The former pastor at Covenant Presbyterian in Nashville declined to advocate for stricter gun laws after a reporter questioned if prayers were enough in the wake of the mass shooting which killed three children and three adults at a Christian school on Monday.
CBS asked Pastor Jim Bachmann if he agreed with calls for more "action" instead of "thoughts and prayers."
"I’ve heard so many people say lately, faith-filled people, I don’t want your thoughts and prayers, I don't want to hear about thoughts and prayers, I want action. As a man of faith, you will conduct Mike Hill’s funeral next week. You will preside over it. What do you say to those people who say that?" reporter David Begnaud asked.
Bachmann, who was friends with slain custodian Mike Hill, started to say he hadn't crafted his eulogy yet when the reporter pressed on gun control again.
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"But about ‘we don’t need your thoughts and prayers, we need action,’ what do you say to that?" he asked. Begnaud clarified he was specifically referring to passing more gun laws.
"That’s a little bit above my pay grade," the pastor responded.
Bachmann instead said a cultural and spiritual change was needed in our society.
"I think what I say is we need to love each other, and we need to learn to disagree agreeably, and learn how to forgive," he answered. He went on to call for peaceful disagreements instead of violence.
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"You know, people from different ideologies, different theologies, different backgrounds, it’s okay to disagree. But it’s not okay to shoot each other, and particularly shoot children and innocent victims," Bachmann said.
The man of God then quoted Jesus to the reporter and viewing audience.
"And so the message of the Gospel is we ‘love our neighbor as ourselves.’ And try to bear each other’s burdens and work through them, whatever problems – we all have problems. And you know, we all need help at times in our lives," Bachmann said, adding that helping people with their problems was part of his role as a pastor.
The reporter's question mirrored many liberal media outlets' calls for stricter gun control in the wake of the massacre.
Some journalists, columnists and media commentators scoffed at those praying for the Christian school victims, with one person even mocking Christians for "not praying enough" to prevent the tragedy.
