GOP Governor Candidate Blamed School Shootings On Lack Of Christianity In Schools

In a speech three years ago, North Carolina gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson blamed school shootings on the lack of Christian prayer in schools, saying that shootings would not happen “if you had told those students Jesus Christ is the way and the light and only through him can you receive salvation.”

Robinson’s comments came during the September 2021 Salt & Light Conference, held by the North Carolina Faith & Freedom Coalition. The organization is a state affiliate of the Faith & Freedom Coalition — a national evangelical Christian advocacy group founded in 2009 by Ralph Reed, a political operative and former executive director of the Christian Coalition. Reed earlier this year detailed plans to spend tens of millions of dollars on evangelical Christian turnout for presidential candidate Donald Trump and other Republicans.

Speaking about school shootings and the lack of prayer in schools, Robinson told the Salt & Light Conference, “Soon as there’s trouble, here you come: ‘We’re going to have a prayer vigil down at the school because we had a shooting.’”

He continued: “You know, it seems quite easy to me, sir, if you had had that prayer vigil before that shooting, if you had let God come in that building before that shooting, if you had told those students Jesus Christ is the way and the light and only through him can you receive salvation, [there] wouldn’t have been no school shooting. It’s too late now. Your little half-hearted attempts at soothing Jesus Christ, it’s not going to work. You done kicked God out of your schools.”

A few moments later, Robinson mocked reporters who might take issue with his comments. “You say what you want to say — you can get in line behind all the people that don’t like me,” he said.