Thoughts and Prayers

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About

Thoughts and Prayers is an expression of sympathy typically offered toward the victims of large-scale disasters and tragedies. Online, the catchphrase has been widely denounced as a platitude used in place of meaningful action, often mocked in memes and jokes in the aftermath of tragic events.

Origin

The exact origin of "thoughts and prayers" is unknown. On February 19th, 2009, MetaFilter^[4] user HopperFan submitted a post about the expression, to which user interplanetjanet cited several uses of the term from books published in the 1800s.

Spread

On July 21st, 2012, The Inquirer^[5] published an article titled "When 'thoughts and prayers' simply aren't enough," which criticized the expression as a meaningless platitude. On November 13th, 2015, a YouTuber uploaded a stand-up comedy routine by Anthony Jeselnik, in which he mocks those who post "thoughts and prayers" messages on social media immediately following a major tragedy (shown below).

The following day, Redditor JusDame submitted a post titled "Thoughts and Prayers," featuring of a screenshot of a woman's Facebook profile picture edited to look a "Pray for Paris" overlay (shown below). Prior to being archived, the post received upwards of 5,600 votes (94% upvoted) and 60 comments on /r/blackpeopletwitter.^[2]

On June 12th, 2016, Redditor michael_kidd reposted Jeselnik's routine to /r/videos,^[3] where it gained over 4,800 votes (77% upvoted) and 360 comments within five days.

"Thoughts & Prayers" Game

On June 17th, 2016, programmer Mike Lacher released a satirical flash game named "Thoughts & Prayers: The Game",^[1] ironically asking the players to prevent mass shootings with "Pray" and "Think" buttons, while berating the player for clicking the "Ban Assault Weapons" button. The game also has some critiques of GOP politicians in the loading screen.

NRATV Production Shutdown

On June 25th, 2019, the New York Times^[6] reported that the television channel of the gun rights advocacy group the National Rifle Organization (NRA) would be shutting down the live-production wing of the channel and would be parting ways with its spokesperson Dana Loesch. According to the report, the channel only received 49,000 unique visitors in January, and its content had come at odds with some board members. The Times writes:

Some N.R.A. board members and officials were also unnerved by the breadth of the channel’s content, which strayed far beyond gun rights and encompassed several right-wing talking points, including criticism of immigration and broadsides against the F.B.I. A show hosted by Ms. Loesch that put Ku Klux Klan hoods on talking trains from the popular children’s program Thomas & Friends drew outrage from some within the organization.

Following the news, opponents and critics of the NRA began tweeting "thoughts and prayers" at the organization, mimicking the oft-used comments in the wake of mass shootings (examples below). For example, Parkland Shooting survivor David Hogg retweeted the article with the phrase. The post received more than 27,000 likes and 3,000 retweets in two days (shown below, left).

Throughout the day, others mocked the news in a similar fashion (examples below, center and right).