१४ डिसेंबर, २०२१

Did Governor Hochul go too far using religion in her health-policy rhetoric?

Yesterday we were talking about Justice Gorsuch's dissenting opinion in Dr. A v. Kathy Hochul. In finding a right to a religious exemption from a vaccine mandate in New York, he focused on Governor Hochul's statements using religion to justify the mandate and to criticize opponents of the mandate.

I was particularly struck by what Governor Hochul said when she attended a service at the Christian Cultural Center in Brooklyn on September 26, 2021: "All of you, yes, I know you’re vaccinated, you’re the smart ones, but you know there’s people out there who aren’t listening to God and what God wants. You know who they are." I wanted to read more of that speech and see how much Hochul used religion to deliver a health/politics message. 

Here's the transcript of that speech. It might be worth keeping in mind that the Christian Cultural Center is evangelical, the litigants who want a religious exemption are Catholic (with their own interpretation of what opposition to abortion requires), and Hochul comes from a Catholic family (but is pro-choice on abortion).

Here's the excerpt, showing the most religious parts of the speech:
I am humbled and just as Reverend Bernard and First Lady Karen were called to the ministry to leave their lives and serve way back in 1979 I feel that God has tapped me on the shoulder as well because everything I have done in life has been because of the Grace of God leading me to that place and now God has asked me to serve humbly as your servant, as your Governor, and yes it is the first female governor.... Thank God for President Joe Biden. He sent money to us to help people... Get this money out to the people... God let you survive this pandemic because he wants you to do great things someday. He let you live through this when so many other people did not and that is also your responsibility. But how do we keep more people alive? We are not through this pandemic. I wished we were but I prayed a lot to God during this time and you know what - God did answer our prayers. He made the smartest men and women, the scientists, the doctors, the researchers - he made them come up with a vaccine. That is from God to us and we must say, thank you, God. Thank you. And I wear my 'vaccinated' necklace all the time to say I'm vaccinated. All of you, yes, I know you're vaccinated, you're the smart ones, but you know there's people out there who aren't listening to God and what God wants. You know who they are. I need you to be my apostles. I need you to go out and talk about it and say, we owe this to each other. We love each other. Jesus taught us to love one another and how do you show that love but to care about each other enough to say, please get the vaccine because I love you and I want you to live... I will use the inspiration of God in my life and fight for you every single day as your governor and beyond....

Some people think political office holders ought to get religion out of their rhetoric entirely, but that is an extreme position, and it's not followed. 

Others, notably Justice Scalia, celebrate the use of religion in speeches by political figures: The politicians are expressing themselves and should feel free to use religion. They're not requiring others to follow their religion, and it's fine for them to have a religious reason for adopting a policies and to speak openly about that rather than to sanitize it out of the public discourse.

The Gorsuch opinion held Hochul's statements against her because she declared what is orthodox in religion and impugned the religious position of those who wanted an exemption. She said they hadn't listened to and understood God. 

One problem with politicians using religion in their rhetoric is that it can cheapen religion. Who believes what Hochul said to the Christian Cultural Center congregation was sincere?! Does she believe God tapped her on the shoulder and made her Governor? Does she believe God made the scientists come up with the vaccine? It was — as it looks to me from halfway across the country — insipid pablum for a megachurch full of African-American Brooklynites. It's patronizing. 

You know there's people out there who aren't listening to God and what God wants. You know who they are. Give me a break!

७० टिप्पण्या:

Witness म्हणाले...

The only thing I know for certain is that it's only worth getting bothered about when the other side does it.

gilbar म्हणाले...

There are people out there, who do NOT believe in global warming,
people out there who aren’t listening to God and what God wants. You know who they are."

There are people out there, who do NOT believe in Critical Racism Theory,
people out there who aren’t listening to God and what God wants. You know who they are."

There are people out there, who do NOT believe in EVERY THING that the uni party tells them,
people out there who aren’t listening to God and what God wants. You know who they are."

OBEY GOD! OBEY THE GOVERNMENT!! OBEY BIG BROTHER!!! LONG LIVE BIG BROTHER!!!!

holdfast म्हणाले...

So the Dems have cowed Roberts (no surprise), Barrett and Kavenaugh, so those three are willing to give a pass to the bigoted actions of this Uber-Karen?

Are they scared of the Dems court-packing schemes? Or is it more practical - and they are scared of a Dem making one of them into the next Steve Scalisce, except at room temp? It would not be an unfounded fear, but it’s also a hell of a poor way to safeguard religious liberty in this allegedly constitutional republic.

Dave Begley म्हणाले...

I consider the current Governor in NY a tyrant and criminal.

Why in the world did she think it was a good idea to ban elective surgery? Exactly ONE person has died of the Xi variant.

Talk about jumping to conclusions!

gilbar म्हणाले...

I feel that God has tapped me on the shoulder...
and now God has asked me to serve humbly as your servant, as your Governor...
Thank God for President Joe Biden. He sent money to us to help people...
God let you survive this pandemic...
He let you live through this when so many other people did not...
- God did answer our prayers.


is THAT what they call, a Handmaid's Tale?
What she is Doing, is RIGHT! Because, it is DONE THROUGH AND FOR GOD
Death to the Infidels! Death to the Unwashed!! Death to the Disbelievers!!!

{yes, yes i totally believe that she is sincere}

mezzrow म्हणाले...

As the youngsters now say, this is kinda cringe. I wouldn't have done it.

Lloyd W. Robertson म्हणाले...

I try to stay away from let us say the typical sneering about religious belief. But obviously if religious people are quick to say every good thing they are aware of comes from God, there is a problem that so many bad things continue to happen. Gibbon made fun of early Christians for reporting a lot of earthquakes and such of which there is actually no record. They thought the world was about to end.

Kai Akker म्हणाले...

You don't have to be religious to believe God tapped you on the shoulder and made you Governor. You just have to be an egomaniac. And know that your predecessor was Andrew Cuomo. Then it's positively logical.

JRoberts म्हणाले...

I wonder if Gov. Hochul's tone would have been less condescending had this been a group of white or mixed ethnicity evangelicals?

Why do democrats/liberals always talk to African Americans as if they are low IQ children?

tommyesq म्हणाले...

how do you show that love but to care about each other enough to say, please get the vaccine because I love you and I want you to live...

Except that those pushing the vaccine are not indicating the slightest concern for the health and well-being of the unvaccinated, they are tarring them as people who will murder grandmothers. It is more like "get the vaccine because I love me and I want me to live... (and to be free to go out to dinner and see concerts and blah blah blah without the need to worry about running into vermin like you...)."

hombre म्हणाले...

Listening to politicians talk about God is illuminating and they should be encouraged. Sometimes, as in Hochul’s case, they speak of god like serial killers speak of god. You know, “God made me do it.” It’s good to know who they are.

That’s not to say that people are not guided by the word of God, but they aren’t serial killers and they probably aren’t Democrats. In the case of Democrats I’m reminded of the oral vote to remove God from their platform at the 2012 convention. Regardless of the moderator’s deceitful call, it was clear that the “ayes” had it.

Robert Cook म्हणाले...

No politician should EVER mention or discuss “God” in their official capacity. It is outside the parameters of government functions and jurisdiction. (Not to mention, it’s all fairy tales.)

Robert Cook म्हणाले...
ही टिप्पणी लेखकाना हलविली आहे.
Owen म्हणाले...

I thought Cuomo was as bad a Governor as could be found. I was wrong.

This woman is insane.

campy म्हणाले...

"Does she believe God tapped her on the shoulder and made her Governor? "

Or does she believe she herself is "sort of a God"?

A former lefty pol did.

Ron Winkleheimer म्हणाले...

Does she believe God tapped her on the shoulder and made her Governor? Does she believe God made the scientists come up with the vaccine? It was — as it looks to me from halfway across the country — insipid pablum for a megachurch full of African-American Brooklynites. It's patronizing.

If she is sincere in her Christianity then she does believe that. Its standard Christian theology that God has a plan for all of us and he can bring good out of evil, that is, even if we are resisting it we will end up fulfilling it. In fact, Joseph specifically tells his brothers that they meant evil when they sold him into slavery, but God brought good out of it. Its standard to pray to God for understanding of his plan and the ability to follow it. That said, Christians argue over what God's plan is all the time because we are human and since most of us aren't prophets we don't get the info as explicitly as we would like.

cubanbob म्हणाले...

You know there's people out there who aren't listening to God and what God wants. You know who they are."

Too bad she didn't preach to the congregants God's view on abortion.

Critter म्हणाले...

Hochul broke the Third Commandment by taking the “name of the Lord your God in vain”, “for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain”.

The reason why it has been advisable to avoid invoking religion in politics is because of the use Hochul puts to it. God clearly has taken no denominational side in the use of vaccines. Hochul is acting counter to God’s commandment in her public pronouncements.

Sebastian म्हणाले...

"It was — as it looks to me from halfway across the country — insipid pablum for a megachurch full of African-American Brooklynites. It's patronizing."

Patronizing is progressive MO. Our betters know better: the vision of the anointed, to coin a phrase. They even know better what people of faith should believe in. After all, those deplorable yahoos don't even believe what they profess to believe, so no biggie.

"You know there's people out there who aren't listening to God and what God wants. You know who they are. Give me a break!"

So nice of you to recoil in bourgeois indignation. But the point of progressive condescension is not give anyone any break ever, as this episode illustrates.

AlbertAnonymous म्हणाले...

Of course it’s patronizing. But sheep don’t notice or don’t care I guess.

I’m sure she laughs at them as soon as she’s in the SUV caravan speeding off to the next speech to the “pro choice league” or whoever. Where, naturally, she’ll shit all over these same people who are “hung up on their religion” and trying to force “God” on such good loyal democrat voters by taking away their right to “health care” and bodily autonomy. [without any notice of irony that she’s mandating vaccinations - bodily autonomy my ass].

Then she’s back in the SUV caravan speeding off to give a speech to the LGBTQWERTY group of the day, where she’ll shit on those “bitter clingers” again, for trying to use God to justify their hatred of the “rainbow” and how all their businesses need to be boycotted and shuttered for their hateful views. Just bake me the cake bigot!

Then she’s back in the SUV caravan again speeding off to speak to the “Greenies” and quote the Pope about saving Mother Earth! Damn religious bigots can’t even follow their white patriarch father figure and save the planet [again with no notice of the irony that her SUV caravan alone will probably raise the earth’s temp by 0.000000000000001 degree by 2095].

Finally she’s done with the speeches and the SUV caravan will whisk her away to the big fundraiser where she and her elite friends and rich socialites will be crammed into a tiny trendy farm to table sustainable eco-friendly vegan restaurant (without masks because “fuck you - masks are for you little people”) at a $10,000 a plate dinner.

Meet the new Governor, same as the old Governor.

Howard म्हणाले...

People who invoke G_d commanding specific actions are scum. There's a long American tradition in standing on the corpse of Jeebus to sell anything and everything, including war. Not unlike the mad mullahs whom inspire Shahid. This is an emergent property when the fertile crescent becomes a hellish sandbox. Sun stroke addled visions of a single tyrannical master who is jealous and vengeful... and it's All Our Fault as soon as we are newborn infants.

Many extreme left in Santa Cruz were quite religious Christians.

Religion poisons politics, not the other way around.

Tina Trent म्हणाले...

They lost those two other hairballs only to have a third lodged in their throat.

Achilles म्हणाले...


"Did Governor Hochul go too far using religion in her health-policy rhetoric?"


What else do they have?

They don't have the science on their side. There is no proof that getting a vaccine is better for every person in every situation.

In fact it is clearly obvious that people who have had COVID previously don't need to bother with the vaccine.

It is also clear that there are very cheap and safe alternatives that have helped millions of people around the world and lowered death rates.

The vaccine Nazi's are using what they have.

The only thing they have is their disdain and hatred for people that disagree with them.

Kylos म्हणाले...

When I first heard her remarks, they seemed so over the top in terms of religious rhetoric from a politician. Realizing now that it was at an African American church, it very much seems like she was adopting a mode of expression that she imagined to be how religious Black Christians talk. It seems so phony, and as you said patronizing. Very gross.

Mark म्हणाले...

Who believes what Hochul said to the Christian Cultural Center congregation was sincere?!

Was she sincere in believing what she said. Absolutely.

It is the hubris and arrogance of the authoritarian who deigns to judge both your religious belief and your personal conscience.

Jake म्हणाले...

Does she carry hot sauce in her purse?

LA_Bob म्हणाले...

"...he made them come up with a vaccine. That is from God to us and we must say, thank you, God."

Gee, could God have made them come up with a better vaccine???

A new word for the dictionary:

hokul - hoe kull' (syn. hokum) - bullshit

ColoComment म्हणाले...

I wish someone would please explain: if it's acceptable that government coerce compliance by using the justification that God wants people to accept this "vaccine" (that is not really a vaccine, as commonly understood), then why is it UNacceptable for government to coerce compliance by using the justification that God does NOT want people to kill babies in the womb?

God is a lefty? Is that it? So God's on the side of whatever the leftists underwrite & promote? "Deus vult"?

Achilles म्हणाले...

"You know there's people out there who aren't listening to God and what God wants. You know who they are."

Give me a break!

Why would they do that?

You seem to be the target for all of their bullshit.

Humperdink म्हणाले...

Typical pro-abort Catholics are generally labelled devout Catholics (Biden, Pelosi etc). Apparently, Hochul has not achieved that status, but then she's new to the spotlight.

Ceciliahere म्हणाले...

I did not read the whole article…I stopped where she claims that “God has asked her to be Governor”! No, I don’t think that’s how it happened. Let’s remember Andrew Cuomo resigned for sexual misbehavior and she was the next in line. God had nothing to do with this. It’s not like God came down from heaven and anointed her Governor. She was just next in line. What kind of delusional people are running NYS? After all, who could argue with God’s decision? She’s the chosen one.

Steven म्हणाले...

The double standard of Hochul is front and center here. She was apparently raised Catholic, but rejects the Church's teaching that abortion is wrong. Nevertheless, conservative Catholics are suppose to fall in line with some (not all) Catholic authority figures (albeit including the current pope) regarding the vaccines, even though a judgment on a contingent matter like the use of aborted fetal cells in the production or testing of a vaccine is not a suitable matter for infallible teaching by a pope. And usually liberals are big into the right of people to form their own conscience. Apparently this rule only applies if your conscience agrees with the progressive position. Clearly this is a case of "Orthodoxy for Thee, but not for Me." Her selective use of religion to justify her policies is, however, typical of liberals, who would decry such religious justification by conservatives.

I have always been surprised that I never saw any comments on the Clintons' use of Appalachian Spring at the 1992 inauguration. The original Shaker song on which it is based is about accepting God's judgment about your place in the world: we are to turn, turn, until we come down right, i.e. into the state in life that God intends for us. Apparently the Clintons thought that they had turned, turned and came down into the presidency by the will of God. This allusion to God's will having made Bill Clinton president jumped out at me at the time and I commented on it to colleagues in the office where we were watching the inauguration on TV. No one else seems ever to have noticed it.

So, no wonder Hillary is so bitter about the 2016 election. And no wonder that Hillary and Hochul are so spiteful towards their political opponents--the deplorables are obviously opposing the will of God.

The method by which the stem cell line used in these vaccines needs to be more widely discussed. It was not merely the use of cells from an abortion, but the purposeful cesarian delivery of a live baby whose liver was then cut out without any painkillers. And not just once. Note that the cell line carries a number near 250. So they had to repeat this procedure some 250 times before it worked.

MadTownGuy म्हणाले...

Gov. Holchul:

"God has asked me to serve humbly as your servant, as your Governor, and yes it is the first female governor..."

Well, of course. She has accepted the Almighty State as her lord and savior, so the "god" of which she speaks is the State.

Joe Smith म्हणाले...

It's funny when secular, liberal, pro abortion politicians go on and on about what God wants.

Like they'd know.

mikee म्हणाले...

This is an example of a nonbeliever trying to co-opt arguments made within a faith by the faithful, and as such examples almost always do, it comes across as missing the major points by quite a lot. Sort of like asking a Pope about vaccination policy, in reverse. You get something that might support your position, but it sounds really really off.

MikeR म्हणाले...

It's hard to stand listening to people who think they can speak for God.

Richard Dolan म्हणाले...

"patronizing"

Yes, of course it was -- a not-very-talented white Dem politician talking in an evangelical black church, trying to come up with a spin that a politician like that imagined would resonate with a crowd she neither knows nor understands but believes she owns. It comes from the same place as Biden's "if you're not voting for me you ain't black" shtick, to wit the plantation. Only Obama knew how to pull off talking to that audience without sounding like a jerk or a phony (without, that is, sounding like Hillary).

As for Gorsuch's take on the NY Gov's latest mandate, he was right that the state cannot decide what counts as religious doctrine (only whether it is sincerely held), but it's a stretch to say that the NY Gov was trying to do that or that the lack of a religious exemption in the latest mandate was premised on her construction of Catholic religious doctrine. Instead she was basically trying to cover her bases for the upcoming election by offering an essentially political argument phrased in religious terms to defend a mandate imposed for other reasons. In earlier cases, e.g., RC Diocese of Brooklyn v. Cuomo, the Court upheld a claim based on discrimination against religious people, where a mandate granted exemptions to similarly situated secular gatherings but not religious ones. Don't know whether an argument based on discrimination against religious believers was in play in this latest case, but nothing about that claim involves Establishment Clause arguments like the ones that the Gorsuch dissent highlights.

Night Owl म्हणाले...

The Bible warns us to beware of false prophets.

She's taking away people's free will to decide what they put in their bodies. That's not God's work.

God allows us to make bad decisions. The Old Testament is premised on people making bad decisions.

Yancey Ward म्हणाले...

The court is demonstrating beyond all doubt that if you want your civil rights, you have to seize them, not rely on politicians to grant them.

Amadeus 48 म्हणाले...

"It was — as it looks to me from halfway across the country — insipid pablum for a megachurch full of African-American Brooklynites. It's patronizing."

Bingo.

Forty-five years ago a very suave black officer of a client cautioned me--a rather green young lawyer--against appearing to patronize him or any other black person I met in business. I took it to heart and have always been grateful to him for speaking up.

Night Owl म्हणाले...

Has she gone too far? She invokes God to impose HER will. She wants "apostles".

It's one thing for her to impose her will on the people of NY, making a law that infringes on their God given civil rights, because she believes it's for the greater good. That's not surprising; our legislators do that all the time. But it takes a lot of nerve, or hubris, or self-righteousness -- whatever you want to call it--for her to claim she's knows that God approves of this vaccine and wants everyone to take it.

J Melcher म्हणाले...

Sooner or later the US supporters of late-term abortion will invoke explicit, First Amendment, rights of religious free expression to claim protections as they make sacrifices to Moloch.

Moloch, one may remember, is the deity who promises his followers rewards of good health, happiness, sexual fulfillment, and prosperity, not in a spiritual after-life but in the present and physical world. The peculiar request Moloch makes of his worshipers is they kill their own babies and -- with due ritual -- incinerate the remains in a fiery furnace. It is a concession to the squeamish non-believers that babies may be killed before drawing their first breath but that is as far as the god and his adherents seem willing to go.

Clarence Thomas has wondered where in the US Constitution a right to abortion is explicitly declared, in a way comparable to the right to "bear arms". Surely, the First Amendment provides Thomas with that answer.

Worshipers of Satan have paved the path by insisting upon, and being granted, the right and privilege to pray and invoke Satanic approval upon the opening of public gatherings, legislatures, school assemblies, etc. Similarly the US governments, at all levels, have by now allowed Muslim clerics and the tribal spiritual leaders of indigenous peoples' faiths access to prisons, the military, hospitals to pray and conduct their own sacraments using the resources of those government institutions -- in just the same way a minister or priest who follows his Christ prays and distributes ritual blessings. How can a charitable tolerant Christian majority allow Satan or Huitzilopochtli a ritual but deny Moloch?

Gabriel म्हणाले...

It's not what she said here, it's what she said there:

Asked why, the Governor answered that there is no 'sanctioned religious exemption from any organized religion' and that organized religions are 'encouraging the opposite.'

There it is. Only "organized" religions and the pronouncements of those organizations ought to be binding on their faithful, and the government will determine if religious exemptions are warranted based on what the organizations say.

That's not an established state church, but it is a step toward the licensing of religion.

Robert Marshall म्हणाले...

I guess that means that God must've whispered in Andrew Cuomo's ear, as the Luv Guv sidled up next to some comely assistant, "go ahead and cop a feel, buddy, it's all good," so as to set into motion events that would ultimately clear the way for future Governor Hochul to do her special magic, huh?

It's like predestination! Or something.

Rollo म्हणाले...

"Hochul" sounds like Polish version of the Ukrainian "Hohol'," which is the Russian "Gogol'."

Make a Gogol your governor, and what you get is bound to be Kafkaesque.

Achilles म्हणाले...

I usually don't actually read stuff like this all of the way through usually.

But your emphasis and use of bold face does a good job of emphasizing just how unhinged and crazy the Vax Nazi's have become.

Governor Hochul probably rose to her position in the same way Kamala Harris did.

She does not sound particularly bright.

FunkyPhD म्हणाले...

Sickening. Of course, Jesus saw this coming: “Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.” Matthew 7:15-17

Robert Cook म्हणाले...

"Others, notably Justice Scalia, celebrate the use of religion in speeches by political figures: The politicians are expressing themselves and should feel free to use religion. They're not requiring others to follow their religion, and it's fine for them to have a religious reason for adopting a policies and to speak openly about that rather than to sanitize it out of the public discourse."

Scalia was wrong. The business of government should not be influenced by the beliefs of particular religious sects, as many citizens are not adherents of whatever religious beliefs may be prevailing at a given time or place. "They're not requiring other to follow their religion..." except when the laws that are passed are derived from "their religion." (E.g., Why else would there ever be laws prohibiting the sale of alcohol on Sundays?) Any law or public policy that is sound and will benefit the people should (and surely would) have sufficient non-religious reasons to be considered for passage into law. Even citizens who are religious may be made to feel excluded from the public dialogue or that their concerns are not respected if their religious beliefs are not those prevalent in society and among those in office who legislate from religious impulses.

I guess the benefit of encouraging politicians to subject us to their religious beliefs is to alert us as to which of them are dangerous and to be voted out of office.

TRISTRAM म्हणाले...

I think it is double standard / hyporcrisy: When religion supports your position, it is super important to consider, when it doesn’t, it should be part of the public discussion.

Ann Althouse म्हणाले...

"You don't have to be religious to believe God tapped you on the shoulder and made you Governor. You just have to be an egomaniac. And know that your predecessor was Andrew Cuomo. Then it's positively logical."

Did God tap her on the shoulder or did God kick Andrew Cuomo in the ass? The Lord works in mysterious ways, but it's a more interesting mystery if he kicked AC in the ass.

Achilles म्हणाले...

Robert Cook said...

No politician should EVER mention or discuss “God” in their official capacity. It is outside the parameters of government functions and jurisdiction. (Not to mention, it’s all fairy tales.)

The atheist is the most fervent of believers.

They are unable to really listen to themselves. If they ever did they would attack the heretic in the mirror.

Ann Althouse म्हणाले...

I think Trump got in some trouble just for responding to a question about how some of his supporters thought he was chosen by God.

Trump just said, "I almost don't even want to think about it. Because you know what, all I'm gonna do is, I hope it's true. All I'm going to do is, I'm going to do my best."

Link.

exhelodrvr1 म्हणाले...

Media never gets after pols on the left who talk about how important God/their faith/the Bible is to them. (The Clintons, Pelosi, Biden, etc.) Probably because they figure they are bullshitting about it.

Temujin म्हणाले...

Insipid, patronizing- yes. And a cheapening of religion. Absolutely.

Democratic and Republican politicians talk like this all the time when they get near a church. It's bizarre. One moment they're walking down the street acting as if people around them should feel honored to be graced by their presence, the next moment they're on church grounds sounding cheap, and offering up the Words of God, a few hallelujahs and hosannas.

Had her words come out of the mouth of a Nebraska or Arkansas preacher or Republican office holder, the NY Times would have been all over it and their readers would have had a good guffaw while spitting a bit of their coconut milk lattes over themselves.

"I feel that God has tapped me on the shoulder..." He did. But he wanted you to allow people to get the Omicron variant because it won't hurt them much and it'll get them all naturally inoculated against this disease. I sometimes hear from God as well and He told me that this was his plan to help us get over the 'pandemic'. But busybodies like Hochul are stepping all over His plan.

"God did answer our prayers. He made the smartest men and women, the scientists, the doctors, the researchers - he made them come up with a vaccine." He apparently did not make Anthony Fauci, Peter Daszak, and their Chinese associates on the payroll create the disease. They did that on their own.

"but you know there's people out there who aren't listening to God and what God wants. You know who they are." And we should beat them and make them leave our villages. You know who they are. Go get 'em!

She sounds sane. And such a nice replacement for the last idiot who held that office. Anyone remember George Pataki? He was the last sane Governor of the State of New York.

n.n म्हणाले...

Everyone has a religion (i.e. behavioral protocol), if only the "secular" Pro-Choice religion.

Robert Cook म्हणाले...

"It's funny when secular, liberal, pro abortion politicians go on and on about what God wants.

"Like they'd know."


Hahaha. Like anyone could or would know what god wants...if there were a god.

William म्हणाले...

I have led a life of surpassing and all encompassing moral grandeur. I'm a sure bet to sit next to the Lord on Judgement Day. Due to my moral splendor, I'm willing to forgive her for her prattlings, and I will try to put in a word for her on Judgement Day. I'll do what I can, but I'm not sure what the final decision will be. The Lord sometimes looks harshly on the sin of presumption.

guitar joe म्हणाले...

Her speech was standard Evangelical/Pentecostal speak, but you do wonder if she would have said it at an Assembly of God church in the suburbs.

"The Lord works in mysterious ways, but it's a more interesting mystery if he kicked AC in the ass." No question. I think the flow of history often shows God's hand, but over long periods of time. Even in our personal histories.

I think Trump's a buffoon, and the idea he was chosen by God is preposterous. However, his legacy is the Supreme Court choices, and those choices could have profound effects that might prove me absolutely wrong.

JoeV म्हणाले...

2 Peter 2 should cause Christians to take care with what they teach. Not good to be a "false teacher"!

Iman म्हणाले...

I hope this new governor is everything New Yorkers deserve. Some people insist on learning life’s lessons the hard way.

NorthOfTheOneOhOne म्हणाले...

It's a Gorillas In The Mist government style.

farmgirl म्हणाले...

She got my freak out eyes on: I want you all to be my Apostles…
That’s not letting the Holy Spirit work through you- that’s a really deranged kind of thing to say- something one would attribute to Christ.
Come follow me and I will make you fishers of men kind of thing.

Talk about a power grab.

farmgirl म्हणाले...

Oh- and Andrew Cuomo kicked his own ass, repeatedly.
God just let it happen ;0)

Narr म्हणाले...

God talk from pols is about the most worthless talk of all. I didn't like Trump doing it, and don't like this ninny doing it either.

Stay in your lane, bitch.

Kai Akker म्हणाले...

Forget it, Robert Cook, you're caught 50 feet off base. People are elected to office wherein they are free to speak their mind, thanking God, praying for fair winds and other help from the Almighty, and, if necessary, cursing intolerant atheists with the initials RC. As they choose and wish. If their voters don't care for it, they get their say soon enough.

Brylinski म्हणाले...

I note that Kathy Courtney Hochul is not like Kamala Harris. She has been married a long time to Bill Hochul, the former US Attorney WDNY, and they have two lovely children.

Mike (MJB Wolf) म्हणाले...

Yes. Yes she certainly did. Her mandates also go too far.

Kai Akker म्हणाले...


--- No politician should EVER mention or discuss “God” in their official capacity.

Right. Because someone cannot hear his name. Who was that again? Cook and -- could it be Satan?

Pookie Number 2 म्हणाले...

It is, of course, always adorable when someone foolish enough to support Jill Stein accuses others of believing fairy tales.

Jim म्हणाले...

I think back to the late 60’s, when I was 11-12, and remember how eager the left was to recognize “religious” objections to the draft. I use quotes, because, as I recall, one didn’t have to be religious in any taxonomic sense, but just a feeling of religion. Where is this difference to religious objection to government mandates on the left today? The draft is in the constitution but not vaccines.