Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Catholic
Religion News
Another Mass Shooting in a Nation Without Hope

Another Mass Shooting in a Nation Without Hope

Last updated on: August 28, 2025 at 8:46 am by Mary Pezzulo

0 Comments

Another Mass Shooting in a Nation Without Hope 2025-08-28T08:46:07-04:00 Mary Pezzulo

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

a gun in a holster, on top of the American flag. Mass shootings have become an American tradition.

The U.S. is a nation where no child will be safe at any kind of school. | Image via Pixabay

A nation that kills its own children is a nation without hope.

A nation that says that soothing the paranoia of grown-ups is more important than safeguarding the lives of children is a nation without hope.

A nation that says that fattening the bottom lines of stockholders is more important than saving the lives of children is a nation without hope.

A nation that says pacifying gun lobbyists is more important than protecting children is a nation with no hope at all.

A nation that has decreed that cowards are allowed to own as many guns as they’d like, no matter what, because a two-hundred-year-old document which has been amended many times says they can, is a nation where nobody is safe.

It is a nation where no child will be safe at any kind of school. It is a nation where little children will be shot through the church windows as they attend daily Mass at the Catholic parochial school. It is a nation where children studying at study hall will be slaughtered at their Protestant private school. It is a nation where a teenager eating lunch on the grass will be shot in the head and chest before she can look up at public school. Where a gunman will chain the doors shut and murder thirty students in their classrooms at college. Where a boy suffering from psychosis can get a gun as an early Christmas present, and use it to shoot up his school before Christmas break, even though that school has been drilling to prevent a school shooting for years.

A nation that has ruled that paranoid men can stock up on guns and ammunition for a revolution that never happens, is a nation where we can’t celebrate holidays, because a first grade class will be slaughtered just before Christmas and they’ll never get to open their presents. Because an expelled student can murder nineteen schoolmates on Valentine’s Day and they’ll never get to find love. Because a conspiracy theorist can gun down families at an Independence Day parade, and they’ll never get to see the fireworks.

A nation that has decided that the right to a gun is more important than a right to life, is a nation where white supremacists will always terrorize their neighbors of a different race. Because it’s a nation where a racist wanting to target his Latin American neighbors can kill twenty-three shoppers at a Walmart. Where another racist making a Twitch stream can gun down ten Black people at another grocery store. Where a third racist can murder nine Black people going to church on Sunday. Where yet another racist can gun down his Jewish neighbors as they celebrate Shabbat.

If our nation has decided that people have a right to as many guns as they like, then nobody has a right to anything else.

In a country this saturated with firearms, we have no right to life, because our lives can be taken from us at any moment. If we have no right to life, we have no right to liberty or the pursuit of happiness, because we can’t have those without a life.

If you can be shot outside a polling place, you don’t have a right to vote, because a dead person can’t vote.

If you can be shot at a wedding, then you don’t have a right to marry, because a dead person can’t marry.

If you can be shot by a police officer making a mistake, then you don’t have a right to due process, because a dead person can’t file a writ of habeas corpus.

If you can be shot at a protest, then you don’t have a right to free speech.

If you can be shot while pregnant, then you don’t have reproductive rights.

If you can be shot at school, you don’t have a right to an education.

If you can be shot at church, you don’t have freedom of religion.

If you can be shot at home, your home is not your castle.

If you are constantly in danger of being shot, then you can’t have anything else.

A nation where no one can have anything, is a nation without hope.

That is who we choose to be.

That’s why there was another mass shooting today. That’s why there’ll be another before long.

Because we choose to be a nation without hope.

Mary Pezzulo is the author of Meditations on the Way of the Cross, The Sorrows an d Joys of Mary,
and Stumbling into Grace: How We Meet God in Tiny Works of Mercy.

Steel Magnificat operates almost entirely on tips. To tip the author, donate to “The Little Portion” on paypal or Mary Pezzulo on venmo

Religion News

History and Religion

American Christianity

Previous Post

August 24, 2025

On MAGA, Cruelty, and Kilmar Abrego Garcia's Disabled Son

Next Post

August 30, 2025 Never An Ordinary Life

Recent Comments

0 | Leave a Comment

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category abortion Abuse Advent America American Christianity angel angels Annunciation Appalachia apparition apparition chaser apparition chasers apparition culture art art review babies baby baby Jesus Bad Lip Reading bad statue contest bath beauty Bible story blog blogkeeping blood book review Brandon Sanderson breastfeeding bus Catholic catholic conspiracy alarmism Catholic Oppositional Disorder Charismatic Renewal Charlie the Cat chastity Christ Christian idenitity Christianity and Judaism Chronic Illness clean clothing COD piece comedy compassion conscience conspiracy theory conversion cop-on-black violence Crucifixion cry of the poor culture Daesh Daily Saints death death penalty devotional diaconate diaper diapers dirty disability Donald Trump Dorothy Day dream drugs Eastern Catholicism Eastern Christianity education election election update Elsewhere on Patheos empathy environment Fear feminism film review fish flashback fluffy buns food Franciscan University of Steubenville Friendship Room fun Gabriel gardening gospel hair-splitting Heaven hell heresy Hillary Clinton history Holly the Witch Holy Spirit holy war Homeschooling homosexuality horror human dignity humor Icon idol immigrants infection inter-religious dialogue Interpretation of Scripture Islam Jesus Jihad Joseph joy laity and lay vocations lamb dinner laundry lent lgbtq literature love manners Mary Medicine and Science Meditation mercy mess milk misogyny Missouri monasticism monster motherhood mourn with those mourn movies movis music mystery nature neurodiversity New Pro-Life Movement news nonsense nostalgia O antiphons obituary objectification Ohio Valley Ordinary Time ordination Ordo Amoris parable paradox Passover peanut butter personal beliefs pets philosophy Planet Charismatic poetry politics polls poop Pope Francis Pope Leo power in the Church prayer prayer request prayers preferential option for non-violence president presidential election priest primary private revelation pro-life prophecy Public face of Catholicism Pure Flix Q and A race racism random rape rape. sexuality reader's request Reckoners refugee religious trauma ressurrection Right to life Saints saints and celebrations same-sex same-sex marriage satire scandal secular feasts seder Seven Joys Seven Last Words sex sexual ethics sexuality silencing six months skid row slavery social justice Speculative fiction spiritual abuse spoon stain story suffering suffrage suffragette Sunday Gospel temple Tenebrae Responsories Terror the exorcist The Friendship Room The New Pro-Life Movement Things I Learned on the Internet tin cup traffic true story tv review Uncategorized USCCB vice and temptation violence Virtue virtue and vice war Way of the Cross whimsy whole life women's ordination work of mercy Year A

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

According to James, what is pure and undefiled religion?

Select your answer to see how you score.

To care for orphans and widows in their distress and keep oneself from being polluted by the world To pray without ceasing To obey all the commandments To love your neighbor as yourself