A New York Times writer published a column largely assigning blame for America’s Chinese coronavirus epidemic on Evangelical Christians.

In Stewart’s column, titled ‘The Religious Right’s Hostility to Science is Crippling Our Coronavirus Response,’ she frames conservative Christians for a supposed lacking national effort to contain the disease. Stewart alleges that Christians within the administration are preventing the federal government from recognizing ‘science,’ repeating a trope long alleged by liberals that their political opponents are supposedly ignorant of the discipline.
In the article, Stewart claims that “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.”

She fails that recognize that scientific experts on viral outbreaks such as Dr. Anthony Fauci have informed the federal government’s response since the beginning of the crisis.

Stewart fails to mention that it was progressive liberals across the world who largely opposed international travel bans, a scientifically verifiable means of virus transmission and spread. The European Union lagged well behind the United States and Canada in placing curbs on travel across borders.

Perhaps most egregiously, she fails to even so much as assign any culpability for America’s coronavirus epidemic on the Chinese Communist Party, which failed to so much as even admit the scale of the problem as the disease first took the form of a true public health pandemic in China. The CCP’s negligent cover-up of the coronavirus epidemic in undoubtedly the most ‘unscientific’ governmental approach to the virus, with grave consequences. And China’s authoritarian leaders are by no means conservative Christians.

Stewart’s reaching move to blame Evangelicals for the coronavirus outbreak in America is merely a reactionary take from a cultural liberal seeking to impute political commentary in the midst of a pandemic.