No More Prayers

On April 17, 2025, the 40,000 students of Florida State University were forced to take a test no syllabus could have prepared them for—whether they could outrun bullets and outlast terror. That exam never should have been scheduled.

This is not a pro‑gun declaration. It is not an anti‑gun manifesto. It is a plain, bipartisan truth: every American—Republican, Democrat, Independent, or unaffiliated—has an equal right to survive a day at school, a shift at work, a night at the movies, a morning in worship.

For too long, elected officials have offered thoughts and prayers as if survival were beyond their jurisdiction. Prayer is for what we cannot change; legislation, leadership, and decisive action are for what we can. The safety of our children is squarely within human control—and squarely within the job description of those we send to Washington and to every state capitol.

We therefore issue this demand:

1. Stop the theatrics. Put away talking‑point extremes and sit at the same table until practical safeguards are forged.

2. Honor the data, not the donors. Let evidence shape policy—whatever that evidence proves to be.

3. Protect the future. Ensure that students are tested on calculus and chemistry, not on evasive maneuvers and emergency exits.

Our patience is finished, but our resolve is not. We refuse to conform to a culture that treats public slaughter as routine collateral damage. We expect a government—our government—to conform instead, shaping laws and resources that make life’s most basic promise credible again: that we and our children will live to see tomorrow.

No more prayers. Not until prayers are matched—day for day, life for life—with action.