Usually, whenever a major disaster or epidemic happens, some fundamentalist Christian host or personality takes to the air to say that it’s some form of divine punishment. When January came and went without any American fundie worth mentioning saying this about the Zika outbreak, I thought that at long last this crowd had come to its senses. No such luck. A rising star on the religious right declared last week that God sent the Zika virus to punish Latin Americans for “worshiping death.”
Rick Wiles, the host of the daily Internet podcast Trunews, devoted much of last Wednesday’s show to Pope Francis’ visit to Mexico. While discussing Francis’ views on immigration, Wiles and cohosts Doc Burkhardt and Edward Szall suddenly branched off into the Zika outbreak. Listen here.
In the midst of the immigration discussion, Szall mused that Francis has remained silent about the growth of the “Santa Muerte” cult in Mexico. Santa Muerte is the Mexican folk saint of death, and in the last decade has become very popular among drug cartels, as well as the poor. People pray to Santa Muerte in a manner that closely mimics Catholic customs; indeed, she is very similar in appearance to Our Lady of Guadalupe, the patron saint of Mexico. However, she has a lot of appeal among those on the margins of Mexican society because of her nonjudgmental nature. Indeed, according to a recent AFP report, it is the fastest-growing new religion in the world, with some 10 million followers.
Wiles suggested that it’s hardly a coincidence that Zika has exploded as Santa Muerte, or “the death witch” and “a Satanic Virgin Mary,” has gained in popularity.
“Is there a spiritual parallel to that religion and the sudden appearance of Zika virus in the Americas? They’re getting what they asked for: death. I mean, they’re praying to Satan, to Lucifer, they’re worshiping death and so he’s giving them death.”
Translation–if they had just worshiped the right God, they wouldn’t have come down with Zika fever, or their babies would have normal-sized heads.
I wonder, Rick–would you be willing to say this to the Brazilian-born woman in Hawaii whose baby was the first American-born infant with complications from Zika? And would you be willing to say it to her face, rather than from the comfort of your studios in Vero Beach? This sort of callous and uncaring nonsense is the last thing those with Zika need to hear from a supposedly Christian host. We should be loving on them, not judging them.
Then again, Wiles has been at this for a long time. Before striking out on his own in 1998, Wiles was the marketing director for Pat Robertson and Paul Crouch. This is a guy who thinks Obama is demon-possessed, to give you an idea of how extreme he is. A number of prominent conservatives have dropped by his show in recent years. Most recently, Rafael Cruz showed up there in early February.
When anyone even suggests that epidemics like this are divine punishment, there is only one appropriate response.
Frankly, this is no different from what one fundie host after another said in the aftermath of Sandy Hook–that the kids would still be alive if there was still mandatory prayer in public schools. They got deservedly slammed for this bilge. Wiles should get the same treatment. Let Wiles have it on Facebook and on Twitter.
