A hostile, near-paranoid reaction by the mayor of New York City to a Christian group’s setting up of a coronavirus aid station in Central Park has drawn criticism from a conservative group, proving that partisan and moral differences supersede even deadly infectious diseases.
William Donohue, the president and CEO of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, accused New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio on April 3 of being anti-Christian after he questioned whether a 68-bed field hospital set up in Central Park by Samaritan’s Purse, an organization run by Franklin Graham, would treat its patients fairly.
“When [de Blasio] first learned of the relief efforts of Samaritan’s Purse, he acted as if New York has been invaded by a hostile force,” Donohue told Fox News.
Samaritan’s Purse has been celebrated worldwide for its humanitarian efforts but has been righteously scolded for recruiting only “Christian” volunteers — a policy in keeping with its 11-point Statement of Faith. The statement also forbids homosexuality and same-sex marriage.
“We believe God’s plan for human sexuality is to be expressed only within the context of marriage, that God created man and woman as unique biological persons made to complete each other,” the statement reads. “God instituted monogamous marriage between male and female as the foundation of the family and the basic nature of human society. For this reason, we believe that marriage is exclusively the union of one genetic male and one genetic female.”
There had been concern from the major media and other left-wing voices that Samaritan’s Purse would favor Christian patients over those who hold different beliefs, which would be in complete defiance to the concept of missionary work.
Initially, the mayor said he found it “very troubling” when he learned that Samaritan’s Purse wanted to open a mobile hospital in the park.
