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Stephen Colbert Preaches Why Thoughts and Prayers Matter

  • Carrie Dedrick Religious persecution, missions, Christianity around the world
  • Updated Dec 09, 2015

Stephen Colbert weighed in on the current prayer controversy during Monday night’s Late Show.

Colbert said, “I do want to take a second… to offer my thoughts and prayers to the people of Colorado Springs and San Bernardino in the wake of these tragic terrorist attacks.” 

He continued, “These days even thoughts and prayers have become controversial.” 

The talk show host then brought out a copy of The New York Daily News, blazing the headline, “God Isn’t Fixing This.” 

The headline story criticized politicians who offer their “thoughts and prayers” after tragedy strikes, claiming these “meaningless platitudes” aren’t enough. 

But Colbert defended the offering of thoughts and prayers, explaining, “The reason you keep people in your thoughts and prayers is admittedly not to fix the problem, but to find some small way to share the burden of grief.” 

According to Colbert, thoughts and prayers in the face of tragedy is a start, but more should be done to prevent similar events in the future. Relevant magazine reports he said this could be done one of two ways: through gun control or by gun training. 

In defense of gun control, he said, “Why is it so easy to buy bullets when I have to show three forms of ID to buy Sudafed?” 

On the other hand, Colbert suggested advanced training for gun owners. 

“Maybe everyone should have a gun. If everyone had a lot of training, it might be a deterrent,” he said. 

Publication date: December 9, 2015