I hope to outline in this post a few of the reasons why I think the #PrayForNice hashtag and all others like it are unhelpful.
It is likely that at least one of these reasons is going to annoy you. Know that this is not my intention. My intention is only to stir up a, hopefully interesting, debate about some of these issues.

I think that everybody would agree that there are people who are sharing this hashtag because they want to look good.
They want to look like they care, like they are thoughtful people who aren't only thinking about their own lives - but are actually sharing it to improve the perception of themselves that other people hold.
Like I said, I think everybody would agree with this statement - the disagreement comes when we ask, just how many people are like this?
Obviously an answer to this question is never going to be found and I would argue that it doesn't need to be to prove that the hashtag is unhelpful.

The fact that we know these people exist in any amount is going to arouse suspicion of any who share this hashtag and ultimately this suspicion will diminish the hashtags meaning as a whole.

And what is the true meaning of this hashtag? It might at face value seem to be a very moral thing to do, praying for God to help those involved in this tragedy, but is it really?
I don't think it is, for a couple of reasons.

The idea that even God himself could lessen the grief that the families and friends of the victims are feeling without infringing upon their free will - that is to say without using his omnipotence to do so - is insulting to them as people.

Just to demonstrate how incredibly disturbing this idea is, think about the person you love most in your life being deliberately crushed and killed by a truck which went on to kill 84 other people, driven by a man who was professing his love for God while doing so.
Imagine yourself standing helplessly beside your lover, mother, father, son, while they are dragged away, screaming in agony as their last few moments of life are encompassed by nothing but confusion and horror.
Really take a moment to imagine this, stop reading, close your eyes, and try to put yourself in their shoes.
You probably feel sick to your stomach just imagining such an event. Imagining the death of a loved one in even the most favorable circumstances can evoke extreme sadness in a person.

Do you think that even if God himself came down from Heaven and attempted to console you in those moments that you would feel even the slightest bit better?
In that situation, God would be about as important to you as a person on the other side of the planet sharing a hashtag on twitter.
Better yet, imagine that God only came down to you because thousands of his worshippers prayed to him and asked him to. You might even feel some animosity towards God in that situation.
The point is that even if the best possible outcome of #PrayForNice - the literal appearance of God - would not make these grieving families feel any better, why would the hashtag?

If we accept the framework of this hashtag - that prayer works and does help - why not pray to end the cause of this problem? Surely that would be the moral thing to do.
Why do we not see #PrayForTerrorists ?
Pray for terrorists? But that's profane!
Yes. Pray for them, Jesus himself said to love your enemies.

Mark Twain once wrote:
"But who prays for Satan? Who, in eighteen centuries, has had the common humanity to pray for the one sinner that needed it most?"

If you consider yourself a good Christian, above the trivial differences in this world, why not pray for terrorists?
If a lowly atheist like myself can find it in my heart to forgive these people, why can't the Christians of the world seem to do the same, especially considering their God in human form commanded them to?

Finally, and probably the most important point....

Why #PrayForNice when you could #PayForNice and send money to help those involved with what is happening right now?

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If you were not convinced by my first point on this post, please share these links on your twitter or social media and ask people to post a picture of how much they have donated and then share the links further. See how many of your friends who have shared the #PrayForNice donate. I think you will be surprised.

And yes, I know that people just don't think that much into it, but if you're going to open your mouth about an issue like this, you should definitely be thinking about what you are going to say.