Samaritan’s Purse, the Christian charity, which responded to COVID-19 by setting up a hospital in Central Park that treated more than 300 sick people, has been sent packing with slurs from the Speaker of the City Council. Here is what City Council Speaker Corey Johnson said of the charity:
“It is time for Samaritan’s Purse to leave New York City. This group, which is led by the notoriously bigoted, hate-spewing Franklin Graham, came at a time when our city couldn’t in good conscience turn away any offer of help. That time has passed. Their continued presence here is an affront to our values of inclusion, and is painful for all New Yorkers who care deeply about the LGBTQ community.”
Franklin Graham and those who work for Samaritan’s Purse hold traditional views about gay marriage, but they do not refuse to treat anybody who is sick. This apparently counts for spewing hatred in Corey Johnson’s eyes. Who is really bigoted?
Samaritan’s Purse operated the Central Park facility under the auspices of Mount Sinai Hospital. It treated 315 sick people and was always going to be a temporary response to a crisis. A simple thank-you might have been a better way to bid them farewell.