It isn’t often that I get so riled up over a story that I’m willing to steal from my sabbath rest to write about it, but there’s a dangerous trend manifesting in the media that must be addressed. We’ve always known there would be attacks on the faithful in times of turmoil—the Bible warns us we will be hated and that the faith of many will grow cold—but it admittedly caught me by surprise that there is so much vitriol coming out towards Christians because of the Wuhan Coronavirus.
One article in particular was so inflammatory, I had to do something I rarely do anymore—read an entire article posted on the NY Times.
Global pandemic arose in a communist country that persecutes all religious believers, and even puts them in camps. And here's the NYT on the crisis. Beyond parody. pic.twitter.com/pXsc1SmTtv
— Mark Hemingway (@Heminator) March 27, 2020
The story’s new title is “The Religious Right’s Hostility to Science Is Crippling Our Coronavirus Response,” but the story remained the same. It’s still a falsified attack on Bible-believing evangelicals written by someone who has taken a militant approach towards the faith. Author Katherine Stewart even wrote a book titled, “The Power Worshippers: Inside the Dangerous Rise of Religious Nationalism.”
Since the article pulls entirely from presumptions and anecdotal commentary, I’ll enlighten in the same basic way. As a very conservative, highly traditional Bible-believing Christian, I would love the author and everyone else to know that I’m not anti-science. In fact, I know of nobody in my circle of fellow Bible-believing Christians who are anti-science in any way. Some of us are anti-political-science, meaning we are against the spin within the so-called scientific community to justify progressive policy stances for the sake of maintaining their jobs at universities or keeping funding flowing to their projects. But that doesn’t mean we’re anti-science. In fact, I would argue our perspectives on science are oftentimes much more lucid.
For example, science tells us that there are generally two sexes even though modern day politicized science tells us there are many. One must invoke psychology as a superseding factor over biology in order to demonstrate that emotional and cognitive factors overrule physical attributes regarding sexes. They must also differentiate between sex and gender in ways that have never been acknowledged in the past. They do this by inserting fresh perspectives driven by a post-truth society bent on giving one’s “personal truth” primacy over demonstrable truth.
As it pertains to the coronavirus, the science is clear in the macro. Christians and non-Christians alike acknowledge that proximity to potentially infected people, contact with infected surfaces, and airborne vapors all offer varying degrees of risks associated with contracting the coronavirus. The militant author would likely point to examples of evangelicals calling on their faith in God to justify having church services. The same author would ignore efforts by the “science-driven” left to hold events as well in defiance of warnings. Mardi Gras, for example, was held in late February despite clear concerns that this coronavirus was dangerous. Ironically, New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell is now blaming the White House for not giving guidance at the time to avoid such gatherings even though scientists were already making such claims. So much for relying on science.
The President’s actions regarding the coronavirus have been driven by science. Reports otherwise have been debunked as the only “proof” that evangelicals have guided the White House’s actions are based on people like Alex Azar and Ben Carson being evangelicals and part of the coronavirus task force. The fact that they’re evangelicals does not mean they nor the President are being swayed to take actions contrary to science. Claiming otherwise is ludicrous.
On the flip side, the initial makeup of the coronvirus task force was attacked by the left for not being diverse enough. There were too many white males on the team and not enough women nor people of color. The “science-driven” left did not complain that unqualified people were involved. They complained that the President didn’t pick people based on their sex or the color of their skin instead of based on their qualifications. Once again, the left demonstrated their “science-driven” perspectives on the coronavirus were actually inspired by Cultural Marxism. They’re not called “social justice scientists,” after all.
The trend we’ve been seeing for decades has seen a sharp incline in recent years. That trend is this: When anything bad happens, blame a target group. The target groups for the left are Caucasians, males, conservatives, Republicans, or those who adhere to the Judeo-Christian faiths. That last target group is seeing the sharpest rise from what I’ve seen anecdotally, recently passing Caucasian males as the preferred victims of leftist attacks. The NY Times article is just the latest example of commentary on a widely viewed platform stoking hatred and assigning blame to evangelicals. There have been many before it and there will be even more after it.
We must be cognizant of this trend, not because we can do much about it but because it will help us understand the tactics of the adversary. Lest we forget, the adversary will win for a while before losing in the end. Knowing the general outcome does not mean we should not fight. We must be aware and do everything we can to push back against it for the sake of this world and our place in the next. We must fight the good fight, and part of that is exposing the falsehoods of the adversary whenever they manifest.
Our latest episode of the NOQ Report Podcast...
Having faith does not preclude an appreciation and understanding of science. President Trump is making the right decisions about the coronavirus, but the left is bent on spreading their false narrative. We must remain focused on the truth.
