don't get to think they have justification to come for vengeance. 😔
Another excellent essay. See, this is why they are so troubled by you. You write as if someone in their club is sharing secrets with you. They hate being so transparent, basic, decipherable. Except the governor of Utah.
So true!!! Keep it up 👍🏾 I keep sharing. You’re keeping this soon to be 75 year old black professor in the game! THANK YOU FOR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER!
This reads like someone finally transcribed the GOP group chat and just slapped a “Dear Lord” at the top.
It’s the same prayer every cycle: Please God, let the shooter be literally anyone else so we don’t have to look in the mirror. And when He doesn’t answer? They grab the hymnal of excuses: lone wolf, mental illness, too much Fortnite.
Meanwhile, the rest of us are stuck living inside their “thoughts and prayers” reality show, where the only thing that changes after a massacre is the font on the campaign merch.
Bravo, Dr. Patton! I believe some version of this prayer actually does go through the minds of the conservative white christian collective with each mass shooting.
As a white liberal woman, my own prayer is much shorter. Please don't let the shooter be Black/brown/LGBTQ, please don't let the shooter be a white lib. Amen.
99/100 my prayer is answered favoritively.
I'm a fan of your work, thank you. Please stay safe.
https://cloakinginequity.com/2025/09/12/missing-the-pattern-what-trump-and-kirks-shooters-tell-us/
How I wish for a Congress that would sit down and work together for mental health funds and common sense laws and studies on the how's and why's and how to stop. It's soul crushing to live in a Groundhog Day world where the same words and inaction follow every school shooting or church shooting or wherever they've murdered and maimed innocent people that day.
Until then I say my short, silent prayer to the universe, in hope that it was "their side" so that they don't get to think they have justification to come for vengeance. 😔
In Jesus name we spin...
Brilliant
"In Jesus’s name, we spin.
Amen."
This is brilliantly satire, yet at the same time their sick reality. It will never make sense.
Well conceived, brilliantly written, and goes to the core! Wonderful!
Can you imagine if Wes Moore had publicly stated he hopes the shooter is a white cis male from a conservative, gun-loving family?
Another excellent essay. See, this is why they are so troubled by you. You write as if someone in their club is sharing secrets with you. They hate being so transparent, basic, decipherable. Except the governor of Utah.
Spot on. The hypocrisy is astounding.
Keep your foot on their necks, Dr. Patton.
So true!!! Keep it up 👍🏾 I keep sharing. You’re keeping this soon to be 75 year old black professor in the game! THANK YOU FOR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER!
Absolute truth! (Please stay safe).
This is hilarious 😂 but so on point!
Excellent expose of hypocrisy.
Blazing satire, yes!
🎯🎯🎯🎯🎯