Terror struck America’s gambling capital Oct. 1 when Stephen Paddock opened fire into a crowd of 22,000 country music fans from the 32^nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel in Las Vegas.

With at least 59 people dead and hundreds more injured, millions of people took to social media with the same message: Sending thoughts and prayers to the victims and their families. To many, this was an expression of sympathy and compassion. Others, however, are tired of this kind of sentiment.

“It’s time for more than thoughts and prayers,” said Zach Mohling, freshman in software engineering and member of the ISU Atheist Agnostic Society (AAS). “We need real actions moving forward.”

Mohling and a handful of others from AAS met Oct. 3 in the Memorial Union Multicultural Center to discuss the Las Vegas massacre. They found nothing more disturbing then the sheer brutality of the attack, and how the powers that be have dealt with it.

“I was shocked that police couldn’t find a motive,” said Kartik Sarda, junior in physics. “I’m waiting to hear some sort of reason [for the shooting].”

AAS shared stories of hearing “thoughts and prayers” from tragedy to tragedy, and they are tiring of the pattern of “attacks and hashtags.”

“Prayer is something people do when there’s nothing they can do,” said Jeremias Sauceda, another member of AAS. The group agreed that people generally mean well, but do not take the reality of the situation into consideration.

Group members also voiced distaste for the notion of “guardian angels,” watchful spiritual entities that ensure the survival of choice individuals during crises.

“It’s so incredibly insensitive to thank God there are survivors in times like these,” said Aubrey Steinberger, junior in anthropology. “What about the victims?”

For Steinberger and other atheists, implying God’s grace saved someone in a tragedy also implies it was by God’s will the others were murdered.

To Joseph Jackelen, president of AAS, it also discredits the efforts of people who were there, helping victims survive.

“In situations like this [whether you live or die] basically boils down to luck. Lucky you were standing where you were, or by someone who knew what they were doing,” Jackelen said. “People don’t like to hear it, but that’s what it is.”

For Josh Borwick, senior in kinesiology and president of Students for Salt, prayer is about love and mourning.

“For someone who was hurt badly, I pray that the Lord will show them comfort and bring peace to them,” Borwick said. He described the massacre as a “heartbreaking event that caused a lot of terror.”

More than 1000 students went to Cornerstone Church in east Ames for a Salt Company service on Oct. 5. Minister Ronnie Goble, who is new in the Salt Network, reminded listeners that they “live in a sinful and broken world” in light of the tragic attack, and that people are “sinners in need of a savior.”

Goble ended his sermon leading the masses in prayer, hoping God’s grace will ease troubled minds in these sinful times.

“We believe God has the power to change things,” said Solomon Rexius, associate director for the Salt Company. “We’re trying to mourn with people. Prayer help us to see the world as God sees it, and rejoice as He rejoices.”

AAS ended their meeting agreeing the time for gun law reformations is long overdue.

“[Gun control] gets framed like you either support totally banning all guns or you totally support having all guns, which is a weird false dichotomy that gets set up,” Steinberger said.

This “false dichotomy” may inhibit the change many Americans want. According to a poll conducted by Pew Research Center on June 23 of this year, the majority of Democrats and Republicans support a ban on “assault-style weapons.” 47 percent of Republicans and 79 percent of Democrats also support banning high capacity magazines.