The Radical Left Continues to Use the Coronavirus Crisis to Attack Faith and Conservative Values

In the face of a global health crisis, extremists on the Left are using the Coronavirus as an excuse to attack Christians.

At a time when much of the country it trying to pull together, emotionally, while distancing physically, radical Leftists are seizing this opportunity to point the blame at conservative Christians.

A recent opinion editorial published in the New York Times claimed Christians are culpable in the spread of COVID-19, because believers are, as the author, Katherine Stewart, unfairly and inaccurately paints them, the enemies of science.

Donald Trump rose to power with the determined assistance of a movement that denies science, bashes government and prioritized loyalty over professional expertise. In the current crisis, we are all reaping what that movement has sown. . . . This denial of science and critical thinking among religious ultraconservatives now haunts the American response to the coronavirus crisis.

The article accuses Christians of being some kind of destructive force behind the federal government. The writer states: “the Christian nationalist movement in ensuring that our government is in the hands of people who appear to be incapable of running it well.”

Stewart inexplicably blames Christians for the spread of Coronavirus in America and what she unfairly calls an “incompetent response” by our government to this brand new virus that the entire world had no defense against.

But if you examine the political roots of the life-threatening belief in the privatization of everything, you’ll see that Christian nationalism played a major role in creating and promoting the economic foundations of America’s incompetent response to the pandemic.

The writer goes on to list a handful of extreme responses from a few pastors and figures who in no way represent the modern Church as a whole. To make the broad assumption that Christians are inherently anti-science is ignorant. It shows a willful disregard for the long list of self-described Christians that have dedicated their lives to science and medicine. Nobel Prize winning microbiologist and geneticist Werner Arbor once stated:

"I know that the concept of God helped me to master many questions in life; it guides me in critical situations, and I see it confirmed in many deep insights into the beauty of the functioning of the world.

And Dr. Arbor is only one of many believers working in science to improve the quality of human lives. But that doesn’t seem to matter to the Left and the mainstream media who seem to view this moment in history as a prime opportunity to attack the President, the Conservative agenda, and Christians.

Although it may be telling that the New York Times actually changed the title of Stewart’s op-ed after its initial publication, from the incendiary, “The Road to Coronavirus Hell Was Paved by Evangelicals,” to the current, duplicitous heading, “The Religious Right's Hostility to Science is Crippling our Coronavirus Response,” which the author called “more precise.” It’s almost as if even the liberal-leaning New York Times knew they were going too far.

We also just told you how a far-Left website called openDemocracy – an organization funded by notoriously liberal billionaire George Soros – published an article making the outlandish claim that the Coronavirus recommendations to “shelter-in-place” at home are actually dangerous and that the virus is proof that it’s time to “abolish the family” and all private home ownership.

They are twisting a tragedy to push a false-narrative based on their own personal bias. It’s shameful, and we must not let the extreme Left get away with it.

It may be human to seek someone or something specific to blame in a time of crisis. But using this pandemic to prey on the country’s fears and to launch an absurd assault on the Christian church and traditional family values is puzzling and offensive. Faith is not the boogeyman here.

In fact, it is the belief of many, including myself, that faith and family are the two crucial ingredients to getting through the COVID-19 pandemic and this period of “sheltering-in-place.” This time of isolation should strengthen the value of the Church and the family bond.

One of the primary purposes of the ACLJ is to defend the Church and American families from disgusting attacks like this. We will not stand by and let them sling the blame at us. Christians will not be their scapegoat, and these baseless attacks have to stop.

The ACLJ will continue to monitor these attacks on the Church and conservative values, and be prepared to take action to protect our constitutional rights.

Right now, we ask you to continue to pray for all Americans during this crisis, including those who find themselves caught in this uncertain time without the comfort of family or the hope we have been given through faith.