MSNBC Guest Says It’s ‘Theological Malpractice’ To Pray In The Wake Of School Shooting

One MSNBC guest claimed on Saturday that calls for prayer after the tragic school shooting that unfolded just days earlier were “a form of idolatry” and “theological malpractice,” arguing that unless people were also willing to go after gun manufacturers, their prayers meant nothing.

Tennessee State Rep. Justin Jones, a Democrat, joined MSNBC host Ali Velshi to discuss the shooting at Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis, MN — and he blamed Republican lawmakers and guns for the tragic shooting.

WATCH:

Jones: I want to bring theology into this because you have all these people want to give thoughts and prayers. But I was a minister, and that is a form of theological malpractice—when you pray for something you have the power to change. pic.twitter.com/yx1BAjeTTc

— Acyn (@Acyn) August 30, 2025

After a brief discussion about the potential role played by violent video games, Velshi pivoted to blame the guns. “There are people who play video games all over the world, and nobody has the problem the way we have it in the United States. So it might actually be about the guns.”

“I mean, that’s exactly it. And, you know, I want to take it a step further and say that — I want to bring theology into this because you have all these people who want to give thoughts and prayers after a shooting, but I was a minister and that is a form of theological malpractice,” Jones cut straight to the point. “When you pray for something that you have the power to change — there’s an African proverb that says, when you pray, you move your hands and feet. You know, what we’re seeing is a form of idolatry, where we’re willing to worship the lives of our children to appease the prophets of the gun industry.”

Jones went on to attack Republicans over a Tennessee law, saying, “After the mass shooting at the Covenant School, the only law Republicans passed that year was to protect gun manufacturers from litigation. That’s what they did after children were killed in a school. It is cruel, it is shameful, it’s immoral, and it is something that is going to be a dark stain on American history, that we’ve allowed this to go on for so long unchallenged. And we have the power to change things.”

“And I would say to my colleagues who serve in government bodies, that we —Keep your thoughts and prayers, keep your tweets,” he continued. “If you wanna address gun violence, you don’t need a tweet, what you need is a mirror. You have the power to change things. You have the to power to take action. Now is the time, until it’s your child, because sooner or later it’s gonna hit home. And then it’ll be too late.”

Other Democrats — from former White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki to Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey — took a similar tone after the shooting, arguing that calls for prayer were empty without gun control measures.

Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt pushed back, saying that such criticisms were demeaning to the millions of Americans who believe in the power of prayer — and a number pointed out that Republicans have proposed solutions to gun violence that would make schools harder targets, but that Democrats have repeatedly made it clear they will not consider such ideas.