Whenever there’s a mass shooting so-called “people of faith”, who hold a tighter grip on their guns than they do on their prayer beads and Bibles, litter social media with thoughts and prayers.

These thoughts and prayers are as efficacious in preventing gun violence and ameliorating its devastating consequences as a gun that emits a flag saying “BANG” when the trigger is pulled is at stopping a burglar who has broken into your home.

Faith without works is dead and offering vacuous thoughts and prayers after a massacre is an affront and an insult to the victims and to everyone who lives in fear of gun violence.

A million thoughts and prayers on Twitter aren’t worth a hill of beans, and they don’t reach heaven or even the power brokers in D.C.

With all due respect, people of faith can stuff their thoughts and prayers where the sun don’t shine. If they were serious about stopping gun violence, and if they really cared about the victims, they would weaponize their thoughts and prayers by taking on the NRA and demanding that lawmakers ban military-style firearms.

If I’m the victim of gun violence and a person offers me his thoughts and prayers I would respond as if he had intentionally farted in my face.

If we ban the phrase “thoughts and prayers” from the lexicon, religion and our democracy would be better off.