NY Gov. Cuomo on plateauing of COVID-19 cases: 'God did not do that'
Franklin Graham warns Cuomo not to dismiss God: ‘Be careful what you take credit for’
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New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Monday that people, not God, are responsible for the fact that COVID-19 cases in his state have plateaued. His comment stirred reactions among some Christian leaders, including Franklin Graham.Cuomo, a Catholic Democrat, told reporters on Monday while comparing society’s coronavirus response to being on a diet that the social distancing effort of people in his state is responsible for the plateauing of coronavirus cases.
As governor of the state that has been by far the most affected by the pandemic, Cuomo stressed that the number of new cases is down “because we brought the number down.”
“God did not do that. Faith did not do that. Destiny did not do that,” he stressed. “A lot of pain and suffering did that.”
The 62-year-old governor stated that the data is a “direct result of what we do.” He warned that if people “do something stupid,” the numbers will “go right back up tomorrow.”
“You get on the scale every morning. ‘I lost five pounds. I lost five pounds. I've lost five pounds.’ Oh, you're declaring that you have lost five pounds forever? No, [if] I lose self-discipline today and I go home and I eat like a horse and I'll get on that scale, it's going to give me a different number tomorrow,” Cuomo explained.
“And that's why we lost five pounds because we went out every day and we exercise and we burned more calories than we ate. That's how it works. It's math. And if you don't continue to do that, you're going to see that number go back up. And that will be a tragedy if that number goes back up.”
In an interview with CNN the next day, Cuomo reiterated his claim.
“Our behavior has stopped the spread of the virus,” he said. ”God did not stop the spread of the virus. And what we do, how we act, will dictate how that virus spreads.”
"We changed the trajectory of the virus by our actions.”
“And that's the real important lesson to me,” the governor said.
Cuomo’s remarks drew responses from Christian leaders online.
Evangelist Franklin Graham, who leads the evangelical Samaritan’s Purse humanitarian charity that since April 1 has operated a field hospital in New York City’s Central Park, wrote on Facebook that “we always must be careful what we take credit for.”
“Yes, we must be cautious and combat the spread, but make no mistake — God can help us,” Graham, the son of the late evangelist Billy Graham, stated. “His power is as infinite as His love.”
Graham, who also serves as president of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, added that millions of people have prayed for New York and for an end to the virus.
“We continue to see answered prayer in our field hospital,” he said. “Gov. Cuomo, I urge you — don’t dismiss the power of prayer and the ability of God to work in this crisis and in the ones we will face in the future. He is our hope, and we continue to pray for His mercy on our nation.”
As local medical infrastructure has been overwhelmed, the Samaritan’s Purse’s 168-bed, 14-tent field hospital in Central Park treated over 125 patients since it opened on April 1. The hospital is staffed with over 70 medical professionals as well as Billy Graham Rapid Response Team chaplains ministering to those in need.
DeWayne Hamby, an executive pastor of Southside Church in Winter Garden, Florida, wrote in a tweet that he is not sure why Cuomo “felt the need to make this highly offensive (and WRONG) point the day after Easter.”
Jamal Bryant, the senior pastor at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church megachurch in Georgia, tweeted an article reporting on Cuomo’s comments but did not comment himself on the matter.
Bryant’s post drew a chain of responses from his followers, including some who criticized the remarks and at least one who felt that the remarks are taken out of context because Cuomo was comparing individuals’ responsibility in the crisis to their dieting habits.
On Wednesday, New York recorded over 600 new deaths. According to The New York Times, that is the lowest 24-hour total in 10 days. However, Cuomo warned that more progress is needed before safety restrictions can be lifted. He extended the state’s COVID-19 stay-at-home order until May 15.
In total, over 10,000 people in New York are believed to have died as a result of the Coronavirus.
Before reopening the state back to normal, Cuomo announced Monday that New York will work with nearby states — New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Connecticut — to come up with strategies for easing stay-at-home orders enacted to stop the spread of COVID-19.
On the West Coast, California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that California, Oregon and Washington have formed a similar pact.
NY Gov. Cuomo on Coronavirus Stats: ‘We Brought The Number Down. God Did Not Do That.’
https://christiannews.net/2020/04/15/ny-gov-cuomo-on-coronavirus-stats-we-brought-the-number-down-god-did-not-do-that/
ALBANY, N.Y. — Concerns are being raised after New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, in speaking on the apparent plateauing of COVID-19 cases in the state, said on Monday that “God did not do that” but human effort in social distancing. He repeated his view on Tuesday, stating, “God did not stop the spread of the virus” but men’s behavior. While emphasizing that men’s actions are important and have measurable consequences, his insinuation that the results are not also related to divine intervention is drawing scrutiny.
“I’m not confident that the worst is over. I said if you look at the numbers, … the numbers suggest a plateauing, slight increase, but a plateauing, which is what the experts have talked about. That’s what the numbers say. I also say whatever those numbers say is a direct result of what we do,” he stated in answering a question from the press during his daily briefing on Monday.
“I’ve said if we do something stupid, you will see those numbers go right back up tomorrow, period. The worst can be over, and it is over unless we do something reckless. And you can turn those numbers on two or three days of reckless behavior,” Cuomo continued.
He went on to compare the situation to being on a diet, outlining that the numbers will reflect the actions of the people.
“I lose self-discipline today, and I go home and I eat like a horse. And I’ll get on that scale, it’s going to give me a different number tomorrow. It is directly a result of what you do today,” Cuomo explained.
However, he then added, “The number is down because we brought the number down. God did not do that. Fate did not do that. Destiny did not do that. A lot of pain and suffering did that.”
“And that’s why we lost five pounds, because we went out every day and we exercise and we burned more calories than we ate,” Cuomo said, referring to his diet analogy. “That’s how it works. It’s math. And if you don’t continue to do that, you’re going to see that number go back up. And that will be a tragedy if that number goes back up.”
The following day, the governor repeated his views to CNN reporter Alysin Camerota, stating in an interview, “Our behavior has stopped the spread of the virus. God did not stop the spread of the virus. And what we do, how we act, will dictate how that virus spreads.”
View his words here at 2:10 into the interview.
While not disagreeing that Americans need to play their part in flattening the curve, some found Cuomo’s remarks to be dismissive of God and His sovereignty.
“[S]o much for his supposed faith. So much for his Catholicism. When you say God has nothing to do with help and relief in a time of crisis, you are a pretty lousy advertisement for any faith you might proclaim to have. Atheists are always happy to make such remarks, but why someone claiming to be religious?” asked commentator Bill Muehlenberg.
He said that Cuomo was wrong in severing God from the picture.
“No biblical Christian makes this false distinction: they know that God acts, and we are to act. It is not either-or, but both-and. In so many areas we have genuine cooperation going on. So with corona, we take sensible measures in health and safety, and we also seek the help of God,” Muehlenberg explained.
“The Bible makes it crystal clear that both do indeed work together. Thus we are quite right to emphasize divine sovereignty. But we are also quite right to emphasize human responsibility. We must push both of these biblical truths — simultaneously.”
“That’s a pretty bold statement coming from a governor presiding over a pandemic that is currently leveling thousands and filling a mass grave as things begin to slightly improve: ‘God did not do that,'” also remarked Jonathan Van Maren of the Roman Catholic Life Site News.
“Perhaps Cuomo is simply warning people not to abandon the measures that have assisted in ‘flattening the curve,’ or emphasizing the responsibility citizens have to public health. But it also means that no matter how loudly God speaks, some of our leaders are refusing to acknowledge the total lack of control they have and the puniness of their power.”
PUBLICLY CREDITING GOD TOO
As previously reported, a number of coronavirus patients have unashamedly credited God and not solely the efforts of man — as vital as they were — with their recovery.
Geneva Wood, a 90-year-old woman from Washington State, told reporters that God gave her the strength to overcome the coronavirus, and that she couldn’t have made it without Him.
Barbara Killiebrew of Georgia also publicly proclaimed that God had given her a second chance, outlining that during her police escort home from the hospital, she thought to herself, “It could have been a funeral, but instead, God has it turned around for a celebration.”
“[A]s he stood at the door — he couldn’t touch me — he began to ask God, the Holy Ghost, to visit me. He began to ask God to heal my body and touch my lungs,” Lee McClelland remembered. “He stood in that doorway and pleaded with God almighty to spare my life and to continue to use me.”
“Don’t tell me that God doesn’t know. God knows our every need; He knows our every desire,” McClelland told viewers. “He’s an incredible savior, who even down to the finer details of life, when His son desired a packet of Tayto prawn cocktail [crisps], God sent a cleaner …”
As previously reported, last year, Cuomo signed a bill that enshrines Roe v. Wade into state law and allows babies to be killed during the third trimester if they are not expected to survive or if they are deemed to threaten the health or life of the mother.
In 2018, he also decried what he called “extreme conservatives” in the government, stating, “This is their view of the world. This is their view of religion. This is their view of what God says should be done. And their view of what God says should be done is the view they’re going to impose on you by law.”
“They have their views and they’re going to impose their views on you,” he remarked on another occasion. “They have their views about what religion is right and wrong, what lifestyle is right and wrong, what sexuality is right and wrong, who should be an immigrant and who’s right and who’s wrong. They have their views, and in a great act of hypocrisy, they are going to use the federal government to impose those views on you.”
